On Tuesday, President Trump delivered an inspiring, powerful State of the Union address. On Wednesday, the United States Senate acquitted him of all the baseless impeachment charges brought against him by the House.
The impeachment circus is finally over, and America is finally back on track. Together, we’ve added 7 million new jobs, lowered unemployment to a 50-year low, and now, more Americans are working than ever before.
More importantly, paychecks are getting bigger, and after years of economic stagnation, real median household incomes have risen to the highest level ever recorded. It’s clear that Republican-led tax reform and cutting unnecessary Obama-era regulations has paid big dividends for our economy and for the American worker.
We’ve also reinvested in America’s military. Once again, we are ensuring that we are the most powerful country in the world. With our renewed military might, President Trump has sent a clear message to America’s enemies: if you attack Americans or if you murder Americans, you will pay the price. He made this clear by ordering our military to eliminate international terrorists like ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Iranian Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani, both of whom were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans.
In addition to touting these accomplishments, President Trump also used his State of the Union address to honor some of America’s greatest heroes. He recognized the family of Army Staff Sergeant Chris Hake who was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq supplied by Qasem Soleimani. He also invited retired Brigadier General Charles McGee, one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airman, as one of his honored guests. In the most heart-touching moment of his State of the Union address, President Trump announced the return of Sergeant First Class Townsend Williams from his fourth tour of duty in the Middle East as he was reunited with his family in the audience.
Just a day later, the Senate followed-up on the President’s stirring call for Americans to unite and further American greatness by acquitting the President of all the impeachment charges. While the President worked throughout this sham impeachment, securing better trade deals, eliminating terrorists, and ditching bad government regulations like WOTUS, Congress was basically at a standstill. Now, with this political circus finally over, it is my hope that we can get back to work.
As the President said in his address, “we must never forget that the only victories that matter in Washington are victories that deliver for the American people.” With that in mind, I’m ready to get some work done. I’m ready to pass a good, bipartisan infrastructure bill to rebuild our roads and bridges, secure more good trade deals that put America first, and finally secure our border. I just hope my colleagues in the majority feel the same way.
What did Spanky Sam Graves have to say about the 737 MAX crashes?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/03/boeing-ethipoia-crash-1319958
Reports this week from The Wall Street Journal and The Seattle Times cast doubt on one of the main defenses deployed by Boeing and the FAA — that the pilots in the Ethiopian Airlines crash, and an earlier crash in Indonesia, should have been able to pull the MAX out of its fatal dive by following standard protocols every licensed pilot should know.
In fact, the Ethiopian pilots tried to follow the procedures that Boeing and the FAA had outlined for such an emergency, the Journal reported, citing people briefed on the findings. Recent flight simulations have indicated that the pilots on the Indonesian jet may have had just 40 seconds to figure out what was wrong before their plane plunged into the sea, The New York Times reported last week.
Much of the initial scrutiny for both crashes has focused on an automated software system that was designed to automatically push the plane’s nose down if it appeared to be climbing too steeply.
But the Journal and Seattle Times stories indicate that the 737 MAX may have other shortcomings. They said evidence suggests that the pilots were unable to pull the plane up even after cutting off power to the automated system and attempting to turn a manual crank wheel, as training dictates. After that failed, the pilots then apparently reactivated the automated system, the newspapers said.
Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), the top Republican on the House Transportation Committee and a pilot with a commercial-grade license, said that points to a problem with the pilots' response.
“The last thing you do is reengage the damn thing. You just don’t do that,” Graves said. “The only scenario I would ever see that they would possibly switch back is because they don’t know how to fly the damn airplane.”
Graves continued to question the pilots’ training, in particular asking how the 29-year-old captain of the Ethiopian plane could have had 8,000 flight hours.
“We got guys retiring at 65 with 25,000 hours. He was either Hercules or he was pencil-whipping his logbook,” Graves said. “I question that every bit as much as I question Ethiopian Airlines putting a co-pilot in there with 200 hours. Doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.”
House Transportation Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said he was reserving final judgment until he sees official reports, but he that he continues to have “a series of questions” about the plane and how FAA certified it.
“It would be one hell of a pilot” who could respond to an unanticipated emergency in just 40 seconds, DeFazio said, noting the recent media coverage. “Yeah, there are pilots who can do it, but there are probably a lot who can’t.”
Here we are in 2020 and... ALL THE 737 MAX PLANES REMAIN GROUNDED SO IT WASN'T REALLY ENTIRELY THE FAULT OF THE PILOTS AMIRGHT SPANKY SAM?!