Buttigieg on Paid Paternity Leave in Midst of Supply Chain Crisis

Politico asks Can Pete Buttigieg Have It All?

Buttigieg’s office told West Wing Playbook that the secretary has actually been on paid leave since mid-August to spend time with his husband, Chasten, and their two newborn babies. 

“For the first four weeks, he was mostly offline except for major agency decisions and matters that could not be delegated,” said a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation. “He has been ramping up activities since then.” As he does that, Buttigieg will “continue to take some time over the coming weeks to support his husband and take care of his new children,” the spokesperson added.

Media Blitz

Since the disclosure, Buttigieg has been on a media blitz rampage including n MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” “MSNBC with Geoff Bennett,” CNN’s “New Day,” CNBC’s “Morning Bell,” Bloomberg TV’s “Balance of Power,” and the NPR Politics Podcast.

Is  media blitz getting anything productive done?

Cheers Anyway

Nonetheless, advocates of paternity leave cheered Buttigieg for setting an example.

“It absolutely reflects changing norms and changing needs,” said Dawn Huckelbridge, the director of the group Paid Leave for All. “I’m thrilled that the secretary did that and showed that work and family go together.”

Paid Leave For All 

Sure, why not? Let the opening salvo be for 18 months. 

On second thought, why not 4 or 5 years until free preschool kicks in?

Weak Link In The Supply Chain

Issue Insights comments on the Weak Link In The Supply Chain

The only thing more laughable than Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s claim that spending two months on paternity leave counts as “work” is that the massive infrastructure bill in Congress would do anything to fix the supply chain crisis.

In August, just as Buttigieg was clearing out for the next two months, Vice President Kamala Harris was warning that “if you want to have Christmas toys for your children, it might be the time to start buying them because the delay may be many, many months.”

Worse, Biden is now blaming the private sector for the supply chain problems – telling businesses they need to “step up” – and promising more government intervention.

Buttigieg says that the crisis is an argument for “why we urgently need to pass the infrastructure vision that the president has laid out,” because “it includes $17 billion to support our ports, and we’re seeing just how important that part of our supply chain is.”

Inconvenient Details

• $17 billion for ports with only $9 billion of that for modernization
• $39 billion on public transportation
• $15 billion to subsidize electric cars
• $65 billion to subsidize broadband
• $21 billion on “environmental remediation”

The above details are from Issue Insights.

I posted additional details in Senate Passes Huge Infrastructure Bill, What’s Inside 

The entire bill is a trillion dollars with about $550 billion in new funding. My total only hit $612 billion, so there is another roughly $400 billion sloshing around somewhere.

On August 7, I noted Lobbyists Spent $426 million to Reap an Infrastructure Bonanza.

Nearly 2,000 companies and other groups have engaged with Washington officials about infrastructure to shape the final deal.

Seems like the port authority did not have enough lobbyists.

Weak Link or No Link?

Buttigieg was not a “weak link” he was a “missing link”. 

But why does it matter? 

On the job or off the job he is a useless as Kamala Harris at fixing the border crisis.

MIA, why should anyone care? I suggest we close the Transportation Secretary position (many others too) and be done with it.

Thanks for Tuning In!

Like these reports? If so, please Subscribe to MishTalk Email Alerts.

Subscribers get an email alert of each post as they happen.

Read the ones you like and you can unsubscribe at any time.If you have subscribed and do not get email alerts, please check your spam folder.

Mish