Nevermind

Adam Doster says there’s confirmation of the LaHood appointment. That’s…disappointing. It’s possible that Obama wants him for GOP outreach, or that the bold moves will come elsewhere — out of another department or a national infrastructure bank. And we don’t yet know who’ll be running the FTA, or what resources they’ll have. But this does seem to be strongly at odds with the adminstration’s language on energy, environmental, and transportation issues.


7 Responses to “Nevermind”

  1. Alex B. Says:
    December 17th, 2008 at 3:45 pm

    The lack of any notable accomplishments or advocacy is what’s more troubling than his party affiliation. I mean, despite disagreeing with just about everything Paul Weyrich says on subjects other than transportation, I’d probably take him at the DOT.

  2. The Overhead Wire Says:
    December 17th, 2008 at 5:30 pm

    Can we start being histrionic now? :)

  3. Daniel Nairn Says:
    December 17th, 2008 at 5:57 pm

    Better news: Obama’s choice for Energy Sec. Steven Chu has been a big advocate for gas taxes.

    In WSJ:

    “Mr. Chu has called for gradually ramping up gasoline taxes over 15 years to coax consumers into buying more-efficient cars and living in neighborhoods closer to work.

    “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe,” Mr. Chu, who directs the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal in September.”

  4. Reid Davis Says:
    December 17th, 2008 at 6:01 pm

    As someone who mostly agrees with Weyrich on subjects other than transportation, I’d certainly take him in this job. This conservative finds the pick to be highly disappointing and underwhelming. Can we not save the Republicans for, say, Labor or HHS? ;-) Transportation is the one area where I have far more affinity with the Dems.

  5. Krishnan Says:
    December 17th, 2008 at 6:33 pm

    This sucks. And here i was hoping that the MTC chair would make it.

  6. dcuist Says:
    December 17th, 2008 at 7:08 pm

    I wonder if the fact that LaHood is one of the few non-laughable Republican Senate candidates in Illinois has anything to do with it.

  7. Alex B. Says:
    December 18th, 2008 at 1:27 pm

    Well, I suppose picking Weyrich would have been moot, anyway:

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20081218/pl_politico/16702

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