Letters from an American - March 25, 2024

Episode Date: March 26, 2024

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March 25, 2024. This morning, the Boeing Company announced that the Chief of Boeing's Commercial Airplane Division, Stan Deal, is leaving immediately. Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun is stepping down at the end of the year. Chair of the board Larry Kellner will not stand for re-election. On January 5th, a door plug blew off a Boeing 737 MAX jetliner operated by Alaska Airlines while it was in flight. United States Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, immediately grounded about 170 similar Boeing planes operated by U.S. airlines or in U.S. territory until they could be inspected. The FAA's first priority is keeping the flying public safe, it said, and added, the safety of the flying public, not speed, will determine the timeline for returning the Boeing 737-9 MAX to service. Last year, an FAA investigation observed a disconnect between Boeing senior management and other members of the organization on safety culture,

with employees worrying about retaliation for reporting safety issues. with employees worrying about retaliation for reporting safety issues. After the door plug blew off, an FAA audit of different aspects of the production process, released two weeks ago, found that Boeing failed 33 of 89 product audits. On March 9, Spencer S. Hsu, Ian Duncan, and Lori Aratani of the Washington Post reported that the Justice Department had opened a criminal investigation into the door plug failure. Today, Boeing announced a change in leadership. Also today, Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Hsu reminded readers of Teen Vogue on the anniversary of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire that killed

147 garment workers in New York City after their employer had locked the exits. Of how that tragedy prompted the federal government to create programs that generations of Americans have relied on for economic security and dignity, including a nationwide minimum wage, health and safety regulations, restrictions on child labor, and more. Each generation has a duty to take the baton of progress from those who came before us, Sue said. She noted that industries whose workforces are mostly women or immigrants have historically often broken the law, exposing workers to dangerous conditions and withholding pay. This problem persists in the present, and she reported that the Department of Labor

is working to address it. For example, after three injuries at a plant outside Chicago, including the December 2022 death of a 29-year-old sanitation worker, the U.S. Department of Labor fined the company $2.8 million. And, earlier this year, the department recovered more than $1 million for 165 workers whose employer had cheated them of overtime pay, the largest settlement ever for California garment workers. The U.S. Department of Energy today announced it has selected 33 projects from more than 20 states that will be awarded up to $6 billion to jumpstart the elimination of carbon dioxide emissions from industries that are hard to adapt to green technologies.

The projects will match federal monies to invest more than $20 billion toward commercial-scale decarbonization solutions for cement and concrete, chemicals and refining, metals including iron and steel, pulp and paper mills, and so on. Metals, including iron and steel, pulp and paper mills, and so on. The projects are funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act and will create tens of thousands of jobs. The Department of Energy estimates that the funded projects will cut carbon emissions by an average of 77%. by an average of 77%. All of these news items today, airplane safety, worker protection, and technologies to address climate change, reflect a government designed to protect the American people. The nonpartisan civil servants staffing the agencies responsible for that protection are the ones that MAGA Republicans call the deep state,

and Trump has vowed to replace with his own loyalists. For his part, as he faced cases in two different New York courts, Trump's focus today was on the rule of law. He does not appear to be a fan of it. March 25th was the deadline for Trump to produce a bond to cover the $454 million he owes to the people of the state of New York for fraud. But before New York Attorney General Letitia James could begin to seize his assets this morning, a New York appeals court threw him a lifeline, cutting the size of the required bond to $175 million and giving him 10 more days to post it. The order also paused the enforcement of many of the penalties Judge Arthur and Goron had imposed. So, for the time being, Trump and his sons can

continue to do business in New York, although their businesses remain under the supervision of an independent monitor. The court's order does not change in Goran's judgment in the case. It simply puts the execution of that judgment on hold as Trump appeals it, which he must do on time. In a different courtroom today, Judge Juan Merchan rejected further delaying tactics by Trump's lawyers and set April 15th as the date for jury selection in the criminal case of election interference. This is the case in which Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide payments to people with damaging information about him before the 2016 election. This scheme gave Trump an illegal edge in a razor-thin race, as legal reporter Adam Klasfeld of Just Security put it. Trump has said he will appeal. Last week, Brian Butler of Off Message noted that Trump is scarcely running a presidential campaign. His efforts are overwhelmingly fixed on evading justice

or mooting judgments he's already lost, by any means necessary. He'd ideally like to prevail in these efforts before the election, but the task will become much easier if he's able to win or steal the presidency, despite the legal peril. Trump appeared angry today at a press conference after Judge Merchan set a date for the start of the election interference case. He blamed President Joe Biden for his legal troubles, although the case is in New York. He insisted that holding him accountable for his behavior is itself election interference. In a statement, the Biden camp replied, Donald Trump is weak and desperate, both as a man and a candidate for president. His campaign

can't raise money. He is uninterested in campaigning outside his country club, and every time he opens his mouth, he pushes moderate and suburban voters away with his dangerous agenda. America deserves better than a feeble, confused, and tired Donald Trump. Letters from an American was produced at Soundscape Productions, Denham, Massachusetts. Recorded with music composed by This is the world.