Trump is such a threat to democracy, the Florida Democrat party has to deny democracy by not letting anyone else on the ballot. Smart!
Stupid move by Democrats there, let them go through the motions and have Biden selected by primary voters not by the Democratic council of Florida. Even though it is purely academic, no need to add fuel to the fire of stupid conspiracies by being lazy like this and not allowing the vanity campaigns of Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson.
High Speed Rail in the PNW to get portion of 8.2 billion designated for Passenger Rail Development (whitehouse.gov)
I have a very long list of issues and problems created by passenger rail service. Since many of these issues tend to blend into each other, I would like to discuss each separately. My first question to you is. Please name one passenger rail service, anywhere in the world, that is self funding. Leave out the billions and billions of tax revenues needed to build the systems. Name one rail service that does not take addition yearly tax revenues to operate and maintain. What is the yearly amount of additions public funds needs to keep Biden's system running? And where are these funds coming from?
This is what government is for, IMO. Government is not supposed to pay for itself like a business. It is supposed to pay for itself with a healthy and thriving population. Fossil fuel based transportation in the US costs up to $1 trillion per year in environmental and health damages by some estimates. There is no doubt that it is a huge liability to the environment and our current and future population. The better it is the more we'll save. Plus, the economic benefits of having clean, reliable transportation are huge. The US loses $140 billion per year in lost time and production due to traffic congestion. Cheap, reliable electric rail between population and econimic hubs supplemented locally by cheap, reliable electric busses is really our most efficient and responsible means of transportation. Spending on infrastructure like this at the federal level is a no brainer. The benefits to society can more than offset the costs to build and operate.
So we do not know the true cost, nor is there a plan to pay for it. You may want incompetent irresponsible people in charge of the world's biggest piggy bank, but I do not! You also used misdirection to avoid answering my direct question. But you did raise additional problems I have with this rail system. Let's take a look at one more problem. Where this system goes, and who will ride it. It travels between major population centers, good. But, who will actually ride this system? Only the people that want to go from from one major city, to another, AND, have the funds to buy a ticket. I mention the cost of a ticket for a reason. Have you looked at passenger rail ticket prices lately? Look up a trip on Amtrak and be prepared for sticker shock. Only the upper middle class will be able to afford to ride Biden's system on a regular basis. This rail system does nothing to help the poor and struggling middle class. This elete rail system will only benifit a small % of elete upper middle class passengers, paid for by the poor and struggling middle class. BTW, I have ridden on long cross country train rides, boring, once was enough. I have also ridden on the fast bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto, boring, once was enough.
The price for all public transport like this should be free for passengers. The price to completely build out Obama's high speed rail would be around a $1T. To build out high speed rail as extensive as China would be in the $5T range. The economic, time savings, and environmental benefits would more than offset the cost. It would be self funding by virtue of saving us money, time, and financial costs of relying solely on fossil fuel and battery powered vehicles. And no, there is no reason to put incompetent, irresponsible people in charge of it.
The only form of transportation that is truly no cost is walking. So I assume you do that when you want to go between cities? Takes a while, but you do have time to appreciate the scenery, if any. Ok, so you don't like trains. What is your preferred method to get from Tokyo to Kyoto? Is it quick and free? barfo
Third try, my touch sceen phone is misbeaving, again. The local native Americans must be using the cell tower for target practice, again. Your response is all smoke and mirrors BS wrapped in a should be free voodoo economics pill. Not sold. Lets assume this giant waste of tax $$$ happens. And millions of cars are removed from the road. This creates yet another giant funding problem you have not solved. The cars on the road are a self funding system. Trillions of tax $$$ generated just on the fuel taxes alone. $$$ spread out to all levels of government to pay for the infrastructure they use. The same infrastructure you want to use for electric buses and trains. How do you replace this giant loss of revenues? There may be an entertainment value to your plan. We get to watch our wife and daughters rub elbows with a meth head, while everyone is naked, since cloths are made from oil, while inclosed in a sealed chamber to keep the germs and viruses from escaping. Sounds like fun. I will think about it, if you throw in a bullet proof hazmat suit for everyone, free of course.
Nobody would be forced to ride anything. You can still drive, if you want. The point would be to make it cheaper and faster than driving. And fuel taxes to pay for roads are going away anyway. We'll use less and less fossil fuel from now on. You'll either be paying per mile traveled or income tax, or some other way. I'm not sure what your point about clothes is.
Dude it’s $26 next week to ride a train from Portland to Seattle, on Southwest Airlines it’s $285. Both are subsidized by the government. Flying is a much MUCH worse experience than riding a train in my experience. It’s much less comfortable on a plane, and getting thru TSA is a PITA, although better than it has been in recent memory. Obviously taking a cross country train isn’t practical, no matter how fast the train is. But for short haul flights taking a train is much better IMO. The only advantage flying has is that it is faster from point a to point b. But if the train were slightly faster, or had fewer stops, it would be even more of a compelling offer.
