Pete Buttigieg came to prominence during his failed run for the 2020 presidential election. Formerly a US Navy officer and a mayor of South Bend, Indiana. He married Chasten James Glezen Buttigieg, a schoolteacher and writer, in June 2018.
A the time of this writing he is presently the US Secretary of Transportation. His first year as Secretary of Transportation was subdued as he was either on maternity or paternity leave while at the same time moving his family to Michigan where he now resides.
The Christmas 2022 flying season was especially brutal this year. A lot of news reports on cancelled flights because of the increased number of passengers and the weather. Unfortunately Southwest Airlines appears to be having trouble getting back on track. Under the rules presently in place, Airlines do have an out if cancellations are caused by weather. But, as the weather has improved, Southwest is this season’s laggard.
Something tells me Southwest personnel are not just sitting back and waiting for Pete Buttigieg to give them guidance.
Buttigieg said customers would be able to file consumer protection complaints with the Department of Transportation. It will be interesting to see how this plays out as once again, airlines usually have weather as an out.
Note: I do fly Southwest almost exclusively, but never fly during peak period holiday periods. I will most likely continue to fly Southwest. OI am confident they will work these issues with Pete’s grandstanding.
During late August and early September America’s Rail Road unions were threatening to go on strike. This strike threatened to cost the US economy more than $2 billion in lost output per day.
Note that in the end all was fine. Biden convinced the Unions to postpone the strike till after the midterm elections. He wrote a thank you memo to Secretary of Labor Walsh thanking him for his work.
Post election the Rail Road unions wanted to get back to their strike. But Biden, Pelosi and Schummer, released from the shackles of the midterm elections, asked Congress to force them to go back to work. They dutifully complied and Congress wrote law forcing them back to work.
With Biden signing the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill into law on Nov 15, it allocated $600 billion to the Department of Transportation (DOT). But a large portion of the pie, $211 billion is un-allocated in the bill and is to be awarded as ‘competitive federal grants’.
This makes Buttigieg, the most powerful Transportation Secretary in the US history. You can count on America’s governors and mayors trekking to Washington DC to pay homage to Buttigieg. Mass Transit, walkways, bike paths, bridges, freeway widening, tunnels, the list is long. Any dollar the Feds supply, saves the local governments money and gives them the ability to dream bigger.
Given it may take a few years to hand out $211B of unallocated federal funding, Buttigieg may be a formidable presidential opponent when he does decide to put in a 5/40 work plan. He will meet many players as he discusses possible projects, this can only help his future if he plays his cards right.
Many articles in the media reflecting the Supply Chain Crisis. Ships parked offshore at the nations ports. Railroads backed up. Not enough truckers to move freight across the country and to the last mile to their destination.
Meanwhile Mayor Pete has been on leave pending the birth of his and Chasten’s twins.
The following links were copied from a “The Hill” article.
- “Pete Buttigieg Calls Parenting Twins ‘Most Demanding Thing’: ‘Yet I Catch Myself Grinning Half the Time’ ” – People Magazine (211008)
- Buttigieg quiet on growing port congestion as shipping concerns build ahead of holidays - Fox News (211004)
- “Pete Buttigieg calls parenting twins ‘the most demanding thing I think I’ve ever done’ ” – USA Today (211008)
- “Buttigieg on parenthood: ‘Most demanding thing’ I’ve ever done” – NBC News (211007)
Did the US dodge a bullet by not having Mayor Pete be elected President? Even President Biden, almost 80 years older, seems to work harder.
2021-Apr-01 Buttigieg Motorcade stops for Buttigieg Bike To Work
Ever the one to promote clean energy. Secretary of Transportation has his motorcade stop a mile or so from work so he can be seen bicycling to work.
Optics are critical in today’s political environment.
Older Articles relevant Pete Buttigieg
- Biden on Buttigieg: ‘This guy’s not a Barack Obama’ - CNN (200209)
- Pete Buttigieg: Racism is 'physically built into' country's highways - WashExaminer (210409)
- U.S. ports face record backlog ahead of holiday shopping - NBC (211007)
- Buttigieg’s popularity soars as local leaders jockey for $211 billion in infrastructure cash - Fox (211201)
- Transportation Secretary Buttigieg took 'personal trip' to Europe during intense rail strike negotiations - Fox (221215)