Re: OT - The gist of his speech


"hachiroku" <haciroku@xxxxxxx> wrote in message news:4e603f91$0$3065$c3e8da3$88b277c5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:54:45 -0700, Jeff Strickland wrote:

Consider the interstate highways. These are an excellent example of a
durable asset.

They aren't considering interstate highways. The latest talking point is
"high speed rail" .


Yeah, I know. The problem with rail is that it does not go where the people want to go, and the infrastructure for getting them from the ends of the rail line to the destination they have in mind is sorely lacking. Just look at Amtrak for an example. The system is costly to run, costly to maintain, costly to use, and with just a very few exceptions does not go where anybody wants to be. And that's not even high speed rail...

In my state they are trying to pound the first spike in a high speed rail project that the feds have promised a roll of quarters for IF the first segment goes from the edge of the middle of nowhere to the opposite edge of the middle of nowhere. There is no chance anybody will ride the rails of the first segment of track to be laid, if the federal government gets a say in where that segment is located.

This project will be a multi-hundred-billion dollar boondoggle, and it will be more costly if the feds have anything to say.




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