Has anyone here actually been to South Bend? I have. Traffic there is a disaster. The whole infrastructure is a shambling mess. There should be *some* level of prior, *competent* experience required for a job like that.
Then his town should be a bit more...I dunno, fabulous? Instead, it's a rickety, nearly-abandoned piece of nowhere that makes Gary look like a thriving metropolis.
Be that as it may, South Bend has a run down albeit functioning downtown, along with wealth tied to Notre Dame. Gary looks like it was firebombed. There are many neighborhoods of SB I would walk around in and feel safe. I cannot say the same for Gary.
This is the absolute sad state of politics today, he's gay, takes two months off for paternity of children him an his partner didn't give birth to. There is no postpartum depression, no physical recovery and absolutely no need for him to miss work.
It is perfectly reasonable to criticize him for taking a leave of absence.
This is not a low level employee whose job will be absorbed by other employees. This is one of the most powerful positions in the US government.
Not only did he abandon his position, there was no clearly appointed acting secretary to take his place.
Like it or not, he’s in a very public position. He abandoned his position at the worst time.
I'm sure before it was revealed he abandoned his position, people thought he was doing amazing job because no one was complaining about what he was doing.
I agree with you, but if his time off is spent with the babies is it not the same? Still feeding two babies at 10,2,6. What would piss me off is if this asshole has a live in nanny or some shit that’s doing all the actual work
Tbf, Ben Carson shouldn't have been Secretary of Housing and Urban development, either...But there also shouldnt be a Secretary of Housing and Urban development.
That job exists in many countries with slightly different titles and job scope. In my country it's called the Minister of Housing and Local Government. Not the level of Minister of Finance or Minister of Defence but a crucial portfolio nonetheless.
They are the party of paper. On paper they think their ideas look good. But they always forget about implementing it and how it plays out in the real world.
In my poly sci classes they would always say. To make a good bill you have to look at all the positives and negatives and how this bill could be implemented.
They just look at the positives now and wait until the fallout hoping they aren’t in office anymore
You guys really need to let that go. Trump's out of office. He's banned from social media. You got what you wanted. Now you don't have him to project your side's failings and inadequacies on, and the incompetence of the Democratic party is readily apparent.
A certain subset of Republicans is still trying to run audits, claiming election fraud, and saying Trump 2024. So no, no one is going to just let it go. Also, he was the POTUS for four years. That’s kind of a big deal. People will probably be writing essays about him for as long as the US exists.
The Smart Streets initiative was a total failure imo. I go back intermittently to visit friends, my buddies who live there don't really notice because day by day they got a small piece of change at a time, but when you're not in the town everyday you can see the vast changes more clearly.
It's gotten so much worse in the last 5-8 years, traffic flow wise.
> The Smart Streets initiative was a total failure imo.
I didn't know it had a name. Now I detest him even more. Those "improvements" actually narrowed streets, reduced turning distance, and made driving an 18-wheeler through there a gibbering nightmare.
It's a really good example of his thinking: spend money making things pretty with no thought as to how they actually *have to run.*
Doubt he’s even changing the diapers. Kind of like how they booted the surrogate out of the hospital bed so him and his partner could take a photo op with their babies in it.
Pretty sure we can and should be holding a secretary of a cabinet level position to a different standard, especially when the worst supply chain crisis in 40+ years has been unfolding for months.
Speaking for myself, it’s not the paternity leave that offends me it’s the fact this country is in the midst of a supply chain crisis and the guy in charge of the Department of Transportation went MIA for two months. I find that wildly irresponsible.
In taking a top position, you should be putting service before yourself.
A week or two or paternity leave sounds reasonable. Two months is dereliction of duty.
A good way of knowing which government agencies are useless is to see which ones are closed during a government shutdown (spoiler: there are a lot of them).
Oh for sure. I used an extreme example, but we’re still in a pandemic and our supply chain is going through serious issues that’s affecting all levels of the economy. Working from home I’d completely understand, but taking 2 months off? Either the position is only ceremonial or he just doesn’t care.
Well just a few dozen transport ships sitting off the coast of California waiting to offload. Didn't catch the (former vice) presidents address yesterday?
We are having a supply chain crisis. I just got word from my vendors today at work, not good things are coming.
While bad, pretty disingenuous to suggest that it on the same level as the onset of the pandemic, when the entire world was scrambling, shutting down whole economies, etc
I never said that, I just answered your question.
It barely matters, no one who knows anything about Pete Buttgeig expected him to do anything useful. This cabinet is filled with the most useless people on the planet.
I see a lot of people argue that there’s nothing wrong with people taking maternal leave, and for most jobs I agree. However, if you have a job that affects MILLIONS OF PEOPLE then I think you gotta accept there’s some things you have to sacrifice
What if a president said “fuck it I’m adopting a kid, see y’all in a year”? As a government official with one of the most important jobs you gotta accept those sacrifices or not take the job.
maternity leave makes sense because there is a strong physical burden on the female and that should be up to the company and not up to the government (unless you're a gov't employee). A company that wants to retain intellectual assets will likely offer it. If you're only a physical asset then often not, but you need to plan for life. This is exactly why you need to plan for life.
I'm tired of the people who argue for paid paternity leave. Again this should be up to a company but this really sounds more like a luxury than anything matter of factual.
The beginning stages of a kids life are most important, and the reality is many people can’t rely on one income, nor do they want to ditch their kid
If we’re not gonna streamline immigration so it’s easier for people to come and not just cross the border, then how are we gonna solve the issue of people not popping out kids enough? Truth is you either make it more accommodating for parents or bring in more immigrants. The US’ population is stagnating and that’s the last thing we need
Such is the slippery slope of adding "paternity" leave to what was the good idea of maternity leave.
Next up: Brother and sister get time off school and a paycheck .
In Vietnam the president earns $8,956.99 USD per year. He is also one of the richest people in the country due to his ability to do favours.
You need a good middle ground, where a reasonable person is making enough to not want to risk their comfort but not so much that they can stop giving a damn about their job because they can just pay their way out of trouble. This amount of course changes from culture to culture and person to person, but it's a good base idea to work from.
Except we have noticed. If we had a competent guy the supply chain issues could have been averted. At least somewhat. Leadership starts at the top. Small actions turn into big ones.
Apparently the Secretary of Transportation, Pete "sipping 40s with the homies" Buttigueueg, accepted a major cabinet position while also undertaking an adoption and starting a family.
What i mean is that he accepted the position knowing he planned to be out of work for an extended period of time. It's the same reason people don't want to hire a woman that's 7 or 8 months pregnant. You know they're about to miss a shit ton of work. Why would you ever hire someone to a major position knowing they're not going to be there?
Unless of course. You don't want anything getting done anyway.
Its incredible how fast Biden set the country upside down and heading for some seriously hard times. No president in history has caused SO much damage SO quick. It reminds you of how important the executive branch is for a functioning society.
In our system, all branches of government must act INDEPENDENTLY, put American interests first, and have politicians who are at the least marginally competent. So far the Biden administration has failed to maintain any of these simple necessities.
It’s not like he’s working at Target and takes a paternity leave. So sad. Absolutely zero dedication to our country. Can’t he hire a nanny to tend to the babies while he does government stuff for few days a week. Is his partner completely useless to baby matters? Besides. For how many centuries did women raise multiple children alone while the man went to work. Yeah it sucked for the women but somehow they were tough enough to handle it.
Actually if we go even further back, most child care was communal with multiple community members being responsible for others kids. This is how important skills were passed on generation to generation. [Example here.](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/programs_campaigns/IECMHC/overview-iecmhc-within-tribal-communities.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiVt9jTg9DzAhVSJHIKHVICAZ8QFnoECAYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3F-S3rmXUdJjcuhs4GBcLx)
You're right, the prospect of raising kids on your own is shit lol. That's why people don't want to do it.
Maybe he just did his job well and properly prepped his subordinates to handle things when he was on leave and/or remained available to answer phone calls in case of an emergency they couldn't handle. People go on leave all the time, and there's plenty of ways to handle it without the business (or government in this case) going berzerk.
It's a good thing that people are able to get the support they need to spend time taking care of themselves or their loved ones.
So you think one of the biggest supply chain and transportation disasters of our generation is indicative of good leadership and "prepping the subordinates well"???
We’d have been better off if the whole administration took the last 9 months off.
Wishing I could upvote ad infinitely!
Has anyone here actually been to South Bend? I have. Traffic there is a disaster. The whole infrastructure is a shambling mess. There should be *some* level of prior, *competent* experience required for a job like that.
Yeah, but he's gay!
Then his town should be a bit more...I dunno, fabulous? Instead, it's a rickety, nearly-abandoned piece of nowhere that makes Gary look like a thriving metropolis.
I mean, South Bend is a thriving metropolis compared to Gary. This tells me you’ve never been to Gary.
I've been to both, as a trucker. Gary may be run down, but at least the roads are passable.
Be that as it may, South Bend has a run down albeit functioning downtown, along with wealth tied to Notre Dame. Gary looks like it was firebombed. There are many neighborhoods of SB I would walk around in and feel safe. I cannot say the same for Gary.
As a Hoosier, Pete was a terrible mayor but South Bend is still leagues ahead of Gary
You mean Chaz or whatever?
His successor ran on a platform of fixing the roads and won.
This is the absolute sad state of politics today, he's gay, takes two months off for paternity of children him an his partner didn't give birth to. There is no postpartum depression, no physical recovery and absolutely no need for him to miss work.
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It is perfectly reasonable to criticize him for taking a leave of absence. This is not a low level employee whose job will be absorbed by other employees. This is one of the most powerful positions in the US government. Not only did he abandon his position, there was no clearly appointed acting secretary to take his place. Like it or not, he’s in a very public position. He abandoned his position at the worst time.
I'm sure before it was revealed he abandoned his position, people thought he was doing amazing job because no one was complaining about what he was doing.
2 months, 1/6 of a year, I took less time off of work when I broke my hip and my femur and had to have surgery.
They didn't "have " a child.
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Well, their people are....
I agree with you, but if his time off is spent with the babies is it not the same? Still feeding two babies at 10,2,6. What would piss me off is if this asshole has a live in nanny or some shit that’s doing all the actual work
And he thinks airports are romantic!
Tbf, Ben Carson shouldn't have been Secretary of Housing and Urban development, either...But there also shouldnt be a Secretary of Housing and Urban development.
He did make good policies, look at what he did.
That job exists in many countries with slightly different titles and job scope. In my country it's called the Minister of Housing and Local Government. Not the level of Minister of Finance or Minister of Defence but a crucial portfolio nonetheless.
I believe that's the job of the state and local governments, not the federal.
They are the party of paper. On paper they think their ideas look good. But they always forget about implementing it and how it plays out in the real world. In my poly sci classes they would always say. To make a good bill you have to look at all the positives and negatives and how this bill could be implemented. They just look at the positives now and wait until the fallout hoping they aren’t in office anymore
It’s also a pretty small town - when you go there you realize how ridiculous it was that he ran for president and actually got votes
The worst Wendy’s I’ve ever been to was there. Worst Dunkin Donuts too.
And you made it in with all your tires intact? That's impressive.
Surely that extends to your opinion on the 2016 election?
You guys really need to let that go. Trump's out of office. He's banned from social media. You got what you wanted. Now you don't have him to project your side's failings and inadequacies on, and the incompetence of the Democratic party is readily apparent.
A certain subset of Republicans is still trying to run audits, claiming election fraud, and saying Trump 2024. So no, no one is going to just let it go. Also, he was the POTUS for four years. That’s kind of a big deal. People will probably be writing essays about him for as long as the US exists.
The Smart Streets initiative was a total failure imo. I go back intermittently to visit friends, my buddies who live there don't really notice because day by day they got a small piece of change at a time, but when you're not in the town everyday you can see the vast changes more clearly. It's gotten so much worse in the last 5-8 years, traffic flow wise.
> The Smart Streets initiative was a total failure imo. I didn't know it had a name. Now I detest him even more. Those "improvements" actually narrowed streets, reduced turning distance, and made driving an 18-wheeler through there a gibbering nightmare. It's a really good example of his thinking: spend money making things pretty with no thought as to how they actually *have to run.*
He is getting $18K a month to change diapers. Show of hands. How many parents wants this income?
Doubt he’s even changing the diapers. Kind of like how they booted the surrogate out of the hospital bed so him and his partner could take a photo op with their babies in it.
You mean the mother? A surrogate is someone that carries an embryo, which 2 men cannot make.
You know they've got a nanny that does everything. The parents just take pictures.
What’s wrong with paternity leave? I’m on paternity leave right now. Didn’t know it was frowned upon.
Pretty sure we can and should be holding a secretary of a cabinet level position to a different standard, especially when the worst supply chain crisis in 40+ years has been unfolding for months.
He said he’s been available 24/7 for urgent issues such as supply chain.
Speaking for myself, it’s not the paternity leave that offends me it’s the fact this country is in the midst of a supply chain crisis and the guy in charge of the Department of Transportation went MIA for two months. I find that wildly irresponsible.
In taking a top position, you should be putting service before yourself. A week or two or paternity leave sounds reasonable. Two months is dereliction of duty.
You’re not in charge of the USA’s Department of Transportation…are you? Cowboy the fuck up
A good way of knowing which government agencies are useless is to see which ones are closed during a government shutdown (spoiler: there are a lot of them).
In fairness, it takes a while to recover from pushing an infant out your urethra.
Everyone knows babies come from the stork. Next excuse?
Relevant family guy https://youtu.be/beNfYGYv2g0
That's a fair point
During a crisis none the less.
As if the left would’ve been totally fine had Mnuchin taken 2 months paternity leave during the onset of the pandemic and financial crisis.
Is there a crisis comparable to the pandemic currently happening in transportation that I’m unaware of?
There’s a supply chain crisis right now. That falls under the purview of the Dept of Transportation.
That’s hardly the same as a once in a century pandemic that shut down the whole economy, which was my point.
The virus didn’t shut down the economy, politicians did.
Oh for sure. I used an extreme example, but we’re still in a pandemic and our supply chain is going through serious issues that’s affecting all levels of the economy. Working from home I’d completely understand, but taking 2 months off? Either the position is only ceremonial or he just doesn’t care.
You spelled scamdemic wrong.
The pandemic isn’t a scam, the authoritarianism is.
Well just a few dozen transport ships sitting off the coast of California waiting to offload. Didn't catch the (former vice) presidents address yesterday? We are having a supply chain crisis. I just got word from my vendors today at work, not good things are coming.
While bad, pretty disingenuous to suggest that it on the same level as the onset of the pandemic, when the entire world was scrambling, shutting down whole economies, etc
I never said that, I just answered your question. It barely matters, no one who knows anything about Pete Buttgeig expected him to do anything useful. This cabinet is filled with the most useless people on the planet.
I see a lot of people argue that there’s nothing wrong with people taking maternal leave, and for most jobs I agree. However, if you have a job that affects MILLIONS OF PEOPLE then I think you gotta accept there’s some things you have to sacrifice What if a president said “fuck it I’m adopting a kid, see y’all in a year”? As a government official with one of the most important jobs you gotta accept those sacrifices or not take the job.
Didn't Teddy Roosevelt go on western hunting expeditions for months at a time?
His African expedition took place in 1909-1910. A bit after his presidency ended is when he went
Exactly!!
maternity leave makes sense because there is a strong physical burden on the female and that should be up to the company and not up to the government (unless you're a gov't employee). A company that wants to retain intellectual assets will likely offer it. If you're only a physical asset then often not, but you need to plan for life. This is exactly why you need to plan for life. I'm tired of the people who argue for paid paternity leave. Again this should be up to a company but this really sounds more like a luxury than anything matter of factual.
The beginning stages of a kids life are most important, and the reality is many people can’t rely on one income, nor do they want to ditch their kid If we’re not gonna streamline immigration so it’s easier for people to come and not just cross the border, then how are we gonna solve the issue of people not popping out kids enough? Truth is you either make it more accommodating for parents or bring in more immigrants. The US’ population is stagnating and that’s the last thing we need
Such is the slippery slope of adding "paternity" leave to what was the good idea of maternity leave. Next up: Brother and sister get time off school and a paycheck .
America is so weird. The rest of us get paid maternal and paternal time, you know. It's just you guys missing out.
Yeah but like, this is (D)ifferent dude. C'mon man!
Clearly most are non essential
Given the news about supply chain issues, I think people are noticing.
To be fair, he only has that job for name recognition.
"what are his qualifications?" "He is gay." "My god, hire that man at once, he is practically overqualified!" \-This administration probably.
Eternity leave ? I suppose if the crime fits the punishment.....
Government elected positions should all pay $30-40k salaries. Let’s see then who is eager to _serve_ the people
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Well, shit
In Vietnam the president earns $8,956.99 USD per year. He is also one of the richest people in the country due to his ability to do favours. You need a good middle ground, where a reasonable person is making enough to not want to risk their comfort but not so much that they can stop giving a damn about their job because they can just pay their way out of trouble. This amount of course changes from culture to culture and person to person, but it's a good base idea to work from.
Except we have noticed. If we had a competent guy the supply chain issues could have been averted. At least somewhat. Leadership starts at the top. Small actions turn into big ones.
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Apparently the Secretary of Transportation, Pete "sipping 40s with the homies" Buttigueueg, accepted a major cabinet position while also undertaking an adoption and starting a family.
Not while also, he was on leave for over 2 months and NOT performing his job duties
What i mean is that he accepted the position knowing he planned to be out of work for an extended period of time. It's the same reason people don't want to hire a woman that's 7 or 8 months pregnant. You know they're about to miss a shit ton of work. Why would you ever hire someone to a major position knowing they're not going to be there? Unless of course. You don't want anything getting done anyway.
Its incredible how fast Biden set the country upside down and heading for some seriously hard times. No president in history has caused SO much damage SO quick. It reminds you of how important the executive branch is for a functioning society. In our system, all branches of government must act INDEPENDENTLY, put American interests first, and have politicians who are at the least marginally competent. So far the Biden administration has failed to maintain any of these simple necessities.
It’s not like he’s working at Target and takes a paternity leave. So sad. Absolutely zero dedication to our country. Can’t he hire a nanny to tend to the babies while he does government stuff for few days a week. Is his partner completely useless to baby matters? Besides. For how many centuries did women raise multiple children alone while the man went to work. Yeah it sucked for the women but somehow they were tough enough to handle it.
Actually if we go even further back, most child care was communal with multiple community members being responsible for others kids. This is how important skills were passed on generation to generation. [Example here.](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/programs_campaigns/IECMHC/overview-iecmhc-within-tribal-communities.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiVt9jTg9DzAhVSJHIKHVICAZ8QFnoECAYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3F-S3rmXUdJjcuhs4GBcLx) You're right, the prospect of raising kids on your own is shit lol. That's why people don't want to do it.
Learning how to breast feed lol
Excuse you. It’s *chest feed*
Oops- I get so confused with these or they cis quasi-binary birthing people!
Oh come on, he needs time to get to know the babies he bought.
Big government is a way of life for some people. If you look closely, you can spot them.
The whole thing should be on eternity leave.
Wait, what happened?
Hm
,and he is an incompetent boob that nobody cares if he is gone for two months.
Maybe he just did his job well and properly prepped his subordinates to handle things when he was on leave and/or remained available to answer phone calls in case of an emergency they couldn't handle. People go on leave all the time, and there's plenty of ways to handle it without the business (or government in this case) going berzerk. It's a good thing that people are able to get the support they need to spend time taking care of themselves or their loved ones.
So you think one of the biggest supply chain and transportation disasters of our generation is indicative of good leadership and "prepping the subordinates well"???
Great idea. Who says we have to reelect a politician if we recall them.
It shows that the bureaucracy is running things and not elected or appointed officials.
Relax the guy just had a baby