Seriously. What Transportation Secretary have we had since Reagan that did anything but view the maritime sector as a non-entity in comparison to Truck, Rail, and Air?
Transport and infrastructure in the United States is abysmal and neither side of the aisle seems interested in doing squat about it.
MARAD was transferred to DOT under the Reagan administration for better or worse. Most recently the Heritage Foundation has a plan.
My goodness. This photo is one of the most obvious photoshop jobs I’ve seen in a while. Very apparent that Buttigieg’s head is just pasted on to someone else’s body.
I’m not sure if you did this edit job or if you found it somewhere on the internet, but I feel sorry for anyone who thinks this photo is real or tries to pass it off as such.
Also please remember that our previous DOT Sec. was somewhat familiar with shipping, mainly because her family was a wealthy Chinese family that made much of their money supporting foreign shipping. I think I would rather have a DOT Sec. who served in the US military and is more closely tied to our nation’s interests and domestic activities, rather than an individual with family ties to powerful foreign actors in a related industry.
I agree, it looks photoshopped. Reminds me of Sheldon from Big Bang.
And it’s not relevant to the subject if it’s real or not.
I will be honest and say I really don’t know. I was just thinking about how the current admins appointees seem to be people who fit into certain “niches”.
Are you implying Chao was a “Chi-com” or something? " She worked for financial institutions before being appointed to senior positions in the Department of Transportation under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, including chair of the Federal Maritime Commission (1988–1989) and Deputy Secretary of Transportation (1989–1991). She served as director of the Peace Corps from 1991 to 1992 and as president of the [United Way of America.
You forgot to say “Chinese-American-family”.
FYI ;Most of American owned ships are flying foreign flags and many of the owners probably has an “- American” affiliation.
Does that somehow make them less American, or a reason to suspect that they are somehow anti- American?
PS> There is a big world out there that is not US citizens. That doesn’t make them less important, or more suspect than the 5% that holds US citizenship,
Could be, probably looking for some veteran cred.
From 2009 to 2017, he was an intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve, attaining the rank of lieutenant. He was mobilized and deployed to the War in Afghanistan for seven months in 2014.
It’s funny but ask any US mariner in the industry and 9/10 will claim we are far left. I can’t tell you how many emails I’ve received calling me a commie despite the fact dad from agent orange from fighting communists and is buried in Arlington.
But I’m a “Trump soldier”?
Maybe. Just maybe… I hate horrible maritime policy and people who don’t do their job?
Maybe. Just maybe… both parties are guilty of bad maritime policy?
this country has, or ever had, a maritime policy since - 1941 ??
Nixon published a comprehensive policy near the end of his term but watergate killed it.
His MARAD administrator wrote this excellent book:
Spot on right there, sir. And both parties have us bickering and fighting each other on here and other forums across the country and around the world. Simultaneously promising us all what we want to hear and then not delivering and shifting the blame/responsibility. There are more comments on threads like this than other critical ones like our brother who was killed last week in the Houston Ship Channel. Seems as a country we are all guilty of falling into this poltical crap and not really putting our concern where it needs to be.
This was well said. I’m as guilty as anyone (and more than most) of taking cheap shots for my own entertainment… and that being said, there’s a reason why Yeats’ ‘The Second Coming’ is never far from some people’s minds these days. The internet is doing what WWI couldn’t.
An Merchant Mariners are the worst. Every other profession with keep their mouths shut if the government tries to give their industry money even if it doesn’s impact them directly. But here we got dozens of posts from people demanding the government close KP to “save money”
We spend well over $1Trillion on defense and some libertarian jerk on the right wants to shut down one of the few things our government does to get us young officers which every ship today needs? It’s bonkers
And both sides. You have Merchant Marine dems on twitter yelling about defunding TSP because an OSG tanker has a contract with Israel.
I LOVE that our community is no BS and that people speak their minds. But we have to stop shoving knives in each other’s backs.
I don’t know if I’m a “trump soldier” or not by I’m working hard with some on the Trump team to get some actual merchant mariners into key positions. I would do the same for Pete is he asked me (he obviously will not) and I’ve spent thousands traveling to DC to help Senator Mark Kelly’s team write legislation WITH INCLUDES MAJOR TAX BREAKS for US Merchant Mariners
But I have to stay off my own forum because if I mention it some group of idiots will go out of their way to sink it for whatever reason
It’s insanity
P.S. It’s a minority of mariners. The vast majority I meet are thankful and willing to help… but some rotten apples like @ChemicalTanker just feel the need to load up a gatling gun with hate and tell everyone they know what a d!ck I am. Sad thing is some mariners believe them. I could care less personally but it hurts others I’m working with so we have to keep the numbers of people in groups working on legislation very small and quiet.
like I said… pure insanity
So. In essence. Just like being a Captain or Chief Engineer. 
Exactly like that.
The best part is if those mariner tax cuts I proposed to Kelly get passed some knucklehead will start posting memes about how konrad the trumpist tried to kill it.
Again, just like captain. Fix a problem and then some shoreside idiot takes credit so the crew tells everyone “HR had to step in because the captain ignored us” 
The last one did, she and her traitor husband worked hard to make sure the USMM was no threat to her family’s Chinese shipping company.
No, many of us say close it because it is a subsidized buggy whip factory that should be closed and the same amount of money used to operate it as a USMM training center for certificated mariners who are driven from the industry by the obscene costs of maintaining or upgrading their certificates.
True but 99% of government is a subsidized bug whip factory
And there are bug whip factories within DOD that spend more money and work to actively undermine the merchant marine
Why don’t you spend your time and energy going after them??
