“Department of Transportation” on The Daily Caller

Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), an agency within the Department of Transportation, called for “the first-ever nationwide ban on driver use of personal electronic devices (PEDs) while operating a motor vehicle.” The move has some conservative critics wondering whether the recommendation goes too far. (more)

Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) — LightSquared Inc. is calling for a government investigation into what it calls a leak of test results that indicated its planned wireless service caused interference with global-positioning system receivers. (more)

The Department of Transportation announced Monday that the government will spend $450 million upgrading a 24-mile stretch of rail between Trenton and Brunswick, New Jersey, on the busy Northeast Corridor to allow Amtrak’s signature Acela trains to reach 160 miles-per-hour. (more)

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood lambasted Congress Wednesday for stopping airport-related construction, but repeatedly declined to say if President Barack Obama would urge Democrats to compromise. (more)

The Obama administration took time out today from attempts to derail House Speaker John Boehner’s debt ceiling bill, in order to address still-stalled efforts to fully fund the Federal Aviation Administration. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the cabinet’s lone Republican, took the White House press podium today to appeal for passage of a gridlocked FAA funding bill. (more)

In the weeks following President Obama’s State of the Union address, which stressed a need to improve America’s road-warrior policies, Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has been promoting initiatives for federally funded infrastructure improvements. (more)

1.) Catty Hill Dems can’t resist spinning a tragedy — Here are two good ways to win votes and influence people: Hours after a national tragedy, phone a reporter and spin the event this way: The Obama White House “need[s] to deftly pin this on the tea partiers….Just like the Clinton White House deftly pinned the Oklahoma City bombing on the militia and anti-government people.” When Pres. Obama instead says before a crowd in Tucson, “What we can’t do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on one another….Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations,” the next best thing Democrats can do, apparently, is personally attack Rep. John Boehner for not flying to Tucson to hear Obama discourage personal attacks. Different aide, different day, same moral depravity: “Don’t you think they could have worked with the White House on timing to make sure he got on AF1?,” a senior congressional aide told The Daily Caller’s Jon Ward on Thursday. “Hell, as speaker, he could have taken a delegation to Arizona on military air.” When it was pointed out that Boehner was already attending a memorial, in Washington, the aide argued that the speaker was skipping Tucson for an RNC event. “Tell these guys to give me a break. Bottom line: he’s not there and he’s Speaker of the House. He’s not there and is at an RNC event tonight. Period.” The aforementioned statements have nothing to do with why House Democrats are in the minority, but are two good reasons why they should stay there. (more)

1.) Your grandmother drives faster than the new Republican majority — Welcome to the Lowered Expectations dating service, where nobody’s profile picture reflects what he looks like in real life. First up: The House’s Republican majority. Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor promised $100 billion in spending cuts. Late Tuesday, unnamed GOP aides downgraded that amount to roughly $50 billion, reports the New York Times, “because the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, will be nearly half over before spending cuts could become law.” The Daily Caller’s Jon Ward, after attending Cantor’s press availability on Tuesday, reported that Republicans may be relying on Obama to do their cutting for them: “Once we get to the State of the Union I expect this president to put some action behind the words he’s been about,” Cantor said yesterday afternoon. “When pressed numerous times for whether there will be specific spending cuts proposed and regulations put under the axe prior to the State of the Union,” Ward added, “Cantor mentioned only an already announced five percent reduction to congressional office budgets that will save $35 million.” Hear that noise? That is the sound of the Tea Partiers sharpening their knives. (more)

The Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood may be experiencing some repetitive whiplash. (more)

If education and awareness don’t work, the Department of Transportation Secretary has some other interesting ideas on how to lower the number of distracted drivers careening down the pavement. (more)

Todd Seavey is a punk rock god — or at least he should be. The libertarian blogger recently became famous for verbally microwaving his ex-girlfriend Helen on CSPAN — the clip went viral and became an instant classic — but there is much more to Seavey than a broken heart. (more)

Imagine, for a second, you work at the Environmental Protection Agency, and your job is to determine how much money EPA-funded stimulus projects spent on self-congratulatory, “your taxpayer dollars at work” stimulus signs. (more)

I’ve been following the hoopla surrounding Toyota for several months now, and I’ve come to the conclusion that our government is holding Toyota to a double standard – criticizing the company for not being forthright and honest, yet unwilling to uphold the same standards within its own ranks. The recent media reports that senior federal officials blocked the release of findings that could favor Toyota in some crashes related to unintended acceleration are unthinkable. It’s imperative that the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) release the findings of their extensive testing and set the record straight. To do otherwise will undermine the credibility of an agency charged with overseeing the safety of all vehicles in the country fairly and scientifically. (more)

Facing heat from top GOP oversight official Rep. Darrell Issa, key federal agencies are relaxing the rules for large road signs touting progress under the economic stimulus law to merely “strongly encourage” their use, rather than require them. (more)

With all the attention on financial regulation, health care reform and unemployment, you probably missed the news: peanuts are a controversial topic in regulatory studies. In June, the Department of Transportation issued a notice of proposed rulemaking which included a ban on serving peanuts on airplanes to make air travel safer for Americans with severe peanut allergies. This ban has been put onto the back burner because the DOT doesn’t have the statutory authority to ban peanuts without first proving its case; still, many citizens are weighing in on the idea. (more)

Every year, more than 60 federal agencies issue thousands of new regulations covering every sector of the American economy. The Small Business Administration estimates the cumulative costs of these regulations at more than $1 trillion annually, or more than $10,000 per household per year. These regulations are legally binding, yet they emerge from unelected officials in regulatory agencies; Congress never has to vote to approve them. (more)

A digital construction sign along a central Wisconsin interstate has been flashing a rock-inspired passionate message to passing motorists. (more)

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Final rules for new fuel economy standards were unveiled by the government Thursday, placing the national average for all vehicles at more than 34 miles per gallon, well above current levels. (more)

The federal probe into [intlink id="674037" type="post"]runaway Toyotas[/intlink] has resulted in enough scientific mystery that investigators have asked NASA scientists for help. (more)

Concerns about an Oregon Department of Transportation employee who purchased several guns after being placed on leave prompted law enforcement across Southern Oregon to step in. (more)