Among the absurdities of our times, ranging from rampant fraud that is enabled and encouraged by the political left, to absolute failure in some locations (New York City, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Boston, etc.) to enforce existing laws, we have our ongoing commercial driver’s license embarrassment.
Simply put, individuals unable to read and sometimes even to speak English, are being sent out on the roadways at great peril to the other drivers, having somehow received a commercial driver’s license. Nary a day passes, it seems, without a report of an unqualified CDL holder killing innocents by driving recklessly, or videos being posted on social media of such errant drivers doing ridiculous things such as driving the wrong way on divided highways or attempting to navigate residential streets with their rigs.
It was with a sense of amazement that I heard a huge percentage of CDL licenses issued by – who else? – California, had no name on said license.
My state of Pennsylvania apparently has gotten in on the action, minting CDL holders without regard to qualification, as long as one is a member of a protected minority class.
It seems the political embarrassment has gotten to be too much for Gov. Josh Shapiro, who aspires to higher office. Log on to pa.gov, search for CDL information, and you are greeted by a yellow box headlined “Changes to non-domiciled CDL product issuance.”
The paragraph that follows blames the Feds for rules dating to the past September that prohibit handing out CDLs like Crackerjack prizes to anyone wearing a turban or otherwise possessing necessary insulation from being subject to both common sense and the law.
For some time this CDL scandal has amazed me, a former holder of a Pennsylvania Class B CDL. I have no experience with procedures of other states, but I can testify from firsthand knowledge the CDL process in Pennsylvania I experienced about 16 years ago was vastly different.
To begin with, there is no way in hell a person could have passed the necessary tests, particularly those administered on computer terminals, without being able to read English. Passing the actual driving portion would have been similarly challenging.
The man who gave me my on-road test would ask me about signs, which would have been tough to read were I not literate in English.
Back to those computer tests, I seem to recall I had to take five on the day I obtained my license. There was a general knowledge CDL test, along with separate tests to receive endorsements to operate a school bus, passenger bus, and display knowledge of air brakes and handling hazardous materials.
The workers at the Walter’s Avenue PennDOT center laughed at me when I said I’d be taking all five tests and reminded me they left for the day in four or five hours.
I took all the tests, in what I recall was 45 minutes, and passed easily. Then I took the driving test and I was certified.
Again, based on my experience, there is absolutely no way – ZERO CHANCE – someone unable to read English could have passed these tests.
And yet, Pennsylvania has been certifying such types as CDL worthy for years – until the federal government under President Trump re-injected sanity into the process just last September.
Rest assured, this institutional bastardization of the laws, enabled by left-wing politicians and their entrenched bureaucracy, is yet more evidence of a cancer too long ignored that Trump is attempting to cut out of the system.
Is it really that much of a reach to think a Democrat party eager to aid and abet such lawbreaking, as well as immigration tomfoolery and other manner of fraud, would draw the line at manipulating elections?
The aptly named SAVE Act is perhaps the last chance to stop future Democrat election steals by requiring voter ID and limiting the absurdity that mail-in voting has become. Republicans, as usual, are asleep at the switch.
Sam Ross Jr's site 