Secretary Buttigieg: Biden Admin To Use Infrastructure Bill To Address Racist Highway Design

www.dailywire.com

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Monday that the Biden administration would use money from the infrastructure bill to address what he claims were racist highway designs.

Buttigieg made the remarks in response to a question from White House correspondent April Ryan, who asked him how he would “deconstruct the racism that was built into the roadways.”

“So, the principle of Justice40 is that at least 40 percent of the clean investments in this bill will go to benefit the communities that are overburdened and underserved,” Buttigieg said. “So, part one of that is defining those investments that are eligible, and that’s a lot of it, and we’re working to map out kind of program by program, mode by mode, what would qualify.”

“As to where we target those dollars, you know, I’m still surprised that some people were surprised when I pointed to the fact that if a highway was built for the purpose of dividing a white and a black neighborhood, or if an underpass was constructed such that a bus carrying mostly black and Puerto Rican kids to a beach — or that would have been — in New York was designed too low for it to pass by, that that obviously reflects racism that went into those design choices,” he claimed. “I don’t think we have anything to lose by confronting that simple reality. And I think we have everything to gain by acknowledging it and then dealing with it, which is why the Reconnecting Communities — that billion dollars — is something we want to get to work right away putting to work.”

APRIL RYAN, BLOGGER: Secretary — Secretary Mayor Pete, could you give us the breakdown of the implementation of Justice40 with the infrastructure package that has now passed and signed into law? And also, can you give us the construct of how you will deconstruct the racism that was built into the roadways that you talked to TheGrio earlier when you broke that information with us? Can you talk to us about how that could be deconstructed?

PETE BUTTIGIEG, SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: For sure, yeah. So, the principle of Justice40 is that at least 40 percent of the clean investments in this bill will go to benefit the communities that are overburdened and underserved.

So, part one of that is defining those investments that are eligible, and that’s a lot of it, and we’re working to map out kind of program by program, mode by mode, what would qualify.

For example, if we’re buying clean buses — right? — how do we make sure in terms of where those buses go, but also looking at the business opportunity — the jobs that are going to be created, the businesses that will have a chance to compete for the business opportunities it creates. That too, I think, is a very important element of equity here that’s in the spirit of Justice40.

And again, we have a lot of guidance and oversight from the White House since that’s an administration-wide initiative, but we know that we’ve got to build our own internal, kind of, ways of aligning and defining that inside the administration.

As to where we target those dollars, you know, I’m still surprised that some people were surprised when I pointed to the fact that if a highway was built for the purpose of dividing a white and a Black neighborhood, or if an underpass was constructed such that a bus carrying mostly Black and Puerto Rican kids to a beach — or that would have been — in New York was designed too low for it to pass by, that that obviously reflects racism that went into those design choices.

I don’t think we have anything to lose by confronting that simple reality. And I think we have everything to gain by acknowledging it and then dealing with it, which is why the Reconnecting Communities — that billion dollars — is something we want to get to work right away putting to work.

RYAN: But that’s such a heavy lift. I mean, you’d have to reconstruct communities that this happened to. As you said, some of these beltways and interstates and roadways were built before the Civil Rights Act, before the Voting Rights Act, and were made — meant to be racist. But how do you go about redefining and replanting these roadways and communities that are already settled in since then?

BUTTIGIEG: Yeah. So, what’s interesting is it’s going to vary by community and we have to listen to the community. Sometimes it really is the case that an overpass went in a certain way that is so harmful that it’s got to come down or maybe be put underground.

Other times, maybe it’s not that way. Maybe the really important thing is to connect across it; to add rather than subtract. And that’s where we don’t want to impose a one-size-fits-all answer from here.

But when we were out in Syracuse, for example, looking at I-81, we saw the local vision for how they want to get past those divisions. And those local ideas are going to be taken very seriously as we try to meet the spirit of this law.

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​OPEC LAUGHS OFF BIDEN AS OIL PRICES CONTINUE TO SURGE

thedcpatriot.com

Since August, Biden and his top White House officials have repeatedly asked OPEC and Russia​ for more oil and gas as energy prices have skyrocketed.  But oil prices surged again Friday after foreign producers ignored the Biden request.

U.S. crude oil surpassed $80 per barrel while the lead foreign index broke $81 per barrel, both increasing 1.5% today, according to the latest data.

The Middle Eastern cartel Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its Russian counterpart, collectively known as OPEC+, denied the Biden administration’s Thursday request and chose not to alter any previously announced plans.

The Biden Administration’s request to increase productions to boost output and resolve global shortages is futile. Why would they want to do that and cut their profits and assist the United States?

 On Tuesday Biden told reporters, “If you take a look at, you know, gas prices and you take a look at oil prices, that is a consequence of, thus far, the refusal of Russia or the OPEC nations to pump more oil.”

According to Reuters, Senior Wall Street energy analyst Edwards Moya said on Thursday, “OPEC+ had an easy and quick meeting Thursday, barely even considering Biden’s repeated requests.” Moya added, “At no point did OPEC+ consider changing their output strategy, which was completely the message they had.”

Republican lawmakers have revved up their attacks on the president’s energy policies, saying his decision to hamstring American oil and gas firms is negatively impacting American Consumers. In fact, about 20 Republican senators wrote to Biden on Friday, urging him to take immediate action to ease the burden on Americans paying more at the pump. 

 But a separate group of GOP senators released a comprehensive climate action plan on Wednesday countering Democratic climate and prioritizing U.S. energy independence.

The administration has taken steps to increase the hurdles for U.S. producers to increase domestic output. Instead, from day one Biden gave up U.S. energy independence Trump had accomplished, by canceling pipeline contracts and producing contracts of U.S. oil companies.

“There’s nothing that’s becoming more expensive than gasoline today,” house Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said during a recent roundtable on Capitol Hill. “And it doesn’t have to be the case. When gasoline becomes more expensive, the people that it truly hurts are those that are less fortunate.”

https://thedcpatriot.com/%e2%80%8bopec-laughs-off-biden-as-oil-prices-continue-to-surge/

Biden approval sinks to new low in USA TODAY/Suffolk poll

 

www.usatoday.com

A year before the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans hold a clear lead on the congressional ballot as President Joe Biden’s approval rating sinks to a new low of 38%.

A USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll, taken Wednesday through Friday, found that Biden’s support cratered among the independent voters who delivered his margin of victory over President Donald Trump one year ago. 

Biden and his party are poised for a rebound, advocates argue, after the House passed a $1.2 trillion “hard” infrastructure bill late Friday, sending the signature measure to Biden’s desk for his signature. An encouraging economic report released Friday morning showed stronger-than-expected job growth.

Kamala Harris:Liberals saw Harris as a unique champion. Lately, they’re disappointed.

What Americans want Biden to do:What’s the one thing Americans want Biden to do in 2022? We asked them.

That said, the survey illuminates the size of the hole Democrats need to dig out of as they look toward the elections in one year – on Nov. 8, 2022 – that will determine control of Congress and shape the second two years of Biden’s term. 

At the moment, views of the president have soured.

Among the findings:

• Nearly half of those surveyed, 46%, say Biden has done a worse job as president than they expected, including 16% of those who voted for him. Independents, by 7-1 (44%-6%), say he’s done worse, not better, than they expected.
• Nearly two-thirds of Americans, 64%, say they don’t want Biden to run for a second term in 2024. That includes 28% of Democrats. Opposition to Trump running for another term in 2024 stands  at 58%, including 24% of Republicans.
• Vice President Kamala Harris’ approval rating is 28% – even worse than Biden’s. The poll shows that 51% disapprove of the job she’s doing. One in 5, 21%, are undecided.
• Americans overwhelmingly support the infrastructure bill Biden is about to sign, but they are split on the more expensive and further-reaching “Build Back Better” act being debated in Congress. Only 1 in 4 say the bill’s provisions would help them and their families. 

If the election were today, those surveyed say, they would vote for their Republican congressional candidate over the Democratic one by 46%-38%, an advantage that would bode well for GOP hopes of gaining a majority in the House and the Senate. In a president’s first midterm election, his party usually loses ground, and this time the GOP needs to flip just five seats in the House and one in the Senate to claim control. 

That outcome would make it even harder for Biden to pass legislation – already a difficult task in a Democratic-controlled Congress – and open the door to aggressive Republican oversight of his administration. 

Analysis:Paleologos on the Poll: Republican hold notable advantage heading into 2022

The poll of 1,000 registered voters, taken by landline and cellphone, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Tony Emmi, 62, a retired health care worker from Wilmington, Delaware, who was among those surveyed, voted for Biden for president and derides Trump as “deceitful” and “malicious.” But the Democrat says Biden hasn’t done enough to hold his party to account and get things done.

“I think this country is moving in a direction that is dangerous,” Emmi says.

Two-thirds of Americans (66%) say the country has gotten on the wrong track; one in five (20%) say it is headed in the right direction. That’s no better than the public’s uneasy view during the final weeks of the Trump administration. 

‘Stuff that’s keeping me up at night’

The infrastructure bill, which passed Friday with some bipartisan support, is backed by 2-1 (61%-32%) among those surveyed. The supporters include a third of Republicans.

“We’re not keeping our infrastructure updated – I don’t mean currently updated, I mean since 1930, some of these things have been in place,” says Kathleen Loyd, 70, a retired juvenile court officer from Piedmont, in southeast Missouri. She dodges potholes when she drives and had to remodel her kitchen after a water main broke.

Virginia, New Jersey elections:How Democrats lost voters, and what it means for 2022

Americans are closely divided on the “Build Back Better” act pressed by congressional Democrats. In the poll, 47% support the $1.85 trillion bill; 44% oppose it. The sweeping measure includes more than $500 billion in climate change and clean energy funding. It would establish pre-K for all 3- and 4-year-olds; extend the child tax credit for one year; expand Medicaid coverage in some states; add hearing coverage to Medicare; and finance affordable housing programs. 

The White House and its allies haven’t persuaded most Americans that the measure would benefit them, at least not yet. Those surveyed are a bit more likely to say its provisions would hurt their families rather than help them, 30%-26%. Thirty-one percent say it would not have much effect.

Those findings reflect either a failure of communication by the bill’s backers or a disconnect with what voters feel they most need. 

“Is this spending bill out of control? I don’t know,” says Nia Anderson, 45, a stay-at-home mother of three in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. She voted for Biden and says he’s doing “fine,” but “I’m worried about my kids, and I’m worried about my family.”

She was getting ready to take her children, ages 13, 9 and 6, across town to get vaccinated against COVID-19. “That’s the stuff that’s keeping me up at night,” she says.

In the poll, Congress gets dismal ratings: 12% approve, 75% disapprove. Congressional Democrats have a 29% favorable rating; congressional Republicans 35%.

Biden’s job approval rating is dismal, too, at 38% approve, 59% disapprove. He has the lowest rating of any modern president at this point in his term except Trump. Studies have concluded that a president’s job approval rating is one of the most powerful factors affecting midterm elections.

More:Paleologos on the Poll: Republican hold notable advantage heading into 2022

The party of a president with an approval rating that has dipped below 50% often faces a blowout. In the 2017 midterms, when Trump’s approval was at 37%, Republicans lost 41 House seats. In the 1994 midterms, when President Bill Clinton’s approval was at 48%, Democrats lost 54.

Last week, Republican Glenn Youngkin defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe for governor in a closely watched off-year election in Virginia. In the poll, 48% agree the outcome is a “telling sign of a Republican sweep in 2022.” Thirty-nine percent say it was “one state election and doesn’t have national implications.”

Biden loses ground with voters who backed him 2020

Biden has lost ground with voters since he won last year’s election, but Trump hasn’t gained it. Over the past year, two-thirds of those surveyed say, their opinion of Trump hasn’t changed. Fourteen percent say their view of him has gotten better, 19% say it has gotten worse.

But Trump commands more loyalty among his core supporters than Biden does.

Among those who voted for Biden last year, almost 4 in 10, 39%, say they hope he doesn’t run for another term; 50% hope he will run. Among those who voted for Trump last year, 1 in 4, 26%, hope he won’t run again; 65% hope he will.

“I thought he did a great job then, and I know he’ll do a great job in the future,” says Lynda Ensenat, 54, a Trump voter and independent insurance adjuster from New Orleans. “There’s a whole lot going wrong in this society right now, and all the Democrat liberals – that’s what they’re 100% for.”

She says Biden has “been wrong on absolutely everything he’s touched.”

If the presidential election were today between Biden and Trump, 44% say they would vote for Trump, 40% for Biden, 11% for an unnamed third-party candidate. In the election last year, Biden beat Trump 54%-47%.

Loyd, the retiree from Missouri, used to think of herself as a Democrat but voted for Trump in 2016, then left the presidential ballot blank in 2020. She’s so disenchanted with politics that she has stopped watching news coverage as closely as she once did.

She worries that the president isn’t competent but says her Republican congressman panders to the right with a false claim that Biden didn’t win the election, and she hates the name-calling that is now commonplace in politics.

“I don’t think anybody is talking to the average American citizen,” she says. 

Afghanistan takes toll on Biden:Americans’ harsh judgment on Afghanistan costs Biden’s approval, down to 41%, according to USA TODAY/Suffolk Poll

USA TODAY/Suffolk Poll in January:Americans, braced for violence at the inauguration, see democracy damaged after Trump

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/11/07/biden-approval-falls-38-midterms-loom-usa-today-suffolk-poll/6320098001/

The life of a wildlife photographer

Hey! This is my spot, what are you snooping around? 😍 pic.twitter.com/utykzFL4M5

— Robert Puente (@BobPM) November 8, 2021

CLOWN SHOW: BIDEN BLAMES RUSSIA & OPEC FOR AMERICAS SKYROCKETING GAS PRICES

 

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President Joe Biden is trying to blame someone else, again, for his mistake.  His decision to revoke the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline and impose a moratorium on new oil and gas leasing and drilling permits for U.S. lands and water, the president has accused OPEC of being unwilling to significantly ramp up their production of oil.

His idea that Russia and Saudi Arabia and other major producers are not going to pump more oil and reduce their prices due to over production, is ridiculous and a very bad decision. Many OPEC members have shunned Biden’s pleas, and are arguing that they shouldn’t produce oil at a faster rate due to the uncertainties associated with the pandemic, as reported by Al Jazeera.

On Tuesday in Glasgow, Scotland President Joe Biden claimed that gas prices have skyrocketed due to Russia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) refusing to pump more oil. 

Biden was at the United Nations Climate Conference (COP26) when his remarks were in answer to a question he was asked about when Americans could expect to see every day prices coming down, including those of gas. 

Biden reiterated his administration’s assertion that the uptick in consumer prices was, first and foremost, due to supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic. “If you take a look at gas prices, that is a consequence of, thus far, the refusal of Russia or the OPEC nations to pump more oil. We’ll see what happens on that score sooner than later.”

U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released a report mid-October, forecasting that American households could see their energy expenditures go up as high as 54% compared to the winter of 2021.

Biden has not acknowledged one time, that when he took office, President Trump had the U.S. free of dependency of any foreign oil for gas or energy.

https://thedcpatriot.com/clown-show-biden-blames-russia-opec-for-americas-skyrocketing-gas-prices/

After Going Woke, NASCAR Condemns ‘Let’s Go, Brandon’ Chant; Threatens To Sue Use Of Slogan With Its Trademarks: Reports

www.dailywire.com

Ryan Saavedra

NASCAR President Steve Phelps has threatened to sue those who use the “Let’s Go, Brandon” slogan on merchandise featuring the NASCAR’s trademarks and has condemned the use of the slogan, claiming that NASCAR does not want to be associated with politics.

The Associated Press reported:

Phelps … said NASCAR will pursue action against any illegal use of its trademarks on merchandise boasting the slogan. Retired baseball star Lenny Dykstra posted a photo on Twitter this week of a man eating breakfast at a New Jersey hotel wearing a black “Let’s go, Brandon” shirt alongside NASCAR’s trademarked color bars.

“We will pursue whoever (is using logos) and get that stuff,” Phelps said. “That’s not OK. It’s not OK that you’re using our trademarks illegally, regardless of whether we agree with what the position is.”

The slogan started last month at a NASCAR race at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama when NBC Sports reporter Kelli Stavast was interviewing driver Brandon Brown after he won the race.

As Stavast interviewed Brown, “F*** Joe Biden” chants broke out in the stands, but Stavast claimed that they were chanting “Let’s go, Brandon.”

The “Let’s Go, Brandon” slogan has since become code for “F*** Joe Biden” and is commonly used at sporting events and various other locations.

“I feel for Brandon,” Phelps said. “I think unfortunately it speaks to the state of where we are as a country. We do not want to associate ourselves with politics, the Left or the Right. We obviously have and we’ve always had, as a sport, tremendous respect for the office of the president — no matter who is sitting.”

“Do we like the fact that it kind of started with NASCAR and then is gaining ground elsewhere? No, we’re not happy about that,” Phelps added. “But we will continue to make sure that we have respect for the office of the president.”

The move by Phelps to condemn the chant and to claim that NASCAR wants to stay out of politics comes after NASCAR embraced leftist social justice causes last year and this year.

The Associated Press reported in February:

As a new season begins Sunday with the Daytona 500, a new era of social consciousness has enveloped the sport and NASCAR is committed for the long haul. … In fact, NASCAR President Steve Phelps cited a brand tracking study by Directions Research that found that 1,750 self-identified “avid NASCAR fans” overwhelmingly supported the sanctioning body’s stance on social justice in 2020.

“It was a moment in time back in June that seemed, for us, it was the right time to act. I think it was the right time for our country. I think it was the right time for our sport. The response to that was fantastic,” Phelps said. “What we do in the areas of social justice and diversity equity inclusion is going to be authentic to who we are. May not be the right thing for the NBA, but it’s going to be the right thing for us.”

“There was a question at the time: Social justice, is that something a sport should do, NASCAR should do?” Phelps added. “Do we have permission to do it? The answer is yes.”

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Illegal immigrant who posed as minor while crossing border charged with murder in Florida

nypost.com

Jack Morphet, Lee Brown, Jorge Fitz-Gibbon

A 24-year-old Honduran immigrant who’s charged with murder in the brutal stabbing death of a Florida man had crossed the US border illegally months earlier while posing as an unaccompanied minor, an investigation by The Post found.

Yery Noel Medina Ulloa was busted Oct. 7 in Jacksonville when he was found covered in blood after allegedly killing Francisco Javier Cuellar, 46, a father of four who had taken in the immigrant who told authorities he was 17.

Police said they followed a trail of blood back to the victim’s home and arrested Ulloa, placing him in a juvenile detention facility.

It wasn’t until Oct. 13 that authorities learned his real identity — and his true age.

Ulloa, who turned 24 on Friday, had duped border authorities in Texas several months earlier by claiming he was a teenager named Reynel Alexander Hernandez — and even told his mom about the ruse.

“When he entered [the US] he told me, ‘Mommy, I didn’t go in with my name,’” his mother, Wendy Florencia Ulloa, told the Spanish-language Univision network. “‘I went in with the name of another person because right there at the shelter they helped me.”

In keeping with President Biden’s border policy on unaccompanied minors crossing the US border, Ulloa wasn’t turned away but instead placed in a shelter.

He was given a “Notice to Appear” and released, officials told The Post.

Eventually, Cuellar took Ulloa to his Jacksonville home.

“‘Mommy, he is my Uncle Frank,’” his mother said he told her on the phone. Ulloa and Cuellar are not related, despite Ulloa’s use of the moniker. “‘I live with him. But don’t worry. He treats me like a son.’”

It is not clear how Ulloa ended up in Florida after being detained in Texas — or whether he was transported by way of the Biden administration’s secret flights to resettle underage immigrants, revealed in an exclusive expose by The Post last month.

Routes for the flights included from Texas to Jacksonville, the report noted.

Officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Border Patrol and the Office of Refugee Resettlement did not immediately respond to inquiries about how Ulloa wound up in Florida. Immigrants from the southern border getting off a World Atlantic Airlines airplane and boarding charter buses at Westchester County Airport in White Plains, NY, on Oct. 15, 2021. Christopher Sadowski

An ICE spokesman confirmed that Ulloa was detained on Oct. 13, but said the agency was not involved.

Cuellar’s daughter, MaryCarmen, 18, said she knew little about the man now charged with her father’s caught-on-video slaying — but believes he was on one of the flights.

“My dad told me one day he was going to the airport, and then this guy came out of nowhere and was at work the next day,” she told The Post. “I didn’t really ask questions.”

Ulloa nonetheless moved in with Cuellar, who put him to work at the family business, the La Raza Mexican Store, she said. President Biden reinstated the “catch and release” policy earlier in 2021.Susan Walsh/AP

“My dad seemed like he was doing a favor for somebody because where [Ulloa] came from they are super poor,” she said in a phone interview.

“We feel that someone asked my dad to do it,” she said. “My dad was really compassionate like that, he would help someone who needed it.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is already suing the Biden administration over its “catch and release” policy — and sources confirmed Tuesday that his office is also investigating whether Ulloa arrived in Jacksonville on one of the clandestine flights.

“This horrific crime is the latest example of how unfettered illegal migration costs Floridians’ lives,” DeSantis’ office told The Post.

“If not for the Biden Administration’s unlawful ‘catch and release’ policy, Mr. Cuellar would still be alive today. 

“Governor DeSantis is committed to doing everything in his power to keep Floridians safe. But as long as the Biden Administration persists in refusing to enforce our country’s immigration laws, Americans are at needless risk.  Under the “catch and release” policy, CPD can only hold illegal aliens trying to cross the border for 72 hours.Cedar Attanasio/AP

“How many more lives will be lost before the Biden Administration decides to uphold the law?”

Ulloa had been found wandering near a lake and covered in blood, with a trail of blood leading to Cuellar’s body in his living room, the arrest warrant showed. 

Home security cameras showed him “stabbing the victim numerous times and repeatedly hitting him with a chair,” the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office warrant said.

He called a friend to confess and even texted “that he had ‘killed Uncle Francisco,’” the warrant said. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is suing the Biden administration.Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP

According to his mother, she was told that after his arrest, “he cried and told them, ‘I killed him. I killed him.’”

Ulloa is charged with second-degree murder and is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday.

https://nypost.com/2021/11/04/illegal-immigrant-who-posed-as-minor-while-crossing-border-charged-with-murder/?utm_source=NYPTwitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=SocialFlow