Drake votes with the majority for high speed rail
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Rep. Thelma Drake voted to improve high-speed rail today, siding with 310 of her colleagues and defying a potential presidential veto. The bill, the “Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008″ (H.R. 6003), addresses reforming Amtrak and investing in a national high speed rail system.
“I believe this bill is an important step forward in addressing America’s transportation needs for the future. The bill will revolutionize passenger rail transportation in the United States by taking the first real steps towards bringing true high speed rail to the Nation,” said Rep. Drake. “Passenger rail shows great promise for reducing congestion and provides a genuine transportation alternative in a time when gas prices are rising. Making a commitment to develop a high speed rail system ensures that these solutions are for both the short and long term.”
I bet Eileen doesn’t blog this one.
Why should she? To promote Thelmas fake attempt at bipartisanship? Don’t forget….this is just the other 2% she doesnt vote wtih the president.
Ian,
You’re too young to be bitter.
You would think you would be happy that this bill passed…after all, it was passed in a Democratic Congress.
I posted on this due to what the bill is, not for any political purpose.
Thank God she didn’t mutter the words “curbing global warming” as rationale for her support. I’d of died of heart failure!
We need to reform AMTRAK, GWB had a chance to fire them all, but didn’t take it.
http://www.spankthatdonkey.com/spankthatdonkey2/2008/1/4/gwbs-chance-to-emulate-ronald-reagan.html
Yeah, I agree. We need all the government involvement we can get! Way to go Thelma! Chalk one up for the party of small government!
It’s funny that Ian is so partisan he can’t even applaud something he agrees with.
Good on ya Rep Drake! I’ve long been a supporter of high speed rail, but was never sure that it made financial sense (Amtrak has not survived w/o government subsidies). however, with gas prices out of control I think the pre-requisites may finally be in place for America to embrace this mode of transportation.
How do they expect to pay for it? I can’t even afford to fill up my gas tank hardly, so why would I want to shell out more in taxes to fund something that the government will screw up?
I think “reforming Amtrak” is a bit of a stretch. A more accurate description would be “the Costliest Bailout in Amtrak’s 40 Years of Federal Subsidies” (http://www.heritage.org/Research/SmartGrowth/wm1949.cfm) or “taking $12.8 billion over the next five years from the many to provide for the few”.
Additionally, the high speed rail part of the bill is “only” (as far as I could tell) $1.75 billion over the next five years, so it may be accurate that there is a high speed rail portion of the bill, but it’s hardly the focus.
If this bill “revolutionize(s) passenger rail transportation” I’ll eat my hat. It’s just more of the same from the big spenders in DC.
Stephen,
You’re looking at this very narrowly, which, knowing your politics, doesn’t surprise me all that much.
High Speed Rail, much like the interstate highway system, is a necessity to providing continued access and distribution for a host of goods and services. Hence, there’s a role for government…the only question is how much of a role.
If it were such a necessity, then it would have been developed by some entrepreneurial spirit without government intervention. I think you’re confusing need and want.
Stephen, you’re right - it can be argued the Interstate Highway system was not a “neccesity”. The same could be said for the Transcontinental Railroad, the Erie and Panama canals, the Hoover and Grand Coulee dams, LAX, Atlanta and other public airports, among thousands of ACoE and other public works projects.
I do believe though that if we waited for “some entrepreneurial spirit without government intervention” to finance and build the many bridge/tunnels that knit this area in to such a prosperous community, we’d still be riding the ferry from Fort Monroe to Willoughby Spit. I would think that if anyone understands the communal benefits of public works infrastructure, it would be the residents of Hampton Roads.
“If it were such a necessity, then it would have been developed by some entrepreneurial spirit without government intervention.”
By that definition, the military isn’t a necessity.
I would never crap on your god, Brian! Of course the military is necessary. It’s necessary for defense of our country.
Jeremy, there’s a simple test for deciding if something is a necessity. What would happen if that object were not there? If it not being built would be a catastrophe, then it’s a necessity. But if anything is a necessity, it can be built by others than the government. Look at our transit system! It’s a mess!
Now, I don’t know who funded LAX, or the other airports, but I’m sure if they were privately owned, they would work just fine. I’m sure that people like to protect their investments, especially if it’s their own capital, or the real capital of investors.
Stephen, you said necessities would be developed without government intervention. Now you disagree with yourself?
No, you miss the point. If something is a necessity, it will be built without government doing it because to not build it would be catastrophic.
And if the government HAS to do it, it should be limited to only that necessity. And it should be built, not by the Fed, but by the state.
You think so? Even if there is no direct profit motivator? Sure, avoidance of ‘catastrophe’ can be seen as ameliorating risk, but a real profit motivator to inspire an entrepreneur?
So i take it then you think the Apollo program was a total waste of taxpayer money? Certainly not a necessity, would never have been undertaken by an individual state, and no clear profit motivator for entrepreneurial focus.
I can’t say whether or not the Apollo program was a waste. I haven’t studied it. Sorry.
[...] Thelma Drake voted this week to “improve high-speed rail today.” Translation - Drake voted for a fat subsidy to [...]