(Dominick Sansone, Headline USA) Pay-for-play special interests heavyweight Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-Calif., wrongly blamed former President Donald Trump for the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
Speaking before the chamber, Schumer stated that the “Trump administration repealed requirements for an electronic braking system because, according to them, the safety benefits were not worth the cost.”
“It is so typical…for people like Donald Trump to do the bidding of special interests [by loosening railroad regulations] and then point the finger at someone else when something terrible happens.”
SCHUMER: “It is so typical…for people like Donald Trump to do the bidding of special interests, cause harm to the American people, that’s what he did when he loosened railroad regulations, and then point the finger at someone else when something terrible happens!” pic.twitter.com/fYYFGzT403
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 28, 2023
Schumer was referring to a 2018 decision by the Department of Transportation to repeal a 2015 rule mandating that trains moving highly flammable crude oil be equipped with special breaks to stop all rail cars simultaneously, according to reporting by the National Review.
However, the cause of the train derailment in East Palestine is still not determined. There is currently no evidence to support Schumer’s claim that the derailment would have been avoided if the 2015 regulation was still in place. Even Biden’s own transportation officials have called such claims disinformation.
In regard to the “special interests” that Schumer alluded to, the New York Senator is hardly free of association with funding from various groups seeking to influence policy.
Schumer was the top recipient of money coming from 20 major U.S. industries in the 2021-2022 election cycle, according to the research group Open Secrets.
Examples included Schumer as the top recipient of funds from industries such as “alternate energy productions & services”, “hedge funds”, “private equity & investment firms”, and “pro-Israel”.
He was also the Number 2 recipient of money from 14 additional industries, including “commercial banks”, “gay and lesbian rights & issues” and “marijuana”.
Georgia Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock was the Number 2 recipient of aid in almost every single industry that Schumer ranked tops, while Schumer was Number 2 in almost every industry that Warnock was Number 1.
Opening the books helps to clarify who exactly it is that happens to be doing the “bidding” of special interest groups in U.S. politics.
