He has already explained that. Buttigieg said he was qualified for the job because he married his husband at Chicago’s O’Hare airport. Shouldn’t that be enough? 
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She was an attractive lady from a wealthy family. Why’d she marry Mitch McConnell? Apparently he is much more charming than people give him credit for and he has increased his wealth a LOT since they were married. Good for Mitch. Working folks would retire if they had his money but he has a higher calling.
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An american company.
Apparent on this site Ms Chao is not held in high esteem because of her family connections. Not her “Fault” she was born into money and a global shipping business. She supported the JA . She and Buzby worked well together. I don’t see where she used her influence to further her family’s business. Perhaps the opposite. Really, a spy? Get a grip folks.
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How many of the 30+ Foremost ships are US flagged? 0. You’d think she’s call her sister and say at least register one in the US while I’m secretary of transportation. Since they are privately owned it is hard to find out where they bank or pay taxes. Hard to pin down this outfit except that most of their trade is in Asia with a fair amount of dry bulk going from US ports to Asia.
Maybe she did, who knows?
That would of been a red flag. So, register in the US, then get a favorable Union contract, favourable route, because of SecTrans??
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Absolutely a red flag. That lady worked her ass off to get where she is today. Despite all of the challenges she faced regarding family background and bias, That was the best team with DOT and Marad we have seen in many years. Sad to see them go,
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Thanks. I thought I recalled that her family was from Taiwan. I think it would be safe to assume that most Chinese who came to the US in the 1960’s and started businesses would be virulently anti-communist.
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How about ceasing yaking about those who are leaving and those who are about to arrive?
And as far as I am concerned, Elaine Chao and Mark Buzby have not done JACK SHIT for the US flagged merchant marine but plenty for ports which serve foreign flagged shipping.
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Am just as concerned who is arriving, particularly Marad. Some posts here dissed Chao and Marad. I disagreed. Glad to see you are active sir, we all missed your knowledge and spirit. Sincerely sir.
Well that’s a bit over the top. But I guess the millions upon millions of jobs the ports provide directly and indirectly don’t matter.
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I was joking. Of course I never expected her to do such a thing and from her standpoint it wasn’t needed. Her family controls a foreign flag fleet and she will eventually inherit part of her father’s share. I have no knowledge of Chao doing anything to increase the number of US flagged vessels. I may be wrong and would welcome concrete proof.
I do give her kudos for making speeches that say the Jones Act will be abided by but…what has she done really?
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Major port improvements for one.
I think we have overspent on too many competing ports, at least twice as many ports as we actually need. We have also overspent on dredging and bridge raising to make too many ports accessible to ULCC’s.
There are no American flag ULCCs and there probably never will be.
It remains to be seen whether ULCCs will prove to be economically viable to their owners, or to the ports desperately throwing around big money to compete for their calls. I suspect that in a few years it will become clear that the US taxpayers and most US ports (other than Seattle/Tacoma, Oakland, LA/LB, and NY) have wasted many billions of dollars to become accessible to ULCCs that rarely, if ever, call anymore.
The SecTrans has so much more than just maritime, Biden’s plan to invest $1.3 trillion over 10 years on projects such as stabilizing the Highway Trust Fund to build roads and bridges, creating electric-vehicle charging networks, a national high-speed rail system, the development of low-carbon aviation and shipping technology, and infrastructure fortifications to withstand the effects of climate change.
Department of Transportation covers more than just the handful of us US Mariners (which I’m sure you know). Sea, air, rail, road…improvements at major shipping ports increases US jobs in those sectors too, pier side, construction, logistics, trucking, rail.
Trans provides funding too for airports where many foreign carriers fly in with people and cargo.
The biggest Trans problem in this country is arguably crumbling road/bridge infrastructure.
I’d love to see meaningful investment in the future of the MM, but I don’t for one minute think that will ever be the #1 priority for SecTrans. MarAd Administrator yes. Perhaps it will be a benefit that Buttigieg’s experience includes financial consulting, as infrastructure in this country as a whole needs some serious financial investment.
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“…its ships are registered under the flags of Liberia and Hong Kong.”
Or, like most ships owned by Americans, the Marshall Islands – All "flags of convenience.
Just sayin’…
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When a bridge collapses and kills a few hundreds of people then they’ll do maybe something.
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The US will colonize the Moon before they do a proper high speed rail system.
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