If Pete Buttigieg proposed any of this, there would have already been 30 editorials on this site attacking him.
No I canât write that fast
Wish I could because I have more than 30 editorials in my mind detailing all Peteâs failures
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I wouldnât call them failures since he never had the capacity to begin with.
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How is he any different from any of the other ones?
Did we have a robust deep sea fleet that suddenly ended up in the scrapyard three years ago?
I donât have time to list the ways but top of the list is the last few times US flagged ships were in a combat zone they got marad medals. This guy refuses to even mention the merchant marine
Second Iâve been visiting DC a lot lately working with both sides of the aisle and even the Democrats at the DOD and Congress are frustrated with his lack of care for shipping
Third the last DOT secretaries were not given $1.2 Trillion to fix infrastructure problems.
Fourth the last DOT secretaries were not charismatic people who have the love and support of a large percentage of Americans. Pete does
I could keep going but the bottom line is Pete has a LOT more influence, power snd money than the previous secretaries but is doing even less to help us. Which is incredibly considering how low the bar is
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Thatâs the top of the list? Getting a medal? The crews are upset theyâre not getting medals?
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Sounds like theyâd be called âsnowflakesâ by certain types.
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So basically Pete COULD be doing more and better than the others but isnât.
Sad but not surprising.
I would still take benign neglect over active animus. Trump and his minions are the friends of mariners like Col. Sanders is friends with chickens.
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The reason Iâm not worried about Project 2025, from Trump at least, are too numerous to mention. But here are the most obvious to me.
During Trumpâs first 4 years in office he wasnât playing a long game or holding anything back. If he wanted anything mentioned in Project 2025 he would have said it then. Trump said he wanted to buy Greenland & joked about nuking hurricanes to keep them away from the US shores. Only a moron would think Trump was holding back on a sinister plan like Project 2025 for some reason. He doesnât shut up about anything.
If Trump wanted anything in Project 2025 he would declare it & almost all of his followers would back him 100% without doubt. He doesnât need to sneak around. The Trump campaign would sell them Project 2025 hats, T-Shirts & bumper stickers & heâd make 60 million dollars from the name itself.
SUNY got a new training ship because of Trump. 4 other maritime academies should get new ships because of Trump. Thereâs a whole new military branch because of Trump. Trumps former MARAD appointee called out the Ready Reserve, the first time in decades to shine a light on itâs horrible state, something badly needed IMO. Can anyone name any other POTUS ever doling out training ships for maritime academies, calling out failures at MARAD or who created new military branches? Links below.
One of the big forces behind Project 2025 is parody of a conservative Trump supporter. Paul Dans comes from a long line of liberals, went to liberal schools, started out as a liberal, then turned into an extremist conservative, to a never-Trumper & then into a polarizing Trump fanatic? Heâs the Stephen Colbert of conservatism. The same never-Trumpers, diehard McCain/Romney/Jeb B supporters at the Hertiage Foundation that wanted to get rid of the Jones Act when McCain/Romney/Jeb were running want to sink the Jones Act again & now weâre supposed to believe Trump controls the McCain/Romney/Jeb B, never-Trumpers at the Heritage Foundation? Get Real. Link below.
The most radical aspect of Project 2025 doesnât even involve the Jones Act or MARAD and I only seen this type of extremism in liberal, 3rd world socialist countries. My mother & father-in-law lives in Mexico. Because my father-in-law politics for a certain party, his wife, my mother-in-law gets a cushy, nearly no-show job babysitting a city park when his party wins. She gets paid to sit in a park all day. He gets the contract to maintain the local health department too. When his party loses, they get laid off because the new mayor puts his people there & my father-in-law starts politicking for the next election cycle to get those appointed jobs back. Same way in socialist Brazil, Venezuela, etc. Trump & conservatives get the sign of being for cooperations hanged on their necks but the most dangerous policy in Project 2025 is a page from the old socialist Soviet Union? Doesnât make any sense to me.
New Training Ship On Horizon For Maritime Academy | Bourne News | capenews.net
First and Fifth New U.S. Training Ships Mark Milestones (maritime-executive.com)
The man behind Project 2025âs most radical plans ⢠Daily Montanan
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Really John? The last Sec of Trans came from a family that literally owned a shipping company AND she was married to the Senate Majority Leader, but âMayor Peteâs unrealized potentialâ is what gets you so upset?
Iâm not arguing he did a great or even good job on maritime matters but your stance is just silly.
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(and he FINALLY got a new lock started at the SooâŚwhich has been talked about for years and HE got it done)
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The medal iteslf isnât important but recognition is.
And not just for a pat on the back but recognition sends a signal to other cabinet member and white house officials that the merchant marine is doing important work and needs protection and help
What we suffer from most is the simple fact noboby knows anything about us. I realize that many of you like the fact we work under the radar but the truth is itâs hurting the industry.
Where did I say that she did a good job? In fact I just said the exact oppposite:
An âincreadibly low barâ means she did an increadibly poor job.
But Pete is somehow managing to do worse.
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Maybe lead with the $1.2 trillion for infrastructure part and put the âlast time they got marad medalsâ at the end of the list. Or at least reword it. This makes it seem like the crews are upset theyâre not getting a medal theyâll never wear or, frankly, care about.
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No they just want the hazard pay that goes with being around there that nobody is getting.
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Yeah, Iâve been on ships where weâve requested and been denied. I could give a fuck about a medal or recognition, I just wanted my money.
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That is fair and pragmatic. A post on the state of MSC and the USMM involving a scheme to make containerized q-ship mssiles for fun and profit popped up on Instapundit, and someone in the know suggested the boomers look up John for an industry take on the matter, which was promptly ignored.
One loudmouth MSC survivor said something along the lines of âF you, pay meâ regarding sailing armed into conflict, and oh lawd, the boomers clutched their pearls and called for their fainting couches, expecting the noble mariners they didnât know about 30 seconds beforehand to fight for God and a country and pats on the back. Deeply, deeply upsetting, put them right off their grape nuts.
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What if I told you I was helping to write a bill that gives additional pay and benefits to merchant mariners who have been in combat zones?
What if said you canât just start handing our checks to people who claim theyâve been in combat zones?
What if I told you the USCGâs filing system is broken so they have no idea who has been in combat zones?
What if I said the best way for congress to verify this is see who has been issued medals by MSC or MARAD?
What if I said that many in the younger generation do want more than a bonus check?
What if I said that many working for Military Sealift Command are already hitting the federal pay cap so just throwing more cash at them isnât a feasible solution?
What if I said people like you going around posting about medals and basic recognition being stupid isnât helping anyone get paid.
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Iâd say itâs up to the companies to man up and pay their people and quit being bitches about âserving your countryâ and âdoing your civic dutyâ like Sam Norton did.
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Maybe people are just turned off by narcissistic, negative attitude, whining government employees (who are at the federal pay cap) demanding âGive ME More Money.â
Maybe when most people hear that the only thing that comes to mind is âFuck Them.â
The only way to fix MSC is to completely shut it down.