Treasury Sec. Yellen Walks Back Biden’s Claim Taxpayers Will Fund Baltimore Bridge Repair: ‘Ultimately There Will Be Insurance Payments’
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen contradicted Joe Biden’s initial claim that the federal government will cover the costs of repairing the Francis Scott Key bridge, saying that private insurance will pay for it instead.
Biden on Tuesday declared that U.S. taxpayers will subsidize the repair of the Baltimore bridge that was destroyed after a Singaporean shipping barge rammed into its support beam late Monday night.
“It is my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge. And I expect Congress to support my effort,” Biden said in a televised address.
“I’ve directed my team to move heaven and Earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible,” President Biden says on the bridge collapse.
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 26, 2024
“It is my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge.” pic.twitter.com/9DoIru2AsG
But Yellen corrected Biden’s claim Wednesday on MSNBC when asked to clarify if taxpayers will “be on the hook” for repairing the bridge.
“My expectation would be that ultimately there’ll be insurance payments in part to cover this,” she said after floating the possibility that funds earmarked from the 2021 infrastructure bill could also be used.
Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen walks back Biden’s declaration that taxpayers will cover the cost of a new Key Bridge in Baltimore:
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 27, 2024
“My expectation would be that ultimately there’ll be insurance payments.” pic.twitter.com/WjmmnxvoVw
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg echoed Yellen’s statement, claiming the responsible party “will be held accountable.”
“There’s no question that if the investigation determines that any private party or parties are responsible, they will be held accountable,” he told Fox News.
FOX: Yesterday, Biden said “the federal government will pay for the entire cost of rebuilding. But if you find that somebody involved here was responsible, why not have them pay?”
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 27, 2024
BUTTIGIEG: “They will be held accountable.” pic.twitter.com/5KhHcNDzoR
This is just another example of Biden Cabinet officials swooping in to clean up the puppet president’s clumsy comments, such as when they had to correct his claim that the U.S. was seeking to oust Putin, or that he’d seen footage of beheaded Israeli children after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack despite the Israeli government admitting no such footage existed.
US, UK and Ukraine Could Be Behind Moscow Terror Attack – FSB Chief
The US, UK and Ukraine may have been behind last Friday’s terrorist attack on a concert venue in a suburb of Moscow, which claimed lives of 139 people and left around 200 injured, according to the head of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
Aleksandr Bortnikov told reporters on Tuesday that the authorities are currently trying to establish the identity of everyone involved in the attack, both inside and outside Russia.
When asked whether the US, Britain and Ukraine could be behind the terrorist attack, the FSB chief responded: “We think that this is so. In any case, we are now talking about the information that we have. This is general information, but they [investigators] also have concrete results.”
Bortnikov’s statement to the media follows a meeting of the expanded board of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia. The FSB director told reporters that the intelligence service will do everything necessary to identify the direct organizers and sponsors of the terrorist attack.
On the evening of March 22, a group of men armed with assault rifles attacked the Crocus City Hall music venue in the Moscow suburb of Krasnogorsk, just before a concert by the rock band Picnic was due to start. The 7,500-capacity venue was almost full at the time of the attack. The terrorists killed guards, shot concert-goers on sight, then started a fire that quickly spread throughout the building.
At least 139 people, including three children, were killed in the attack, the chair of the Russian Investigative Committee, Aleksandr Bastrykin, reported on Monday. Around 200 people were injured, according to the latest data.
After the attack, Russian security services detained 11 people connected to the incident, including those believed to be the gunmen who carried out the attack.
Moscow’s Basmanny Court has since arrested seven other suspects who are accused of helping organize the terrorist attack.
Jean-Pierre Hangs Up on Radio Interview After Host Asks if Biden Has Dementia
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre abruptly hung up during a radio interview Tuesday after the host asked her if Joe Biden has dementia.
Jean-Pierre bristled at the question posed by WBT radio News Director Mark Garrison, calling it both “insulting” and “offensive.”
“When I told a number of people I was talking to you today, it was interesting, they all said ‘Would you please just ask her, does the president have dementia?’” Garrison asked Jean-Pierre.
LISTEN: KJP hangs up on a Charlotte, North Carolina radio host after being asked if Joe Biden has dementia and about high gas prices and high grocery prices. pic.twitter.com/eu69qAQhVH
— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) March 26, 2024
Triggered Jean-Pierre shot back, “I can’t even believe you are asking me this question. That is an incredibly offensive question to ask.”
Garrison pointed out, “But you know people ask it…” before Jean-Pierre cut him off.
“You are taking us down this rabbit hole,” she said. “Let me be very clear about this, for the past several years the president’s physician has laid out in a comprehensive way the president’s health. If you really pay attention to his record and what he’s done, you will see exactly how focused he’s been on the American people. How historic his actions have been.”
“I’m not even going to truly, truly take the premise of your question,” she continued, raising her voice. “It is incredibly insulting and we can move on to the next question.”
Garrison then moved on to skyrocketing gas and grocery prices, which Jean-Pierre begrudgingly addressed by blaming inflation on Russian President Vladimir Putin (and not the Federal Reserve’s money-printing to meet government spending needs).
“And with that, thank you so much, Mark. Have an amazing, amazing day,” she said before hanging up, leaving only a dial tone on the line.
Whether the question is “insulting” or not, polls show the majority of voters doubt Biden’s cognitive capacity to serve another term.
Investigators Probe ‘Dirty Fuel’ In Baltimore Container Ship Disaster Amid Mid-Atlantic Supply Chain Crisis
Catastrophic supply chain snarls are materializing in the Mid-Atlantic area after a container ship rammed a 1.6-mile-long bridge at the Port of Baltimore, causing the bridge to collapse and paralyzing terminals along the port.
Before we shed more color on the worsening supply chain issues, a new Wall Street Journal report cites people familiar with the investigation into the crash as saying contaminated fuel could’ve contributed to the container ship “Dali” losing power.
According to a Coast Guard briefing report viewed by the WSJ, Dali’s lights began to flicker about an hour after the ship began steaming down the marine channel out of the Baltimore Inner Harbor.
Breakdown of the multiple power failures on the container ship ‘Dali’ that likely caused the impact with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore today.
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) March 26, 2024
[?️ Moshe Schwartz]pic.twitter.com/ST5iBXrjxF
“The vessel went dead, no steering power and no electronics,” said an officer aboard the ship.
“One of the engines coughed and then stopped. The smell of burned fuel was everywhere in the engine room, and it was pitch black,” the officer said, adding that the vessel didn’t have time to drop anchors before hitting the bridge. Minutes before the crash, officers on the ship issued a mayday call to the Coast Guard.
Fotis Pagoulatos, a naval architect in Athens, said contaminated fuel could seize up the ship’s main power generators and result in a complete blackout and loss of propulsion.
During a press conference, Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, said an investigation is underway to review the vessel’s operations and safety logs and black box recorders to determine what happened in the moments leading up to Baltimore’s biggest industrial disaster in several generations.
REPORT: There were no vehicles traveling on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it fell into the ocean thanks to heroic police officers who jumped into action.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 26, 2024
It has now been confirmed that the only people on the bridge when it collapsed was a pothole repair crew.
A total of… pic.twitter.com/U6PZPO8SDG
Hours after the incident, the White House and federal government agencies quickly ruled out a cyber attack or industrial sabotage as the source of the ship’s power loss. With an investigation barely underway, it would seem too preliminary to rule out those things. It’s not yet illegal to have an open mind.
Despite legacy media outlets won’t even entertain the slightest possibility of a cyber attack or industrial sabotage, some X users say they aren’t ruling anything out, considering NATO and Russia are on the brink of a major conflict, the Red Sea crisis continues, Hamas-Irasel war rages on, and Sino-US relations have yet to recover fully.
We know that in a matter of seconds, the Dali and its all-Indian crew that rammed the bridge triggered an instant shutdown of the Port of Baltimore that could take weeks, if not months, to restore.
“This is a shut down of a major port, and rebuilding will take a significant amount of time as it is over water,” Nada Sanders, a professor of supply-chain management at Northeastern University, told the WSJ in a separate note.
Sanders said, “We will see the effects domestically and globally in terms of shortages and higher prices for the average consumer.”
Bloomberg Economic Insights shows that the auto, energy, and food industries will be the most affected. Here’s an explanation of the disruption:
- The wreckage from the Francis Scott Key Bridge essentially blocks incoming and outgoing traffic to the Port of Baltimore.
- According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the port ranked 17th in terms of total tonnage handled in 2021. We estimate it intermediates about 2%-3% of US imports.
- By those metrics, the disruption to Port of Baltimore traffic would appear to have minimal impact on the broader US economy. But that most likely understates the full effect.
According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, the Port of Baltimore handled about 3% of all East Coast and Gulf Coast imports in the year through Jan. 31. It’s a crucial terminal for European carmakers such as Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Volkswagen AG, and BMW.
It’s also the second-largest terminal for US coal exports, with a shutdown likely crimping shipments to India. And many more terminals will be shuttered…
The 984-foot ship was hauling containers of Chinese-made furniture, appliances, plasticware, and construction machinery.
Expect a localized shortage of these products?
US Customs and Border Protection provides a view into Dali’s cargo.
Why didn’t the State of Maryland or Baltimore City install protective barriers against ship strikes on the Key Bridge? Were woke Democrats in Annapolis too concerned about DEI and burning the state into the ground with reckless spending than care about infrastructure? Yet another failure by Democrats who are asleep at the wheel.
Baltimore Barge Disaster Was A ‘Black Swan’ Event Says General Flynn
General Miacheal Flynn has raised questions about the Baltimore barge disaster. Six people are missing, presumed dead after a container ship hit the landmark Francis Scott Key Bridge in the US city of Baltimore on […]
The post Baltimore Barge Disaster Was A ‘Black Swan’ Event Says General Flynn appeared first on The People’s Voice.
State Parole Board Members Step Down After Freeing Man Who Stabbed Pregnant Woman & Killed 11-Year-Old Within 24 Hours Of Being Released
The Chair of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board and a board member both resigned in shame after the board approved the parole of a serial domestic abuser who allegedly went on to stab his pregnant ex-girlfriend and murder her 11-year-old son less than a day after being released.
37-year-old Crosetti Brand was granted freedom by the parole board on March 12, and reportedly broke into his pregnant ex-girlfriend’s home and violently attacked her and her son Jayden Perkins hours later.
Brand is now being charged with “first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, armed robbery, home invasion, and domestic battery.”
Even CNN ran a segment pointing out, “A decade ago, this suspect had been sentenced to sixteen years for domestic abuse and for a violent home invasion. Just last year he was released on parole. After violating that he was sent back to prison. Then, just weeks ago, Jayden’s mother filed for a protective order against this suspect whom she had a relationship with more than a decade ago.”
The CNN anchor explained Perkins’ mother was denied the protective order by a judge who claimed it was unnecessary since Brand was still in jail at the time despite the inmate reportedly sending messages threatening to kill the woman and her children.
Jayden Perkins was 11 years old. He was a beautiful dancer. A typical kid. And a hero.
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) March 22, 2024
He should be with us today. pic.twitter.com/IuS9BF5NEA
CBS 2 reports the mother, who is eight months pregnant, “was left in critical condition with a cut to her neck,” but “is expected to recover, as is the unborn baby.”
There was also some confusion regarding the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) and the Illinois Prisoner Review Board denying having knowledge of the mother’s request for a protection order.
CBS 2 Investigators obtained emails and other records showing the IDOC was contacted by the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County by both email and phone call.
The state quickly changed its tune and began apologizing for “miscommunication” after the outlet revealed it had proof the court did reach out to the proper channels before the parole hearing.
Democrat Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker announced the resignation of the board members soon after the apologies were issued to the press.
Pritzker said:
“The Prisoner Review Board must be able to operate independently as they review enormously difficult cases, but I believe LeAnn Miller has made the correct decision in stepping down from her role. It is clear that evidence in this case was not given the careful consideration that victims of domestic violence deserve, and I am committed to ensuring additional safeguards and training are in place to prevent tragedies like this from happening again.”
Democrat soft-on-crime policies are resulting in countless unnecessary deaths across America.