South

Pete Buttigieg’s tough month

Published

2 years ago

January 12, 2023

Between Southwest Airways’s worker scheduling system meltdown and the Federal Aviation Administration’s security data software program program glitch, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has had a difficult month.

The previous mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate was poised for constructive media publicity as President Joe Biden’s administration implements the $550 billion bipartisan infrastructure invoice that might have positioned him effectively for future political aspirations. However the current troubles lend credence to the competition that essentially the most profitable transportation secretaries are those who hardly ever make the information.

BIDEN GIRDS FOR CONGRESSIONAL GRIDLOCK AS GOP TAKES OVER HOUSE

Buttigieg has attracted bipartisan criticism for Wednesday’s FAA Discover to Air Missions, or NOTAM, system outage, which resulted in airplanes being grounded throughout the nation for 90 minutes.

Scrutinizing Buttigieg’s response to final summer time’s airline cancellations, the Southwest Airways meltdown, and now the FAA malfunction, former Ohio Democratic state Sen. Nina Turner, for instance, implored “neoliberals” to acknowledge the Transportation Division “isn’t performing effectively.”

“Being good at speaking on Fox Information isn’t a qualification to run the Division of Transportation,” the Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) supporter tweeted.

Breaking a rail strike.
Going straightforward on airline cancellations.
The Southwest meltdown.
Now the FAA computer systems are down.
At a sure level, neoliberals want to come back to phrases that the DOT isn’t performing effectively.
— Nina Turner (@ninaturner) January 11, 2023

A number of Democratic strategists defended Buttigieg, adamant it has not been “a foul month” for the secretary. Buttigieg was additionally dinged this week after it was revealed he took a taxpayer-funded personal jet to New York Metropolis in April so he might seem on a radio present and meet with the president of the American Civil Liberties Union. The secretary has taken roughly 18 personal jet flights for the reason that Senate confirmed him in February 2021.

One Democrat disagreed that “folks on airplanes related the FAA with the secretary of transportation straight.” One other insisted “partisan or self-interested political makes an attempt in charge him for an FAA software program glitch that was mounted after a number of hours will resonate with voters or most of the people.”

“Would not go the scent take a look at as a political assault, and there is a danger that folks look like they’re enjoying partisan politics as a substitute of in search of options to stop it from occurring once more,” the strategist mentioned.

“Comparable with Southwest making unhealthy enterprise selections that [led] to large delays [and] cancellations,” the supply added. “Nobody blames the secretary of transportation for that since they perceive that is not one thing he triggered — however there’s alternative for him to point out he’s appearing responsibly and forcing options to stop it from occurring once more.”

However that has not stopped Republicans, together with Republican Nationwide Committee staffers, from piling on, citing Buttigieg’s response to produce chain kinks and final month’s potential railroad employee strike as effectively.

“Biden shouldn’t have chosen somebody whose fundamental ‘qualification’ was liking the board recreation Ticket to Experience,” RNC spokesman Tommy Pigott mentioned. “Buttigieg is a lesson for us all: Disaster follows incompetence, and Buttigieg and Biden are incompetent.”

Home Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO), the highest Republican on what’s historically a bipartisan panel, was extra measured in his critique of “the most important floor cease of our Nationwide Airspace System since 9/11.”

“Whereas it seems presently that the Discover to Air Missions — or NOTAM — system malfunction was not the results of a cybersecurity breach, it highlights an enormous vulnerability in our air transportation system,” he wrote. “Simply as Southwest’s widespread disruption just some weeks in the past was inexcusable, so too is the DOT’s and FAA’s failure to correctly preserve and function the air visitors management system.”

Graves moreover urged Biden to rethink his renomination of Phil Washington for FAA administrator, with the Republican describing the CEO of Denver Worldwide Airport’s resume as “troubling.”

Buttigieg disclosed in his a number of media appearances that the FAA had skilled issues sending NOTAM messages in a single day and that he had ordered an after-action report back to determine the supply of the errors and why the same old redundancies didn’t work.

“We’re going right into a interval the place Congress will likely be a periodic reauthorization of FAA laws that usually units what the subsequent 5 years are going to be like for the company,” he advised MSNBC. “It’s the proper time for us to be stepping again and saying, ‘When it comes to sources, funding, workers, authorities, programs, is the whole lot arrange for what we all know goes to be a interval of continued change?’”

The final FAA reauthorization invoice, signed by former President Donald Trump, was for $90 billion. Paradoxically, the FAA was set to take a position $5 billion in air visitors amenities by the bipartisan infrastructure regulation.

However Buttigieg downplayed the opportunity of the federal authorities compensating vacationers for the inconvenience as a result of “we’re not for-profit firms promoting tickets the way in which an airline is.”

“Our accountability is to ensure that all people is secure,” he mentioned. “When there’s a problem on the federal government aspect of the home, the place there’s a problem, we’re gonna personal it, we’re gonna perceive it, and we’re gonna make it very clear what’s wanted, and we will repair it.”

Buttigieg, who moved from Indiana to Michigan final summer time along with his husband, Chasten, has denied his relocation is linked along with his want to attain larger workplace. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) introduced final week she is retiring after greater than twenty years within the Senate.

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“I’ve been honored to work along with her and look ahead to persevering with to work along with her throughout this Congress,” Buttigieg mentioned on the time. “I’m absolutely targeted on serving the president in my function as secretary of transportation and never looking for some other job.”

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Mississippi

Utah blows double-digit lead in 78-73 loss to Mississippi State

Published

17 mins ago

November 19, 2024

Press Room

Utah blows double-digit lead in 78-73 loss to Mississippi State

The Utah Runnin’ Utes suffered a hard-fought loss to Mississippi State, falling 78-73 in the Mid-South Showdown on Sunday night in Southaven, Mississippi. Despite leading by 11 points at halftime, the Utes couldn’t hold off a second-half surge from the Bulldogs, led by standout performances from Josh Hubbard and KeShawn Murphy.

Hubbard scored a game-high 23 points for Mississippi State, with Murphy adding 18 points and dominating the boards with 14 rebounds. Cameron Matthews was also pivotal, scoring 12 points and converting 8 of 10 free throws, including several clutch shots in the final moments. Ryan Kugel contributed 12 points and delivered a critical offensive rebound late in the game, which helped seal the victory for the Bulldogs.

Utah started strong, controlling the tempo in the first half and building an 11-point advantage by halftime. The Utes’ balanced attack featured Ezra Ausar with a team-high 15 points, Mason Madsen contributing 14, and Keanu Dawes adding 13 points and 12 rebounds. Miro Little also chipped in with 10 points, hitting two key three-pointers during Utah’s dominant stretch late in the first half.

However, Mississippi State roared back in the second half, led by Hubbard and Murphy. They erased the deficit and took a six-point lead with just over 13 minutes remaining. Utah responded with a rally of its own, creating a back-and-forth battle with seven lead changes in a span of three minutes.

Down the stretch, Mississippi State’s execution proved decisive. Matthews knocked down critical free throws, and the Bulldogs’ ability to capitalize on Utah’s misses and turnovers secured the win. Despite the loss, Utah displayed resilience and strong performances from several key players.

The Runnin’ Utes will look to bounce back when they host Utah Tech on Friday, Nov. 22, at 5:30 p.m. ET, in a game that will be streamed on ESPN+. This matchup provides an opportunity for the Utes to regroup and build on their promising moments from Sunday night.

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North Carolina

Vigil held to protest expected veto override of North Carolina immigration bill HB 10

Published

46 mins ago

November 19, 2024

Press Room

Vigil held to protest expected veto override of North Carolina immigration bill HB 10

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — A vigil was held outside the state legislature to protest HB 10 — the bill changing the laws on how North Carolina’s sheriffs will need to process undocumented people that they’ve arrested.

That bill, vetoed by Governor Cooper in September, is expected to be overridden by the state’s Republican supermajority this week.

The vigil came just hours after President-elect Donald Trump took to social media, confirming that he would declare a national emergency and use the military to carry out the mass deportations he promised along the campaign trail.

“Where there is injustice we will stand, we will push back,” said Ana Ilarazza-Blackburn, founder of Women Leading Together and an organizer for El Colectivo.

Ilarazza-Blackburn’s been a vocal critic of HB 10 and made the drive up to Monday’s event from Moore County. She said she was stunned by the President-elect’s post about a national emergency on social media.

“It blows my mind. I never thought our country would come to this,” she said.

HB 10 would require North Carolina Sheriffs to follow new protocols should they learn someone who they’ve arrested is undocumented. It requires those sheriffs — once a court order has been issued — to keep those undocumented people in custody until federal agents from ICE can step in. It’s a law that advocates in the immigrant community say will devastate trust among North Carolina’s Latino community.

“What humane, civilized society targets at a community that has helped build them? Where’s the empathy for that and where’s the moral in that?” asked Ilarraza-Blackburn.

Willie Rowe and Clarence Birkhead, Sheriffs of Wake and Durham counties respectively, have publicly spoken out against HB 10 — arguing it takes away their ability to determine how to best serve their communities. Neither sheriff was available to comment for this story.

Conversely, the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association supports the latest version of HB 10, saying:

“The Association appreciates the legislature for its willingness not to impose onerous recordkeeping requirements on our state’s 100 sheriffs; and not to interject the Attorney General into these judicial matters.”

Monday’s vigil in opposition to that bill — attended by dozens of advocates for North Carolina’s Latino and immigrant communities — stuck a different tone.

“We can see the different ways that the attacks and the racism and the anti-immigrant sentiment is going to be more out there,” said Pilar Rocha-Goldberg, CEO of El Centro Hispano.

Rocha-Goldberg said they’ll continue to organize despite the news out of Washington on Monday.

“We saw it in the past. We saw it here, ice coming to take people from our community with really not the right way to do it. So, yeah, we are very concerned about that,” she said.

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