Prediction: USDOT Secretary of Transportation Mineta Will Resign

You'all have probably heard all the predictions that more changes will be coming on President Bush's staff, because of his low public approval rating and various gaffs and scandals that have beset the Administration of late.

What you probably haven't heard is a suggestion that Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta will resign, so I'd like to be one of the first to make that prediction.

When he does resign, there'll probably be a lot of the usual accolades about what a great guy he is and what a great job he's done. Actually, he has done a lot of good in his career, but he'll resign in large part because he's a key player in a big scandal in the area called "intelligent transportation systems" in which I consulted for fourteen years before taking off for new opportunities last year. The scandal story involves a company that just recently went public, earmarks, a whole lot of political arm-twisting, offshore accounts, money laundering schemes with retirement funds, Republican Senator Orrin Hatch (who's on the right side of this issue) and who knows what else the press comes up with. It also involves Pennsylvania in a big way.

Want just a preview of what I'm talking about? Read the article

'Monopoly money' for Pa. Company

that appeared a year ago in the publication "The Hill." What you read there is only the tip of the iceberg.

FYI -- I also took the bad guys on in many postings last August on the Talking Operations Forum that I used to moderate. The Vice President of the company in question actually threatened to sue me for libel at one point, and I essentially told him to "bring it on" and, of course, he didn't. (Here's a link to that portion of the discussion.)

So when Mineta does resign (and I have no idea precisely when that will be), remember you heard it here first.

BTW -- in case you think I'm pandering to liberals and Democrats by bashing President Bush because I know a young lady who's both a liberal and a Democrat, you should know that Mineta is actually the only Democrat in Bush's Cabinet. And while I usually side with the Democrats on most issues, I'm not a rubber stamp and consider myself an independent who votes for the right person at the time. As proof I offer some of my past President votes: McGovern, Reagan (against Carter), Perot (the first time he ran), Clinton.

JW