Pennsylvania House Democrats Propose Letting ‘All Incarcerated Individuals’ Vote

Several Democratic lawmakers this week proposed legislation allowing all imprisoned Pennsylvania citizens to vote by absentee ballot. 

State Representatives Rick Krajewski (D-Philadelphia), Christopher Rabb (D-Philadelphia), Donna Bullock (D-Philadelphia), Jason Dawkins (D-Philadelphia) and Aerion Abney (D-Pittsburgh) announced they will cosponsor the bills. 

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Granite State Union Says No to Biden Re-Election Bid ‘At This Time’

In breaking with the Big Labor mothership, one of New Hampshire’s largest employee unions has announced it will not endorse President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign — at least not now.

Instead State Employees Association/Service Employees International Union (SEA/SEIU) 1984 says it wants to see competition for the Democratic Party’s nomination. 

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‘Don’t Want to Get in the Way’: Pete Buttigieg Declines to Visit Site of Minnesota Fiery Train Derailment

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Thursday that he will not visit a small Minnesota town that was evacuated after a Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) train derailed and caught fire earlier that morning.

Raymond, Minnesota, residents who live within a half mile from the derailment site were evacuated after approximately 22 cars derailed and four caught on fire around 1:00 a.m. CST. The train was carrying mixed freight including ethanol and corn syrup.

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The Clintons and Transportation Secretary Buttigieg Speak at Vanderbilt, Condemn ‘Attacks’ on LGBTQ Community

The Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) 2023 Annual Meeting took place in Nashville this weekend at Vanderbilt University.

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Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Blasts DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg for ‘Tokenizing’ People of Ohio

Nearly three weeks after a toxic chemical-spewing train derailment, U.S. Secretary Pete Buttigieg finally toured the devastation left behind in East Palestine, OH. 

Ohio resident and newly announced Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy at a campaign stop in Iowa criticized President Joe Biden’s transportation chief for “leadership from behind.”

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U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Visits East Palestine, Ohio

Pete Buttigieg, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, visited East Palestine, Ohio, on Thursday as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced the preliminary findings of its investigation into the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train transporting hazardous materials.

The February 3rd derailment has caused significant health and environmental concerns for the locals, who have expressed dissatisfaction at how slowly the federal government has responded to the emergency.

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‘So Creepy’: Pete Buttigieg Taking Photo of DCNF Reporter Sparks Backlash

Twitter users reacted to a Tuesday evening confrontation between a Daily Caller News Foundation reporter and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, with some calling Buttigieg out for taking a photo of the reporter.

DCNF investigative reporter Jennie Taer posted a 45-second video on social media of her asking Buttigieg if he had a message for residents of East Palestine, Ohio, the location of a train derailment that resulted in the spilling of toxic chemicals. Buttigieg referred her to comments he made in press interviews, said he was taking “some personal time” and took a photo of Taer at the end of the interaction.

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Ohio State Senator Blasts Biden for Prioritizing Ukraine over Americans Affected by Derailment

State Senator Michael Rulli (R-OH-Salem) this week castigated President Joe Biden for failing to visit East Palestine, Ohio in the aftermath of the train derailment and controlled toxic chemical burn. 

Speaking on the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton radio show, Rulli described the president’s failure to visit communities surrounding the site where a 53-car train crashed on February 3. Rail company Norfolk Southern subsequently conducted a controlled vent and burn of five of the rail cars containing vinyl chloride. Biden did however visit Ukraine and Poland early this week to express his ongoing support for Ukraine’s military struggle against Russian encroachment — a trip that didn’t escape the state lawmaker’s notice. 

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Clint Brewer: Ohio Officials Are Doing a Poor Job of Crisis Management and Are Mishandling the East Palestine Train Derailment

Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed public affairs specialist Clint Brewer in studio to comment on the failed handling of the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment.

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Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro Was for the Controlled Burn of the Derailed Train Before He Was Against It

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s opposition to Norfolk Southern Corp.’s handling of its East Palestine, Ohio train derailment contrasts strongly with his initial satisfaction with the controlled vent and burn of the rail vehicle’s toxic cargo.

The 53-car train with some cars carrying vinyl chloride derailed on February 3 in the village of about 5,000 residents one-quarter mile west of Beaver County in Pennsylvania. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the train went off the rail as a result of a defective axle. 

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Pennsylvania Governor Blasts Norfolk Southern for ‘Vent and Burn’ Plan In Aftermath of Train Derailment

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is blasting Norfolk Southern Corp. for its handling of a Feb. 3 train derailment that spewed Hazardous chemicals in in East Palestine, Ohio, near the Pennsylvania state line. 

In a letter to Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan Shaw, Shapiro excoriates the railway for acting unilaterally, failing to establish a Unified Command, and creating confusion that resulted in a general lack of awareness for first responders and emergency management of Norfolk Southern’s response. 

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Senators JD Vance, Marco Rubio Send Letter to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Demanding Answers on East Palestine Train Derailment

Ohio Senator JD Vance (R-OH) and Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday amid the ongoing situation surrounding the recent train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

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Detroit Gets $24 Million to Reduce Traffic Deaths

The city of Detroit will receive $24.8 million to redesign existing transportation infrastructure in high crash areas to reduce traffic fatalities.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the money is part of $800 million in grant awards for 510 projects through the Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Program.

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Commentary: The Truth Behind George Santos’ Lies

The uproar over George Santos and his crude fabrications has given official Washington an opportunity to do what it does best: moralize and deflect. It is all a little amusing to watch. Who are these scoundrels to hold forth on truth and transparency? Are we meant to be astonished that a politician lied to secure public office? The freshman congressman from New York is distinguished only by the chutzpah of his act. His dishonesty, in an ironic way, is more truthful than the posturing of the preening hypocrites denouncing him.  

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Buttigieg Warned Before Holidays by Own Party of Looming Airlines Crisis

Like a slow-motion train wreck that wasn’t thwarted, the Christmas holiday travel disaster was forewarned to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg a month ago by members of his own party who pleaded he take more aggressive action to force airlines to address wary consumer concerns about growing flight cancelations, delays and ticket refunds.

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Pete Buttigieg Vacationed in Europe amid Rail Strike Crisis

While the country was facing a possible supply chain crisis due to the looming threat of a massive rail strike earlier this year, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg was vacationing in Portugal.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, Buttigieg was in Porto, Portugal in September, a tourist destination over 3,500 miles away from Washington, D.C., that is best known for its wineries. He began his vacation on August 29th, just one week before Amtrak started canceling long-distance trips ahead of a likely strike due to failed attempts to negotiate a deal that satisfied the rail workers’ unions.

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Stacey Abrams Repeats Already-Debunked Claim That Women Seek Late-Term Abortions Due to ‘Traumatic Experience’

Georgia Democrat gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams defended abortion through all nine months of pregnancy using an already debunked claim by the abortion industry and its allies that women seek late-term abortions due to some “traumatic experience.”

“There is no example of a woman — you’ve gone through the trouble of buying a crib and naming that child — there is no one who wakes up and says at eight months, never mind,” Abrams said last week on ABC’s The View.

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Phoenix to Receive $25 Million Grant to Construct Pedestrian Bridge

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego revealed that the city will receive a $25 million grant to construct the long-proposed Rio Salado Bike/Pedestrian Bridge.

She joined Pete Buttigieg, U.S. secretary of transportation, and other community officials at the Rio Salado Audubon Center, according to a news release from the city. The funding comes from a Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant.

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Commentary: Buttigieg Missing in Action on Supply Chain Disasters

Pete Buttigieg is the United States Transportation Secretary elevated from his role as a failed presidential candidate and a marginally competent mayor of South Bend, Indiana. During his tenure, our nation has suffered from unprecedented supply chain disruptions ranging from on-going back-ups at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, where forty percent of our nation’s imports arrive, to airline pilot shortages which are causing thousands of flights to be cancelled during high volume travel days. 

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Commentary: Democrats’ Radical Green Policies Don’t Help, They Hurt

Joe Biden

Last week, Michigan Democrat Sen. Debbie Stabenow bragged that on her way to Washington, D.C. she drove past “every single gas station” in her brand-new electric vehicle “and it didn’t matter how high [gas] was.” Apparently, Stabenow’s message to Americans struggling to afford their commute to work and school is to buy an expensive electric vehicle. For Americans – and especially Michiganders like me – Stabenow’s comment is as unhelpful as it is condescending. But Stabenow isn’t the only Democrat embracing a “let them eat cake” attitude. Climate activists are hurting Americans with their green agenda.

The Biden administration has made EVs a pillar of its anti-U.S. energy agenda. Last year, Joe Biden set a goal that by 2030, half of the vehicles sold in the country would be EVs. More recently, Biden pledged to use taxpayer dollars to build EV charging stations across America. And just a few weeks ago, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg suggested that families anxious about rising gas prices should just buy an EV, which have an average price tag of more than $60,000. Meanwhile, in more than a dozen states and the District of Columbia, drivers are paying more than $5 for a gallon of gas. Painfully high fuel prices aren’t an accident. They’re the momentum driving Biden’s energy “transition.”

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Michigan Railroads Get $30 Million Federal Grant

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced $368 million in rail infrastructure grants to 46 projects in 32 states, including about $30 million for two Michigan rail projects.

“Americans deserve a world-class rail system that allows people and goods to get where they need to go more quickly and affordably, while reducing traffic and pollution on our roads,” Buttigieg said at the Mackinac Policy Conference. “We’re proud to award these grants to improve passenger rail for riders and strengthen the freight rail that makes our supply chains and our economy work.”

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Visits Wisconsin Despite Administration’s Low Approval Numbers

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Tuesday visited Wisconsin to tout the passage of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The legislation will send millions to state and local governments to repair and upgrade key pieces of infrastructure.

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Newt Gingrich Commentary: Biden Helping Dictators and Harming Americans

When the Biden administration appeals to Iran, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia for oil but rejects American and Canadian oil and gas production, there is something profoundly wrong.

Why does Joe Biden think dictators are better than Americans? Why send money to Iran instead of Oklahoma – or to Venezuela instead of Texas? If he wants to send money outside the United States, why not send money to Canada rather than Saudi Arabia?

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Majority of Americans Say Pete Buttigieg Is Failing to Deal With Supply Chain Crisis: Poll

A majority of Americans say Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is failing to handle the ongoing supply chain crisis, according to a new poll.

Roughly 55% of likely voters rated Buttigieg’s handling of the supply chain crisis as “poor,” according to the results of a Trafalgar Group/Convention of States Action poll released Monday, while around 30% said Buttigieg’s job performance on the crisis is “good” or “excellent.”

Republican voters particularly disapproved of Buttigieg’s job performance, with over 80% saying Buttigieg was doing a poor job handling the crisis. Democrats were more favorable to the secretary, with roughly one-third rating Buttigieg’s performance as poor.

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Georgia Congressional Candidate Says He Knows How to Repair America’s Trucking Industry Troubles

A Republican who wants to replace U.S. Representative Jody Hice (R-GA-10) and owns a Jackson-based trucking company said it wouldn’t take much for the government to increase productivity within that industry, especially with current driver shortages. But government officials would have to have enough willpower to make those changes.

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Georgia Rep. Barry Loudermilk, Others, Propose Way Pete Buttigieg Could Ease Supply Chain Crisis

Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-GA-11) and nearly 90 other members of the U.S. House of Representatives this week urged Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to allow certain 18-20-year-olds to operate Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMVs) in interstate commerce. This, Loudermilk and other members of Congress said in a letter to Buttigieg, to help alleviate the nation’s growing supply-chain emergency. The representatives said there are too few truckers on the road to meet demands. They asked the Department of Transportation (DOT) to proceed with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA’s) Under-21 Commercial Driver Pilot Program.

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65 Percent of Voters Agree with Sen. Blackburn: Buttigieg Should ‘Get Back to Work or Leave

According to a Rasmussen Reports poll, 65% of voters agree with Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s comment that Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg should either “get back to work or leave” after taking off work for two months of paternity leave.

The Tennessee Republican made the comment to Breitbart after Politico reported that the Transportation Secretary had been on paternity leave since August. “We’re in the middle of a transportation crisis, and Pete Buttigieg is sitting at home,” Blackburn said. “Meanwhile, cargo boats are unable to dock, and shelves are sitting empty. Pete needs to either get back to work or leave the Department of Transportation. It’s time to put American families first.”

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Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to Visit Arizona on Thursday

Pete Buttigieg

U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Pete Buttigieg will visit Phoenix on Thursday to discuss the Biden Administration’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan. The Arizona Sun Times inquired with the DOT for further details of Buttigieg’s visit. They didn’t respond by press time.

Buttigieg is scheduled to host a press conference at 10 am MST. During the press conference, Buttigieg is expected to address the infrastructure plan’s impact on tribal communities. In April, Buttigieg promised that tribal communities would benefit from the infrastructure plan’s investments into roads, broadband, water, higher education, and transportation.

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Blackburn Tours I-40 Closure, Calls for Targeted Infrastructure Spending

Sen. Marsha Blackburn

Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) traveled to Memphis on Thursday to tour the damaged I-40 bridge and met with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to discuss infrastructure spending to meet the logistical needs of Tennessee.

“The I-40 bridge closure affects not only Memphis and the Mid-South region, it affects the entire nation. I-40 is a coast-to-coast federal interstate highway crossing our nation from North Carolina to California,” Blackburn described in a statement. “This bridge situation deserves to have the full and immediate attention of the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Biden administration.”

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Pete Buttigieg Scheduled to Visit Memphis Thursday

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has announced he will travel to Memphis on Thursday, June 3, to assess the disruption to traffic that the closure of the Hernando DeSoto-Interstate 40 bridge over the Mississippi River has caused. Inspectors said they found a large crack in one of the bridge’s structural beams on May 12.

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Transportation Sec. Buttigieg Says Mileage Tax Won’t Be Part of Biden’s Infrastructure Bill

Highway Traffic

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Monday that a mileage tax won’t be included in President Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposal.

Buttigieg told CNN anchor Jake Tapper the tax is “not part of the conversation about this infrastructure bill,” despite floating the idea of taxing people based on how far they drive last week.

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Northam, Beyer and Buttigieg Announce $3.7 Billion Transforming Rail in Virginia Initiative

New U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Congressman Don Beyer (D-Virginia-08) joined Governor Ralph Northam at Alexandria’s Amtrak station Tuesday. Northam announced a partnership with Amtrak, CSX and the Virginia Rail Express (VRE).  The partnership includes a $3.7 billion investment into expanding infrastructure, funded by Amtrak, state, and regional partners.

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AG Nessel Hopeful a Buttigieg Cabinet Position Will Seal Line 5’s Fate

Pete Buttigieg

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Tuesday expressed her approval of former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg as a nominee to head up the U.S. Department of Transportation.

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Crom Carmichael Talks Cancel Culture and the Identity Politics of Biden Administration Presumptive Picks

Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio to discuss cancel culture and the identity politics of Biden’s administration picks.

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Metro Nashville Council Signs Off on Mayor Cooper’s $1.6B Transportation Plan

The Metro Nashville Council on Tuesday voted to approve Mayor John Cooper’s $1.6 billion transportation plan.

The move will help Nashville to apply for federal grants to implement the plan, WPLN reported. Cooper wants to invest in the WeGo bus system even though ridership fell by half this year during the pandemic.

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Commentary: The Myth of the Moderate Democrat

Our friend Deroy Murdock posted a great column about the Democrat candidates for President which we caught on NewsMax.

Mr. Murdock’s point was that while not all of those still in the race for the Democratic Party’s nomination for President may not be full-blown socialists, like Senator Bernie Sanders, the balderdash that they are even vaguely centrist is either desperately uninformed or deliberately dishonest.

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Klobuchar Calls for Over 500 Percent Increase in Refugees, But Just Not in Her Neighborhood, Reports Say

  “Do what I say, not as I do,” could be the mantra for Presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar when it comes to resettling more than 500 percent more refugees under her proposal since virtually none of them would end up in her neighborhood, according to a report. And one of…

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Mayor Pete Would Increase Refugee Influx by 511 Percent If He Becomes President Pete

Mayor Pete says he would inundate America with at least 110,000 refugees a year if he were to become President Pete, an increase of 511 percent. Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, made the remark in a Q&A interview on human rights with Amnesty International. The…

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The Battleground State Report: Leahy Explains How Iowa Will Become a Battleground State for the Senate and Not the 2020 Presidential Election

The Battleground State Report, airing Fridays at 8 a.m. CST with Michael Patrick Leahy and Doug Kellett – is a one-hour radio show from Star News Digital Media in the early stages of national weekend syndication rollout. With Kellett out of the studio, Michael Patrick Leahy discussed the recent debacle of the Iowa caucus.

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Victory is Mine: Jim Larew Analyzes Sanders and Buttigieg Dual Claims of Victory at the Iowa Caucus

Leading Democrat and ambassador to Iowa, Jim Larew joined host Michael Patrick Leahy Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – to discuss the dueling claims of victory of the Iowa caucuses.

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Democrats Mocked for Disastrous Iowa Caucus

Someone won Monday night’s Iowa caucuses — we just don’t know who, yet.

The Iowa caucuses have been the first nominating contest in the nation since 1972 with 41 national delegates up for grabs.

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