After deadly gas line explosion, Rand Paul blocks new safety bill
[Link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/28/MNAK1LA79U.DTL]
Tea Party conservative Sen. Rand Paul is blocking pipeline safety legislation intended to fix some of the problems that led to the rupture of a natural gas pipeline in San Bruno last year that destroyed a neighborhood and killed eight people.
Paul, a first-term Kentucky Republican whose father, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Tex. is running for president, is using his prerogative as a senator to stymie action because he is opposed in principle to adding regulations and expanding the federal government.