"Last fall, President Obama and Vice President Biden said they were both working to continue exempting the Delta Queen from 43-year-old federal fire safety standards that are now forcing the historic steamboat to dock, seemingly once and for all in Chattanooga, TN.
That was their presidential campaign message then, in some circles at least, when both Obama and Biden were still in the U.S. Senate. Now, not so much.
In a regional press conference about the administration's first 100 days in office and its priorities going forward, Vice President Biden, when asked, told The Marietta Register that the Delta Queen, a National Historic Landmark, is no longer on the Obama administration's list of things to do.
"We're not going to interfere… I'm a little sentimental about the Delta Queen, but it really is beyond our ability to make that kind of judgment. We don't have standing to make a decision on that," Biden said, changing the topic to the administration's proposal for a high speed rail system."
"We don't have standing to make a decision on that"? Yet the administration has standing to force banks to take tax money, then will not let them repay? They think they have "standing" to force their Marxist ways on our country, yet they say they don't have "standing" to seek a change in a federal rule? Who would have this "standing" if the administration doesn't?
Posts
Now that the boat is in danger of becoming a hotel permanently moored in Chattanooga, perhaps the President and VP consider the matter closed. The company that owns the Delta Queen has zero interest in getting the exemption (which was completely the opposite in 1970). The company wants to ground the Queen. What can the president do now? The boat is privately owned, even though it is a national landmark. If the Delta Queen transfers to new owners who are dedicated to getting the exemption, then we can lobby for support in high places once again.
ReplyDelete