The Joe Cunningham Show airs 3-4 p.m. every weekday on NewsTalk 96.5 KPEL. The daily show notes offer you a look into the topics of the day and the links to the top stories and Joe's own writings on the state of politics in Louisiana and around the country. Follow Joe on Twitter at @JoePCunningham and Like the Joe Cunningham Show on Facebook. You can also subscribe to the Joe Cunningham Show podcast on AppleSpotifyStitcher, or Amazon.

The Threat Of The Railroad Strike

You've probably not heard much about the threatened railroad strike before today. With all the other top news stories continuously stealing the spotlight, it's an issue that has been bubbling under the surface since the summer, but only now threatens to shut down massive parts of the U.S. economy. Railroad workers suffer not from low pay but from poor quality of life. They have inflexible schedules, set days off that they can't adjust for family events, bereavement, etc., and they don't get paid overtime because of how their work is classified. So, when the 12 rail worker unions came to the table, they expected to be heard. Instead, the Biden administration's mediating board left the negotiating table to let the unions and the railroad companies work it all out. And it's possible that they did so for political reasons.

Marc Scribner, a senior transportation policy analyst at the Reason Foundation, says the timing of the potential strike was coordinated and may not help the administration.

“That this might occur right before the midterm elections is entirely self-inflicted by the Biden administration, where two of President Biden’s National Mediation Board [NMB] members took the bizarre step in June of terminating board-guided mediation two months early and starting the 90-day countdown to a possible rail strike,” Scribner told FOX Business, calling the move “unprecedented.”

Scribner says the mood on Capitol Hill is very negative toward such actions because it puts lawmakers in the crosshairs — particularly when two major rail union holdouts are warning Congress not to get involved.

“This was clearly designed to force a flash right before the midterm elections,” Scribner argues, speculating that the administration knows it could rely on a Congress with unified Democratic control. He added, “But I don’t think they thought it through all that well because that puts a lot of pressure on Democrats facing tough races.”

You can read more at my daily column here.

 

Graham's Abortion Bill

The Democrats have launched an all-out attack on Sen. Lindsey Graham and his 15-week abortion bill. The bill itself is largely non-controversial. Most polling shows that Americans believe abortion should be allowed in the first trimester, but support for abortion falls off after that. Graham's bill is a very good compromise on the abortion issue. It bans abortion after 15 weeks, except in the case of rape, incest, or life of the mother. The Democrats, though, are calling this a "national abortion ban," despite the fact that it would not statistically ban many abortions at all. The only issue I really have is that the Dobbs decision made it very clear that it is a state issue and it should be left up to the states. Still, it is making Democrats strangely defensive. Even CNN's Dana Bash has started asking Democrats "Where's your line?" on when abortion is no longer acceptable.

The Durham Investigation Winds Down

John Durham was picked to review the FBI's conduct during the Steele Dossier debacle, and his investigation has led to plenty of interesting revelations, including one late yesterday that showed the primary source for the dossier was actually a paid informant for the Bureau. But, it looks like Durham's investigation is winding down.

Much like the Mueller investigation, the Durham investigation found some things that were off, raised those warning signs, and appears to be ready to ride off into the sunset. Nothing in the report will likely change much, and we will all go on with our lives. We have spent an extraordinary amount of time looking for these investigations to do the job of the FBI and the Department of Justice instead of admitting that those institutions are rotting and need to be fixed. That's also why I seriously doubt there will be much coming out of the January 6 Committee or the Mar-a-Lago documents investigation.

Headlines Of The Day

  • 'MAGA Christian' Trends on Twitter Proving the Left Knows Nothing About Christians or Christianity (RedState)
  • Events Change Things (Erick Erickson/Substack)
  • As war began, Putin rejected a Ukraine peace deal recommended by aide (Reuters)
  • Hedge Funds Are Betting Elon Musk Will Be Forced to Buy Twitter (Yahoo)
  • It's a race for House GOP No. 3 next year — but a lopsided one (Politico)

Tweet Of The Day

The History Behind Lafayette's Street Names

We drive them on a daily basis. Some are smoother than others. Some we use more frequently than others. Some randomly start, end, and/or change names. They're the streets of Lafayette. The names behind many of these streets have interesting histories. We take a look at where those names come from and the impact their namesakes have had on the city and the parish.

The Best Fall Cooking Louisiana Has To Offer

Get your roux, trinity, and andouille together. It's time for the best Cajun and Creole cooking to celebrate the fall weather.

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