5 Reasons Right-Wingers Are Sabotaging Public Transportation Projects

[marmar]

AlterNet / By Sarah Jaffe

Why Do Conservatives Hate High-Speed Rail? 5 Reasons Right-Wingers Are Sabotaging Public Transportation Projects
In addition to busting unions and gutting voting rights, Tea Party governors are refusing federal funding for high-speed rail. What do they have against it?

July 22, 2011 |


High-speed rail is one of the rare areas where business, labor, and environmental activists are often in agreement. Republican transportation secretary Ray LaHood is a fan, as are, of course, President Obama and Vice-President Biden.

But Tea Party-supported governors like Scott Walker in Wisconsin, John Kasich in Ohio and Rick Scott in Florida have made headlines by refusing billions in federal stimulus dollars aimed at creating new high-speed train lines between major cities.

The trains would be electric-powered, providing comparable travel times to regional plane flights but cheaper, running on cleaner energy, and without the same security concerns. Real estate developers and other business types saw new rail lines as an opportunity to invest in new places, and the rail projects would create both construction jobs and permanent jobs operating and maintaining the new trains. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/story/151748/why_do_conservatives_hate_high-speed_rail_5_reasons_right-wingers_are_sabotaging_public_transportation_projects/

[Warren Stupidity]

1. 6. Traumatized by Thomas the Tank Engine as Toddlers.

It haunts my dreams too.

[Angry Dragon]

2. LOL

:bounce:

:rofl:

[Angry Dragon]

3. the 3 stooges

[Sarah Ibarruri]

4. Right wingnuts would destroy the U.S. in the name of enriching the rich, corporations and hurting

the poor, unions, women, and the middle class.

They're evil. I realize a lot of people say they aren't necessarily evil, but they are. Sorry. They are.

[The Wizard]

5. Evil and deranged (NT)

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

6. I would settle for a broken clock moment on this one

Outside of a very few exceptions high speed rail is preposterous in North America. Their motivations might be purely vindictive and partisan but most of the proposals are just stupid to begin with.

[reggie the dog]

8. high speed trains would be great in the usa

chicago to milwaukke, chicago to saint paul passing by madison wi portland maine down to atlanta passing in all the big cities. chicago to new york passing by toledo cleveland etc

miami to tampa and orlando

[SnakeEyes]

12. High speed rail is where i disagree

I'd like it, I'd use it but I don't see America using rail. To those outside of dense urban areas on the east coast, who all have cars, it's a transportation method of generations ago and is less convenient than driving or flying. They also will never ignore the cost of a train trip, both the fare and gov't cost.

Even I don't like many of the proposals that call for retrofitting the trains to work on existing tracks which are then unable to reach full potential and the benefit of high speed rail travel becomes negligible.

[reggie the dog]

14. many people in cities like chicago do not drive to saint paul

and miami to orlando without the hassle of tsa checks or traffic would be great to get cruise line passengers up to disneyworld with gas prices being high it is often cheaper to take the tgv in france than it is for 2 people to drive across the country

[SnakeEyes]

15. Good luck getting rail costs to be cheaper

Again, I just dont see the majority of americans supporting the public funding that would be necessary to bring the fares down enough. Again, just know the right wing will use the whole "public funding is also your money" so they'll push the you're paying even more than just the fares.

[Blue_Tires]

9. Where I live (Norfolk), a half-million people would run over our own mothers

for a high-speed rail line to D.C.

During the weekends, there wouldn't be enough cars on the track to meet demand...

[Warren Stupidity]

10. Numerous studies have found ample evidence

that high speed rail in specific 'urban corridor' areas would make massive economic sense. Usually arguments against it ignore the huge subsidies given interstate highways to argue that rail doesn't compete in these areas, or else point out that an inter-continental line would not make much economic sense, which is true but hardly anyone is advocating that we build one.

[KurtNYC]

7. 1. the Kochs don't ride on trains

2. must continue fake crisis until public assets are sold off
3. the Kochs just don't want to buy and own a railroad after the public builds and pays for it
4. there is no such thing as a "corporate train" (vs. corporate jet)
5. public transportation is SOCIALISM !!1!

[Populist_Prole]

11. This article nailed it. Echoed what I always thought.

Basically they fear HS rail because it would invigorate a class of people they are trying desperately to kill.

[swilton]

13. Public transportation =

COMmuting = Socialism

[999998th word]

16. Keeping us in our place=transportation ghetto.