The Transportation Security Administration is again defending itself for applying its airport screening techniques.

This time, however, the passenger was an 8-month-old baby.

A photo posted online by a passenger at the Kansas City International Airport of a baby receiving one of the controversial TSA pat downs has sparked such a stir that the agency responded Wednesday on its website.

The child's stroller triggered explosive alarms, so the officers "followed proper current screening procedures" and checked the whole family, the agency said. The baby - and his parents - "very cooperative and were on the way to their gate in no time," the TSA blog said.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) eschewed pursuing newspaper endorsements during his campaign last year, but he is continuing to get support now from papers in states other than his own.

It's just not in the way most politicians would probably envision.

Earlier this spring, Scott emerged as the latest Republican governor to turn back federal money for high-speed rail. Now that the money has been given to states in the Northeast, Midwest and California, newspapers in those places are thanking Scott for passing on the money their states want.

The Bergen Record, New Jersey's second largest newspaper, editorialized Wednesday that it was thankful for Scott's "shortsightedness" on rail.

"Commuters on the Northeast Corridor are giving thanks to Florida Gov. Rick Scott," the paper's editorial board wrote. "If it weren't for his shortsightedness, Amtrak would not have been awarded $450 million to upgrade high-speed rail in New Jersey.

A pair of Democratic senators filed legislation Wednesday that would create a transportation infrastructure fund and seed it with $5 billion.
 
The duo, Sens. Frank Lautenberg (N.J.) and Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.) said the fund would be used to attract private investment in transportation through loans and loan guarantees. They argued the initial start-up money from the federal government would create jobs.
 
"The United States has not adequately invested in its transportation infrastructure, and we're seeing the results in our crumbling roads and bridges, airport delays, and a rail network that doesn't meet the demands of travelers and businesses," Lautenberg, the chairman of the Senate Surface Transportation subcommittee, said in a statement. 

The Federal Aviation Administration announced Wednesday proposed changes to flight-crew training procedures that it says will make the U.S. aviation system safer.
 
Pilots and flight crews would be required to train in "real world" scenarios, similar to the way many states test automobile drivers in live traffic. Pilots and flight attendants would train as a complete flight crew and their tests would be based of recent events.
 
Training for flight dispatchers would be enhanced too, and remedial training would be required for personnel who fail proficiency tests.

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New York City lawmakers introduced a bill that could strip a country's foreign aid because of unpaid parking tickets.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee wants voters to remember a proposal to tax people based on how many miles they drive.

The proposal was included in a draft of the administration's Transportation Opportunities Act earlier this month. When it became public, it was quickly walked back within by White House officials who said it was never formally circulated within the administration and did not represent the views of the president.

That didn’t stop the NRSC from seeking to get some political mileage out of the proposal with rising gas prices already on the minds of many voters this week.

“Dear fellow conservative, thought $4.00 gas was bad enough?” the NRSC said in an email to its supporters Monday night. “Just wait until the Obama Administration adds a mileage-tracking device to your vehicle.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Lengthy airline delays continue to decline after new rules passed by Department of Transportation took effect.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood thinks bicyclists need love too, but he doesn't know if he is a hipster.

The National Transportation Safety Board is looking at bus and truck safety this week.

The Department of Transportation has cleared Delta to partner with the Virgin Blue Group on U.S.-Australian flights.

The Obama administration took credit Tuesday for the $2 billion U.S. investment announced by General Motors.

A group of Republican Senators and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley want President Obama to state his position on the lawsuit filed by the National Labor Relations Board to prevent Boeing from building a new plant in South Carolina instead of labor-friendly Washington state.

South Carolina is a "right-to-work" state, and the NLRB has argued that Boeing wants to build the plant there to retaliate for strikes in its home state of Washington. Haley came to Washington, D.C. Tuesday to attend a Chamber of Commerce press conference supporting Boeing. She was joined by South Carolina Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint and Rep. Joe Wilson (S.C.), all Republicans, as well as Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Rand Paul (R-Ken.).

"The president needs to speak up; we need to see leadership," Haley said Tuesday, according to the Chamber. "This is about American competitiveness."

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