Yep... "Safety first" isn't worth the ink it's printed with in many places.
However, I am advocating that the FAA/CAA/JAA/whoever MAKE TCAS a priority in airlines' training! We get a lot more than you describe, and the scenarios we are presented with in the sim are very educating (e.g., do one with an engine out, when shifted to TA Only, and watch the pretty pictures as an airplane comes co-altitude...).
If safety really IS important, and TCAS really IS an important piece of it, the regulators have to get off their fat @$$3$ and DO the oversight they are paid to do!