Free Republic

President Biden’s Department of Transportation is being slammed on social media over a meme promoting his Build Back Better agenda with some people accusing the department of improperly lobbying. The meme, posted by the Department of Transportation on Friday, is in the form of a popular meme format where a man and a woman are texting each other in bed from different places.... ...The meme was criticized by many online from those who didn’t find it funny as well as from those who suggested the department had improperly lobbied for specific legislation, in this case the $1.75 trillion Build Back...

From up here in the Idaho panhandle it is both curiously amusing and surrealistically troubling to watch what is happening across our country as if we are floating in the sky on a saucer ship, looking down in stunned disbelief as the media desperately tries to tell all who will listen that what they are seeing isn’t really happening. Up is really down, dark is really light, money is just pretend so spend it and be happy, our border is secure, elections are fair, the president is playing with a full deck and the world is safe beyond our shores

Syracuse, N.Y. -- The state’s $2 billion plans to transform Interstate 81 could prove an archetypal example of how a federal highway project can both solve transportation problems and rebuild city neighborhoods that lost out when the massive roadways were built. That’s the feeling that Mayor Ben Walsh said he had today after meeting for an hour with two members of U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s staff. “Overall it was very encouraging,” Walsh said this evening. “They see I-81 as a prime candidate for a demonstration on how to do federal transportation projects the right way.” The meeting comes as...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering requiring COVID-19 testing for travelers planning to go on domestic flights. Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian told the Associated Press that he hopes this doesn’t happen. “The level of travel that we are carrying domestically in the U.S. — not just Delta, but across the industry — would be substantially reduced from today’s already low levels if domestic testing was required. And we don’t have the facility or the technology or capabilities to be administering or monitoring domestic testing,” Bastian told AP. Lauren Lyster spoke to some travelers at LAX...

Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) promised to fight racial, economic, and environmental injustice as President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Department of Transportation (DOT). During his speech, he warned there was a dark side to the DOT. “At it’s worst, misguided policies and missed opportunities can reinforce racial, economic, and environmental injustice, dividing or isolating neighborhoods,” he said, promising to work to deliver “equity” and “empower everyone to thrive.”

Leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement have come out against President-elect Joe Biden’s decision to nominate former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg for Secretary of Transportation, recalling his struggles with minority voters. Biden announced Tuesday that Buttigieg was his choice for the transportation post — a plum position for a candidate who dropped out of the presidential race before Super Tuesday and endorsed the former vice president.

A few months back there was a discussion about Echo devices. I did get an Echo Dot for the wife to try and vocally control our DirecTV box. But shes not into it and only uses it for spelling and stuff. Then recently I got an offer for a free Dot. I got it and put it into my office. They both work fine. And then my evening TV viewing went to hell. I watch Alias, Justified, Miamai Vice and stuff off the internet. But now I get continuous freezing. Then a couple of days ago I saw the lights...

The details are out of Treasury now, and it looks like it isn't going to work for a large number of small business owners after all. Remember the deal the president signed to save America’s small businesses from ruin during the government’s coronavirus shutdown? The one hammered out by the Senate and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin over weeks of tense negotiation while Americans worriedly watched, hoping good news might come before a depression does? The details are out of Treasury now, and it looks like it isn’t going to work for a large number of small business owners...

This is not an emergency virus bill. It is a Democratic election wish list, at a time hundreds are dying, thousands are losing their businesses, and millions are out of work in the United States. The weekend began with a bipartisan plan. People were hopeful. Outside of Washington, business owners told The Federalist they finally saw light in all the darkness. They thought they’d be able to hire their employees back again. These are employees who have families, mortgages, and lives, people who have never asked for public assistance in their lives and never thought they’d have to.The mood in...

https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Trump-Mnuchin-And-Cabinet-Meet-With-China.-White-House.-Shealah-Craighead.-e1584750455621-998x649.jpg> Just beyond -- and in the midst of -- the public health and financial liquidity crises is the expansive and potentially devastating solvency crisis. The U.S. economy is in trouble, and if you can believe it, that trouble isn’t simply the closure of Main Street, the massive number of nationwide layoffs, and the danger of financial crisis we’ve all heard about. As companies run out of cash, pushing them toward insolvency, our country’s business-to-business trust is at risk of coming apart — tearing and ultimately collapsing the delicate system that keeps industries as diverse as farming, chemicals, and aluminum...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's coronavirus bill is not enough. It is not nearly enough. And if there is any hope of keeping the U.S. economy from free fall, its deficiencies must be addressed this week. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s coronavirus bill is not enough. It is not nearly enough. And if there is any hope of keeping the U.S. economy from free fall, its deficiencies must be addressed this week with a combination of immediate and direct aid to the businesses that feed our families, host our celebrations, employ our neighbors, sponsor our Little Leagues, and make our towns our...

It won't be comfortable in a city that has grown used to substituting talking points and campaign ads for governance, but the nature of the coronavirus crisis demands answers, and here's why. Washington, D.C. — Washington’s politicians are frightened for the economy and for their health, but in all this fear and the rush to flee the city there might be room for a political bargain — the kind of bipartisan bargain the working class and small and mid-sized business owners need to get through what’s coming.Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin are...

Two things happened last week that may not seem connected, but are. The first was the release by the White House Council of Economic Advisors of a new report showing the deregulatory accomplishments of the Trump administration. The second was the gathering of nearly 1,000 social conservative activists from across the country for the annual conference held by the Faith and Freedom Coalition.While ending abortion and religious liberty remain the centerpiece issues for social conservatives, there is an important thread running through the beneficial impacts of deregulation and the beneficial impacts of strong families.This thread manifests itself in two ways. The first...

(WLUK) -- One could argue summer is a synonym for construction season. You'll likely find orange barrels in the summer and traffic certain hours of the day. "I see it sometimes coming the other way," said Luke Agnew of Fall River. Once a week, Agnew makes the more than 100 mile drive from Columbia County to Door County."It's usually late evening or mid-morning," he said. He tries his best to avoid the stop and go but not all drivers can say the same. When it comes to the I-41 corridor between De Pere to Appleton, Gov. Scott Walker announced Wednesday:After...

The recently departed head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) human resources department is under investigation for allegedly enabling sexual harassment in the agency over the course of several years. FEMA Administrator Brock Long told The Washington Post that a seven-month investigation found Corey Coleman, who led the agency’s personnel department since 2011, hired dozens of friends and college fraternity brothers, as well as women he met at bars and through online dating sites. Coleman promoted the individuals without going through the proper channels, and in some cases promoted or transferred women throughout the agency so his friends could...

Airlines want to nix a host of rules that attempt to keep them from mistreating customers. The Transportation Department is considering it. The DOT has asked airlines to suggest changes or cuts to regulations, part of a broad initiative from President Trump, once an owner of a small airline, to reduce government red tape. It comes as DOT fines against airlines fell by half last year. The rules matter because DOT is just about the only protection consumers have in U.S. air travel. If the airlines get what they want, the government would weaken the tarmac delay rule, which imposes...

A future Interstate 49 and whether it will become Arkansas’ first toll road are being considered, with public meetings likely coming in early 2018, reports KFSM news station.The interstate section being considered would stretch from Barling to Alma over the Arkansas River. The Arkansas Department of Transportation has commissioned a study on charging tolls on the future highway section.The study is scheduled to be completed next fall, and public meetings are expected at the first of 2018 to get public input on the project, the station reports.Interstate 49 would eventually stretch from New Orleans to Canada. Portions of the highway...

Audio: Mayor predicted people will 'get killed' on Amtrak route "It’s virtually inevitable that someone is going to get killed that wouldn’t be killed otherwise," Lakewood Mayor Don Anderson warned WSDOT about the new high-speed route. Author: Susannah Frame Published: 10:37 PM PST December 18, 2017 Two weeks before a high-speed Amtrak train derailed near DuPont, Lakewood Mayor Don Anderson warned the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) that the route could be deadly without additional safety precautions.

Image from https://aztroopers.org/ The Arizona Department of Transportation has added a section to its drivers manual suggesting the proper behavior for an armed driver, when stopped by police. The change was prompted by the tragic Philando Castile case. From fox10phoenix.com, the manual change was requested by Democratic state Representative Reginald Bolding, from District 27. District 27 is a solidly Democrat stronghold in South Phoenix. Bolding was elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2016.  From azdot.gov , page 57 of the Drivers License Manuel : ▪ Inform the officer of any weapons on your person or in the vehicle. In...

A week before President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office, the U.S. Transportation Department issued new “guidance” for airline flight crews on how to avoid discriminating against Muslim and Sikh passengers. DOT said it recognizes the very important and difficult job of the airlines to provide a safe and secure travel environment. “At the same time, it is important that this function be carried out in a non-discriminatory manner.” The guidance says airline personnel must not be swayed by a passenger’s appearance alone: “In other words, airline personnel should ask themselves, but for the passenger’s perceived race, color, national...