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Tags: Homeland Security / Travel Referendums / Barack Obama / Janet Napolitano / → All Tags
Four Must-Implement Ideas for Janet Napolitano
News agencies with way more reporters in Washington, DC than we have are reporting that Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano could soon be named Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security by President-elect Barack Obama. Though he's undoubtedly not involved in the decision making process, fellow Arizonan John McCain has already voiced his support for the pick.
While the transition team still hasn't said publicly that Napolitano will be picked--and she'll need Senate confirmation before serving--we've got a few suggestions for whoever takes over DHS and by extension, its sub-agency the Transportation Security Administration.
Tags: Travel Referendums / Gambling / Casinos / → All Tags
The Other Election: You Vote, We Gamble (Maybe)
While the world has been wrapped up in Obamamania for the last couple of days, there's other election news worth talking about from a travel perspective.
One issue that has been showing up increasingly on ballots is gambling. See, when state lawmakers face the tough decision of whether or not to save their budgets by allowing casinos, they do what politicians do best: Decide nothing and pass the issue on to voters in the form of referendums.
So Election Day has lately become Christmas morning for the gambling industry. This year, the gambling forces found little luck at the polls, with voters rejecting proposed casinos in Maine, Ohio and even Guam. The only victory for gambling was in Maryland, where voters gave the OK to slot machines at five locations around the state.
Related Stories:
· Md. Voters Give OK to 15,000 Slots [Baltimore Sun]
· Western Maine Casino Proposal Shot Down by Voters [Forbes]
· Casino Bet Fails [Toledo Blade]
· Guam Voters Reject Casino Gambling [Pacific Magazine]
· Travel Referendums coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: kckellner]
Tags: Travel Referendums / Cuba Travel / Communist Travel / Barack Obama / John McCain / Chris Dodd / Mike Enzi / → All Tags
Travel Referendums: Considering Cuba
This November 4 is about more than just deciding between McCain and Obama. Other issues that directly affect travelers are up for decision, and this week we're taking a closer look at some of them.
Early in the Democratic primaries, Sen. Christopher Dodd, a returned Peace Corps volunteer, talked up the fact that all the American embargo on Cuba seems to accomplish is getting presidential candidates those 27 electoral votes in the swing state of Florida. We haven't heard much about Cuba policy ever since everyone's money evaporated, but there remain differences between the two possible presidents on whether or not the US should ease its embargo.
Barack Obama brought up the "pander to Cubans in Florida" aspect of campaigning when he spoke in Miami back in May. Before that, he stated that his administration would hold a "series of meetings with low-level diplomats" in Cuba. On the travel tip, though, Obama's policy isn't encouraging to would-be tourists from the US who want to obey the law. His stance on Cuba:
In the case of Cuba, [he and Biden] will empower our best ambassadors of freedom by allowing unlimited Cuban-American family travel and remittances to the island. Using aggressive and principled bilateral diplomacy he will also send an important message: If a post-Fidel government takes significant steps toward democracy, beginning with freeing all political prisoners, the US is prepared to take steps to normalize relations and ease the embargo that has governed relations between our countries for the last five decades.
Tags: Travel Referendums / Train Travel / Amtrak / Frank Lautenberg / John McCain / Barack Obama / James Oberstar / → All Tags
Travel Referendums: Bipartisan Support for Amtrak Not Maverick-y Enough for McCain
This November 4 is about more than just deciding between McCain and Obama. Other issues that directly affect travelers are up for decision, and this week we're taking a closer look at some of them.
After Amtrak reported record ridership, President Bush signed a bill earlier this month to give the rail operator $13 billion in new funding over the next five years as well as expand safety measures. (Even though he said he wouldn't sign it back in June.) Amazingly, the investment had the support of an overwhelming majority of Congress.
Behind the bill was New Jersey Democrat Frank Lautenberg (inset), whose state sees roughly 1.6 million Amtrak passengers a year. His version of the bill actually didn't provide for the $13 billion, though, as money-related legislation has to originate in the House. So whose idea was it to give Amtrak all that cash? Our old pal James Oberstar!
Tags: Travel Referendums / Train Travel / California High-Speed Rail / Arnold Schwarzenegger / Videos / → All Tags
Travel Referendums: Funding California's High-Speed Rail System
This November 4 is about more than just deciding between McCain and Obama. Other issues that directly affect travelers are up for decision, and this week we're taking a closer look at some of them.
Prop 8 isn't the only controversial ballot measure up for a vote this year in California. A yes vote on Proposition 1A will authorize the sale of nearly $10 billion in 30-year bonds to finance the California High-Speed Rail Authority, which will create a network of fast trains across the south and central parts of the state.
So is it a good idea? Depends on who you ask.
Tags: Travel Referendums / Russ Feingold / Eliot Engel / Zoe Lofgren / Customs / → All Tags
Travel Referendums: Keeping Your Laptop and Data Secure
This November 4 is about more than just deciding between McCain and Obama. Other issues that directly affect travelers are up for decision, and this week we're taking a closer look at some of them.
While customs agents have long had the authority to search the luggage of passengers arriving in the United States without cause, recent court decisions have asserted that border officials can also rifle through any electronics carried into an international airport. Password protected laptop? They'll make you enter your password--or crack it for you while you miss your connecting flight.
Travel writer Christopher Elliott thinks that's a breech of the Fourth Amendment, and while the courts so far don't agree, at least four Democrats do.
