And Pocahontas is out too!

Down to Biden and Sanders... And you know Biden is going to clench the nomination! The swamp only associates with their own monsters... 

lol!

Thats the funniest thing I heard all day PowerStroker! You and your constituents dont have any weight when it comes to the DNCs nomination! You fools! Bwahahaha that was a good one PowerStroker!

Yeah thats what you said in 2016 too. 

Secretary of what? 

Our current US Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigeg.

Where have you been?

Well, a cabinet secretary is responsible for managing an entire section of the executive branch. Top level secretarys are considered to be a more powerful position than a Senator since they have so much direct control over their department. This is why Senator Sessions gave up his seat to become Attorney General.

Cabinet secretarys have to be confirmed to their posts by the Senate, much like a Federal Judge. Only the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and Attorney General would be by my estimation the 3 cabinet level secretarys with more gravitas than the Secretary of Transportation. Secretary Pete gets to personally weigh in on where Federal money will be spent on things like highways, bridges, electric car charging infrastructure, high speed rail, Airports etc. To say nothing of his power to regulate safety standards for the aforementioned.

Also, he is in the presidential line of succession... After the VP, Speaker of the House, Senate Pro Tempore, then the succession falls to the cabinet secretarys.

He's come a long way from being a mayor, he now manages an enormous chunk of the US government. The entirety of the US department of Transportation answers to him, and he only answers to President Biden.

It's the kind of thing that looks awfully good on a resume if he someday wanted to run for President again.

-- Edited by PowerStroker on Sunday 1st of August 2021 05:07:42 PM

Secretary Buttigieg spent 8 years as the mayor of South Bend Indiana which gave him far more executive experience in public service than Trump has, even to this day. And I believe Secretary Buttigieg will serve all of us well. It is up to him to expand and maintain our existing transportation infrastructure. And while he is a Democrat, he does his job on behalf of all Americans. Just as the secretaries of HUD and HHS will help replace a bunch of the lead pipes that have been poisoning the people in your neck of the woods, they serve all Americans, not just those who agree with their politics.

Can you show me an example of incompetence or corruption by Secretary Buttigieg in his role at the Department of Transportation?

And you didn't even know he was there. Seems like a pretty smooth operation to me. It's when someone who isn't qualified for a job that we become immediately aware of it through their lashing out on twitter.

Looks like your buddy Pete is busy at work implementing a "pilot" program to institute a national per-mile tax on your automobile! 

Great guy! Already taxing people who make under $400,000 the hardest!

https://www.yahoo.com/news/infrastructure-bill-floats-national-mileage-181500769.html

Hey now, I just happened across that article after your trotting out of Secretary Pete! Check the date of the article, I'm sure it's after your announcement.

Pilot program or not, per-mile cost to drive is bullshit! His fingerprints are on it! 

You asked for examples and one fell in my lap. It's your hot potato now!

No it's a bullshit pilot program PowerStroker! 

As someone who already pays WAY TOO much for gas, vehicle registration and premium market fixed and mandated auto insurance I'm saying Pete can go fuck himself with any idea of taxing an automobile by the mile!

Your guy should be focused on commercial vehicles or better yet Government vehicles like post office trucks and Government transportation charges per the mile for current airplane travel! 

But no, Pete just want's to rape everyone not on the Government dole making less than $400,000 per year with this outragous tax! 

Just the implications of such a "per-mile" program opens the door to Government tracking either thru a dongle in your vehicle, or a tracking APP on your phone!

So no, your guy Pete seems like a real fine tax hustler and conductor for the huge tax and spend infrastruture package that is in the works. 

I don't have faith that Pete will make choices based on the best value or what's good for the people. I am sure he will be partisan in his every move and ensure the people are taxed in new ways as if public roads havent existed for over 100 years now.

Secretary Buttigieg doesn't have the power to levy any taxes, only Congress does. 

If Congress gives him funding to study something, he'll do it, but for all we know he may end up reporting to Congress that upon completion of his study it is a dumbass idea.

This has about as much chance of becoming law as door to door vaccination providers being on a secret mission to take your bibles away.

Lets give Secretary Pete a break. He has an awfully big department to run.

-- Edited by PowerStroker on Thursday 5th of August 2021 12:21:37 AM

Leaving open the possbility isn't the same thing as actually doing something. Tax policy is entirely made by Congress btw.

I "leave open the possibility" that you are a smart and enlightened individual who just pretends to be a douche.