“Transportation” on The Daily Caller

In current negotiations over raising the federal debt ceiling, President Obama and his allies seem focused like a laser beam on including tax increases in any deal. Since the current economic and political environment is not friendly to such policies, they know they must take maximum advantage of so-called “must-pass” legislation like a debt-limit extension to ram through their agenda. Meanwhile, however, there are subtler moves afoot to heap similar burdens on the American people through regulatory acts. A push to have the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation institute potentially harsh new fuel economy standards is one example. (more)

The House transportation committee is in a war of words with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other critics over proposed long-term highway and surface transportation funding. (more)

House Republicans have proposed cutting federal spending on highways and transit by 30 percent. The plan, presented on Thursday, July 7, would severely reduce federal spending in accordance with House rules that spending cannot exceed receipts. (more)

US Airways and Delta recently proposed swapping takeoff and landing rights in New York and Washington. While at first blush that may appear to be the makings of a boring story that is irrelevant to the policy world, it has the potential to set a new precedent in how we allocate a scarce resource — and fund our airports, as well as the rest of our transportation sector. (more)

Increasing the federal gas tax should be considered to pay for a new transportation bill, a key Democrat said Tuesday. (more)

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is proposing an increase to the average passenger weight used in its bus testing regulations. (more)

DALLAS (AP) — A fresh snow storm in north Texas on Friday threatened to leave fans traveling to the Super Bowl stranded far from Sunday night’s big game. (more)

NEW YORK (AP) — Enough already. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Heavy snow and icy roads Wednesday night created hazardous condition for President Barack Obama as he returned to the White House from a trip to Wisconsin. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal safety officials urged Tuesday that aircraft owners be required to retrofit small planes with shoulder-lap seatbelts, but stopped short of calling for the installation of air bags. (more)

Texas Democrat Rep. Rubén Hinojosa said Monday that he is open to joining Pennsylvania Democrat Rep. Robert Brady in support of a bill to curb speech that could be perceived as “threatening” to public officials. (more)

1.) House Republicans have not announced what they would cut from budget if they had power to cut budget — “House Republican leaders are so far not specifying which programs would bear the brunt of budget cutting, only what would escape it: spending for the military, domestic security and veterans,” reports the New York Times. “The reductions that would be required in the remaining federal programs, including education and transportation, would be so deep — roughly 20 percent on average — that Senate Republicans have not joined the $100 billion pledge that House Republicans, led by the incoming speaker, Representative John A. Boehner, made to voters before November’s midterm elections.” Even with security/defense/old people/catfood cuts off the table, there are still a few agencies that could stand to lose some weight: FCC, both DoE’s, FDA, IRS, NASA, &c. We could go on, but why bother? “Even if adopted by the House, the Republicans’ budget is unlikely to be enacted in anything like the scale they envision, since Democrats retain a majority in the Senate and President Obama could veto annual appropriations bills making the reductions.” (more)

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — A man has been hospitalized after police in South Carolina say he was hit by an SUV while playing a real-life version of the video game “Frogger.” (more)

NEW YORK (AP) — It took hours for Christopher Mullen to get off a plane from sunny Cancun and on to a half-empty subway car, his only way home. It would be another eight hours and more — a night spent huddled under a thin blanket on the frigid, grungy car — before he could get off the A train. (more)

NEW YORK (AP) — When Angela Madsen was pulled off her plane and her wheelchair stayed on board, she knew she was in for a rough night. The paraplegic athlete struggled to get into the bathrooms at Kennedy Airport. Turning the wheels on her borrowed wheelchair strained her shoulders. Sleeping was impossible. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A band of frigid weather snaking its way up the East Coast on Sunday threatened to bring blizzards and a foot of snow to New York City and New England, while several states to the South made emergency declarations as the storm caused crashes on slick roads. (more)

Public transport unions have staged a further strike in Greece as the country’s parliament prepares to vote on the 2011 budget. (more)

HEFLIN, Ala. (AP) — His wife riding beside him with their two children in safety seats in the back, John Fisher drove home toward South Carolina along a stretch of Interstate 20 covered with ruts, bumps and crumbling concrete. (more)

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s foreign minister said Thursday it was unacceptable that the country’s ambassador to the United States was patted down by a security agent at a Mississippi airport, and said he would complain to Washington. (more)

CHICAGO (AP) — The lines moved smoothly at airports around the country Wednesday afternoon despite an Internet campaign to get Thanksgiving travelers to gum up the works on one of the busiest days of the year by refusing full-body scans. (more)