Gary Varvel for January 12, 2023

HOW is the FAA supposed to operate with 20th century equipment in the 21st century??!!!

/SHEESH/

Pete can’t come up with the money to upgrade the systems, but Kevin McCarthy can – will he?

And they want Buttigieg to run for President in 2024???

Varvel at his worst.

Pete is not responsible for the air traffic control flight computers. It’s a multi-year upgrade effort costing billions which congress has not funded sufficiently.

A low-ball cartoonist demonstrating his jealous frustration over a vastly more respected and accomplished Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg.

And somehow the Secretary of Transportation is responsible for the failure of Congress to allocate enough money to update old systems?

Congress: Jillions for defense but why can’t the FAA, IRS, etc. do tneir work with outdated systems and less staff?

Mr. Buttieg issued an excellent statement about a week ago. He said the Republican efforts to shrink the federal government, starve agencies of needed funds to hire enough staff and modernize equipment have resulted in many of the government’s problems we are seeing today. But, as shown by Mr. Varvel, those responsible shirk any responsibility and scream the loudest when agencies can’t function.

And this is the clown being groomed to replace Biden. Lord, we pray for mercy.

The faux outrage is to be expected. Humans, and maybe especially politicians, are better at being reactive than proactive. The irony that the right-wing crowd needs to consider is that the proactive actions of the Biden administration (Bipartisan Chips Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Act for two examples) are roundly criticized.

Other than “scoring points” and “owning the Libz” what is it that fuels such thinking?

Do you think that we rely to much on Aviation ? My answer…..Trains ….High speed lite rail !

Everything about our infrastructure is ancient and in need of modernization. Thank goodness the Democrats are doing something about it – as opposed to the tax cut and otherwise do nothing GOP.

Pete’s a very bright guy (and a fellow Hoosier). We could do much woise!

Convenient memory: the FAA has been asking for $ for upgrades for years, and guess which party always says “No”?

In all fairness, the software is almost older than the internet.

Recently a bill was voted on for border security money. The republicans voted against it.

Ummm…does he need a bumper seat?

It’s good to see a Republican demanding more government.

The Secretary of Transportation must work with the airline companies to assure a smoothly operational and affordable national air transportation system; many of the foibles of weather and corporate business models are beyond his control, and threatening legal action against huge companies with deep pockets (and expensive lawyers) can only go so far. For Mr. Varvel, of course, this is all irrelevant.