Mayor Pete. Biden’s Worst Cabinet Pick
Hmmm. Turns out simply being gay is not qualification enough to be America’s secretary of transportation.
If you can name one quality - other than his sexuality - that Pete Buttigieg possesses that qualifies him to handle our country’s complicated transportation issues, let me know.
I’ll wait.
Just as I thought.
If the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana had been a straight white man, he wouldn’t be on the short list for any job in Washington.
Think about it. The population of South Bend in 2020 was 103,453, making it the 4th largest city in Indiana. By comparison, Virginia Beach has 459,373 residents.
Is Mayor Bobby Dyer in line for a cabinet position if a Republican wins the White House in 2024?
Not a chance.
Now, Transportation Secretary-designate Pete Buttigieg, having ascended to Cabinet nominee, could preside over the FRA, one of 11 federal governmental bodies —employing 55,000 federal workers overseeing everything from billions of dollars in highway grants to the safety of hazardous materials at the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration — that could soon be under his purview if he is confirmed by the Senate. That’s roughly 55 times the number of employees he oversaw as mayor.
He’ll be vaulting from millennial Midwestern mayor concerned about train whistles involving not even a mile of freight railway to potentially overseeing almost 140,000 route miles that support some 167,000 jobs and an $80 billion industry — not to mention passenger rail or the Federal Aviation Administration or any other aspect of his new federal fiefdom.
Ever politically correct, Politico didn’t mention Mayor Pete’s sexuality. But what else could explain his selection in an administration addicted to box-checking?
Politico pointed to Buttigieg’s unbridled political ambition:
“Buttigieg, 38, wanted to serve as the ambassador to the United Nations, a position that went to Linda Thomas-Greenfield, and he was also considered for Commerce secretary. But Buttigieg has a limited political future in his home state of Indiana, and Buttigieg supporters were hopeful Biden would give the mayor a high-profile spot to gain more experience and bolster his big political ambitions.”
During Mayor Pete’s eight years attempting to lead this small town, he was flummoxed by pothole problems.
Fox News reported: “But in 2019, the South Bend Tribune reported that many residents felt the city had the ”worst pothole situation in the state” and Fox noted that finally Domino’s Pizza offered South Bend a $5,000 “Paving for Pizza” grant to fill in potholes.
Since he took office, Buttigieg has been a disaster. Anyone else remember how he ghosted the nation during the supply chain crisis of 2021, when container ships were stacking up in California port cities and there was a critical shortage of everything from construction materials to appliances?
Turned out, Buttigieg was on an extended paternity leave.
How about the time he was caught vacationing in Portugal while the rest of the Biden administration was trying to negotiate a settlement with America’s rail workers who were threatening to strike and shut down our entire rail system?
The past year the country has been plagued by excessive commercial airline delays. Not that they impact Mayor Pete who habitually flies private.
The latest transportion crisis could turn out to be deadly: The Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine, Ohio earlier this month caused thousands of residents to be evacuated as toxic chemicals spewed into the air.
What did Mayor Pete do? Nothing for 10 days.
On Monday he gave a speech about how there were too many white men working road construction and yesterday he unleashed a Tweet storm praising himself for all of the safety measures his department has taken to ensure rail safety.
In the two weeks since the 50-car accident there’ve been at least three other major derailments.
And where is Mayor Pete? No one knows for sure. But we know where he isn't:
In Ohio.
