TTC-35 Meets Opposition Around State

Clifton Record ^ | August 04, 2006 | David Anderson

[hedgetrimmer]

CLIFTON — It appears that the crowd the Texas Transportation Commission and the Texas Department of Transportation faced in Bosque County was not an anomaly. Public meetings across the state are being filled with opposition to the Trans Texas Corridor’s TTC-35 routes.

In Clifton Wednesday, July 19, an estimated 400-plus packed the Clifton High School cafetorium to issue a resounding “no thanks” to TTC-35 running through Bosque County. An open house and public hearing hosted by the Texas Department of Transportation and the Texas Transportation Commission ran into unanimous opposition locally, and citizens almost as strongly opposed the entire project statewide.

The meeting was one of 54 scheduled from July 10 through Aug. 10, with most of those already held. Newspaper accounts from various cities reveal that Texans seem to be unified in their voice against the project. In Cameron on Tuesday, July 18, nearly 150 attended, with about 20 persons speaking publicly. All but one of those speakers expressed opposition.

Angry residents throughout Williamson County packed the auditorium at Taylor High School Tuesday, July 25, expressing strong disapproval with the corridor.

A public meeting in Giddings on Wednesday, March 9, had some 600 in attendance, and the majority were opposed to the Corridor going through Lee County.

More than 350 people attended the Thursday, July 13, meeting at Hill College in Hillsboro, and the local paper noted that “the presentation apparently didn’t sway any of the 30 or so people who signed up to speak during the hearing.”

McGregor’s meeting on Monday, July 17, broke into applause constantly as the consensus of the citizens who spoke was a resounding “no” to the projects.

Around 1,500 people attended the Wednesday, July 26, session in Temple. One speaker requested a show of hands of those who opposed the corridor, and all but 11 persons raised their hand.

Waco saw about 1,000 attend that Monday, July 24, gathering, and the Waco paper reported that “the crowd applauded as speaker after speaker blasted the Trans-Texas Corridor.”

Cleburne had its meeting Wednesday, July 12, and although the turnout was described as light, all 14 speakers voiced opposition to the TTC-35 route.

Fannin and Cooke County residents met in Gainesville and Bonham Monday and Tuesday, July 10-11, and the consensus there was that the TTC-35 is not welcome in both places.

Waxahachie saw more than 200 gather Wednesday, July 12, with many saying they not only didn’t want the TTC in their area, they didn’t want the project at all.

In Weatherford Thursday, July 13, no one spoke in favor of the project, and about 150 attended the hearing.

Public comments will be accepted on TTC-35 through Monday, Aug. 21. Written public comments can be sent to TxDOT (TTC-35), 125 East 11th Street, Austin, TX 78701, or on-line .

[hedgetrimmer]

It appears that the crowd the Texas Transportation Commission and the Texas Department of Transportation faced in Bosque County was not an anomaly.

Now, will the Texas state government respect the wishes of their constituents?

[hedgetrimmer]

FYI

[Admin Moderator]

The Activism sidebar is reserved for Activism, protests, news and business of Free Republic Chapters.

Not this.

Please read the following for FR's posting rules for further guidelines.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1611173/posts

Thanks,

[DustyMoment]

For those of you not familiar with Texas, many of the communities mentioned are relatively small and mostly rural. For them to generate audiences the size of those being reported, this is a HUGE issue. Unfortunately, I have seen Texans turn down projects in the past that the state government wants and the state will get what it wants.

These hearings are more for "Show aand Tell", than any actual substance. Gov. Perry has already made up his mind on this project and TDOT will rubber stamp it and go along.

[basil]

I think a lot will depend on who is elected governor, though as far as I know, none of the present candidates are against this. It's a lead pipe cinch that our present governor has dedicated himself to getting this thing built, regardless of the will of the people!

[sinkspur]

Now, will the Texas state government respect the wishes of their constituents?

1,000 people in Waco is about 1% of the population of the area.

Angry people tend to go to meetings so they can raise hell. Those who aren't angry don't.

These screamers are not representative of the wishes of Texans.

Just watch how your anti-TTC gubernatorial candidates do: Bell, Strayhorn, and Kinky all oppose it and Perry is for it.

Perry will win. What will that tell you?

[hedgetrimmer]

These hearings are more for "Show aand Tell", than any actual substance.

This is especially true if the meetings are run by facilitators, or are consensus based instead of based on Robert's Rules of Order. One way to have impact is to require that all these meetings be run by Robert's Rules. It is the only way to achieve constitutional representation at these meetings.

[hedgetrimmer]

What will that tell you?

That the government is acting unconstitutionally? That individual rights are no longer being defended by the state of Texas government? That the globalist "free trader" mentality is one of the most destructive forces to freedom this country has ever witnessed?

[sinkspur]

That the government is acting unconstitutionally? That individual rights are no longer being defended by the state of Texas government? That the globalist "free trader" mentality is one of the most destructive forces to freedom this country has ever witnessed?

That's the globaloney view.

What Perry's election should tell you is that most Texans favor free trade, and that they favor something being done about north-south traffic in central Texas.

I'd say the vast majority of Texans weren't even aware of these hearings in the first place, and wouldn't have come even if they had known about them.

[zeugma]

Now, will the Texas state government respect the wishes of their constituents?

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahha!

You're too funny.

[Smartass]

Source

 

Vocal opposition to Trans-Texas Corridor in Terrell
by: terrelldemocrat
Wed Jul 19, 2006 at 22:05:32 PM MDT

Tonight was Terrells turn to host a hearing for the Trans-Texas Corridor. I would guess around 200-250 people showed up. I was passing out flyers for Hank Gilbert so I missed most of the Q & A session. Fred Head candidate for Comptroller of Public Accounts was also there passing out the same flyer and his card during the Q & A session. To say the crowd was opposed to the project would be an understatement. They hate it. There were 26 people who made comments. Only ONE person was for the plan. Two were against it going east of Dallas, they want it to go straight up the Metroplex. 23 of the 26 speakers were against the proposal! Speaking to the crowd and to TxDot individuals gave their reasons for not wanting the Trans-Texas Boondogle in our backyard.

terrelldemocrat :: Vocal opposition to Trans-Texas Corridor in Terrell

Some speakers against the TTC were:

Keith Taylor,Mayor of Combine,he wanted to know after the toll road is paid for will it become a free road like I-30 is in west Dallas to Arlington. He noted that development didn't happen on the old turnpike until it was made a freeway.

Linda Stahl from Corridor Watch spoke out against the tollway.

Lisa Coleman, Kaufman County Democratic Chair spoke about who would foot the bill for services to the TTC. Who would be responsible for police services, ambulance service. What happens if there is a hazardous spill on the toll road?

Thom Bouis, Democratic candidate for Rockwall County Judge wants to know how did TxDot come up with running TTC straight through Rockwall County. Its the smallest county in the state and if as proposed the TTC will take over 4% of total land in the county. His suggestion was to draw a straight line from Laredo to Gainesville and build it there. He did have one condition. It must go through Crawford. That comment drew applause from the audience.

One speaker shared his personal memory of his family farm being bought out for a small highway. Part of the TTC plan is to link cattle farms either by bridges over the TTC or to go under the roadway. His family had a dairy farm. He said from personal experience that a dairy cow will not get anywhere near tunnels or bridges, they get spooked, and they wouldn't have to just navigate through one set, there would be 5 bridges or 5 tunnels.

One speaker, who said he was a conservative Republican, said he was ashamed of Rick Perry, that drew a large round of applause he said would fight legally or illegally to keep TxDot off his land.

Fred Head also spoke, he drew from his experience in the Texas House, telling us this is not a done deal. That the state has had other projects that were "done deals" and the Legislature killed them. One example he gave was a plan to move water from east Texas to west Texas, it never happened. He said its time to demand our elected officials in Austin take another look, and hopefully come November we will have new elected officials that will take another look. He is a good speaker.

Charlie Thompson candidate for TX-05 to replace Jeb Hensarling also spoke, he reminded us of the importance of making our voice heard. He said if he makes it to Washington, he will make sure no Federal money is spent on the Trans-Texas Corridor. When Charlie finished people were shouting out to him what was his name. Like almost all other speakers Charlie also demanded this be put to a vote before the citizens of Texas.

There were quite a few speakers against the plan who had their comments interrupted by applause. Some spoke of the land they have had in their family for generations, telling TxDot they will have to be dragged off their land screaming, that they will fight with every penny they have to keep their land. There were a few who wanted to know who would ensure the trucks that would be using the toll road passed US inspection.

After the comment section ended and people filed out, they were looking for Fred Head and Charlie Thompson to thank them. One guy came up the Mr. Head and asked him what party he as with. Fred said he was an independent Democrat. The person who asked said he was Republican but he loved his comments and would vote for him.

As I was leaving I heard a lot of I don't care what party they are with, if they are against the Trans-Texas Corridor I will support them.

The only down side was outside after the hearing. There were people milling about the Corridor Watch table and not really asking questions but rehashing what we all had just heard. I think its a given that Perry will be out in November, just who will be the one to actually beat him is up in the air. Chris Bells name was brought up and I heard someone say, that Bell had only raised $600,000 that you cant win with only $600,000. They then went on to say that Strayhorn is the only candidate who has spoken out against the TTC. Truth is, Strayhorn has been showing up at hearings and speaking out, so whoopee for her.

This is an excellent opportunity to speak to a built in audience, every politician should attend at least one hearing. Texan voters are not happy and it will show up in the ballot box come November.

[Smartass]

Excerpt...

Source

Opposition to Trans-Texas Corridor Builds

Opposition builds to toll, corridor plans

Cities, groups meet to discuss fighting state transportation projects

November 12, 2004

By TONY HARTZEL
The Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2004

While state leaders have pinned their hopes on toll roads to keep Texas road construction moving, a small but growing number of groups and cities – including Dallas – are questioning the plans.

Today, about a dozen groups – some opposing tolls or the Trans-Texas Corridor and environmental groups – will meet for the first time in Austin to discuss how to fight the state's transportation plans.

 

 

[Smartass]

Source

Trans-Texas Corridor

Highway corridor finds hearing road bumpyBy Anita Miller
News Editor

Lockhart — More than 200 people showed up for the public hearing on the Trans-Texas Corridor Monday night.

The overwhelming majority of them were opposed to Governor Rick Perry’s proposal for the more than 600-mile corridor of tolled car and truck lanes, freight and commuter rail and utility transmission.

Bill and Doris Steubing of Maxwell found the 10-mile “Preferred Corridor Alternative” swath on the Texas Department of Transportation maps included both of their parcels of land which total around 500 acres and include a 100-year-old Texas Heritage Farm.

Dollie Cole of Mendoza was in the same boat when it came to her working ranch. A veteran of holding onto her land, she reminded the crowd during the public comment portion of the meeting that she was “one of about 25 people who stopped the bullet train” when that project was proposed in the 1990s.

Many others didn’t speak publicly or to the press, instead using their fingers to locate their property inside the blue zone, which stretches from just east of Hwy. 21 near the Hays/Caldwell county line to just west of Lockhart, and includes the already-designated route of SH 130, a toll road project proceeding independently of the TTC.

The majority, though, seemed to feel as DeDe Frets of Seguin did.

“I don’t want people to get caught up in one route or another,” she said. “I’m completely opposed to the whole concept.”

Concerns included the prime farm land that would be lost to the project as well as the state’s deal with Cintra-Zachary to design, build and operate the tollway for the next 50 years. While much of that deal has been made public, Perry and TxDOT have filed suit to keep certain “proprietary information” secret, speaker after speaker alleged.

Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who is running for governor as an Independent, again blasted the TTC as “Rick Perry’s $184 billion boondoggle” and “the greatest land grab in Texas history,” drawing applause with each gibe.

“Say no to double taxation, say no to replacing our freeways with tollways,” Strayhorn told the crowd. “Texas once had a freeway system that was the envy of the nation and it can be again.”

She and others, including Caldwell County Judge H.T. Wright, also blasted the TxDOT public hearing process. After a “meet and greet” period, TxDOT showed a Power Point presentation about the TTC and then accepted public comments. Speakers at the microphone were able to ask questions, but TxDOT staff could not answer them.

Among questions that went unanswered was whether, if the TTC-35 portion of the project included part of the route of SH 130, it would be split into “rubber tire” and rail corridors and if that happened, how long residents would have to wait for the second alignment.

“I’ve been 10 years dealing with TxDOT over SH 130 and went to many public hearings,” Wright said. “They take your testimony and check it for spelling and file it.” Now, he said, the TTC has brought another round of hearings. “TTC will be another 8 to 10 years suspense. The engineers know where it’s going to go. Why all this turmoil to build a highway?”

In all, almost 20 people spoke publicly and others left comments in a drop box. TxDOT will accept postal mail and e-mail comments through Aug. 21.

The agency plans to submit comments along with other documentation from its Draft Environmental Impact Statement Tier 1 round of hearings by the end of the year after which the Federal Highway Administration will accept or refuse them.

If accepted, that would invoke another round of public hearings concerning a narrowed route. TxDOT has repeatedly said that the current round of 54 public hearings does not lay out a final alignment, authorize right-of-way acquisition or construction.

Fred Head, candidate for comptroller, also recalled the failed bullet train project as well as the superconducting supercollider in North Texas as proposals that have gone down in the face of public opposition.

“The land of the brave and home of the free is where you live,” he said. “You can do something about this injustice.”

Head and other speakers called directly for voters to remove Perry from office on Nov. 7, and many pointed out that TTC could be only the start of a NAFTA-serving highway to points much farther north.

“We’re the gateway to Mexico, we have to stop it here,” said Susan Cook. “It’s a NAFTA highway from the deep ports of Mexico,” said Bill Robinson.

The sole voice in support of the TTC came from Tom Griebel. He recalled opposition to the interstate highway system when it was first proposed 50 years ago.

“You are planning and I applaud that,” Griebel said, though with a caution. “Protect the environment and minimize the acreage you’ll have to take but I appeal to you to build it.”

[Smartass]

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

---

---

THE NEW WORLD DISORDER
Trans-Texas Corridor paved
with campaign contributions?
San Antonio construction company, capital consortium from Spain stand to gain

---

Posted: July 12, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Jerome R. Corsi

---

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

The contractors building the Trans-Texas Corridor – a massive statewide transportation network critics claim is an important part of the controversial proposed integration of the U.S. and Mexico – have made large contributions to the campaigns of Texas politicians, including Republican Gov. Rick Perry.

As WND has reported, opposition is mounting to the little-publicized efforts by the Bush administration, aided by corporate and political elites of the U.S., Mexico and Canada, including the Council on Foreign Relations, to push North America into a European Union-style merger. Critics of the Trans-Texas Corridor see the massive project – ironically funded by Spain – as part of this movement to integrate the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

Terri Hall, director of a taxpayers' group called the San Antonio Toll Party, told WND, "there is not a single politician in our entire Bexar County delegation that has not taken money form H. B. Zachry, Jr." Zachry Construction Corporation, headquartered in San Antonio, has entered into a limited partnership with Cintra, a capital consortium based in Spain to undertake the TTC construction.

"Zachry owns San Antonio," Hall told WND, "and he has spread his money inside and outside Bexar County [where San Antonio is the county seat] to make sure he drives the highway lobby." The San Antonio Toll Party is grass roots movement and political action committee opposed to the Trans-Texas Corridor.

Although WND could not confirm Hall's charge that every local politician has accepted money from Zachry, she and others are naming quite a few names.

"The politicians in Austin are listening to the highway lobby rather that the citizens who put them in office," Hall told WND, adding, "you will not understand the politics of the TTC until you track down Zachry who has a long and distinguished money trail to offices of our state politicians."

The non-partisan Institute on Money in State Politics provides data that support Hall's contention. Analyzing 39 records of campaign contributions made by H.B. Zachry, Jr., the Institute concludes Zachry contributed $112,112 in campaign contributions – 92.2 percent to Republican candidates. The largest of these contributions went to Gov. Perry, two contributions totaling $35,000.

Perry is currently running for re-election against Democratic challenger Chris Bell, a former congressman from Houston, and two independent candidates.

When WND contacted Perry's campaign organization for comment on campaign contributions by Zachry and other contractors who stand to benefit from TTC construction, Perry's campaign spokesman Robert Black said: "Gov. Perry got lots of campaign contributions from contractors who got nothing in the TTC bidding. If a contributor was giving money to Gov. Perry for any other reason than that Gov. Perry's policies are best for Texas," Black emphasized, "then they should keep their money."

Another group opposing TTC construction, Campaigns for People, a 501(c)(3) organization in Austin, argues that between Jan. 1, 2001, and Dec. 31, 2004, the Texas Department of Transportation, or TxDOT, awarded over $14.3 billion in contracts to build and maintain roads in the state. More than 40 percent of this total – over $6 billion – went to the "Top 10" TxDOT contractors, who gave $1.1 million in political contributions.

In 2003, House Bill 3588 in the Texas Legislature amended the Texas Transportation code to give the state the broad, new powers needed to build the Trans-Texas Corridor. According to Campaigns for People, top contractors who sought to benefit from the TTC construction contributed heavily to the campaign to pass House Bill 3588:

The TxDOT Top 10 and TTC Bidders gave generously to legislators who ultimately had a say over the content and passage of HB3588. These interests made over $2.7 million in campaign contributions from January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2004. These special interests steered more than half of this money to elected officials who either held statewide leadership positions in 2003 or who sat on key House or Senate Transportation committees.

Simply stated, according to Campaigns for People, contractors who sought to benefit when TTC was built contributed to the political campaigns to achieve their objective.

It's to be built with extremely limited public oversight. Except for the corridor east and roughly parallel to Interstate 35 (TTC-35), it's a road system most Texans can hardly imagine will ever be built. But road builders and toll bond financers from around the world are lining up to participate. These interests contributed $166,000 to amend Texas' Constitution and more than $2.7 million in Texas' last two elections to turn the nation's largest toll road project into a reality.

Black resists any insinuation of collusion. "The TxDOT contracts were awarded on an open bid process," Perry’s campaign spokesman told WND. "These TTC opposition groups are typically 'conspiracy theorists' who think we're giving Texas land away to Spain. The State of Texas will still own TTC highways, even if Cintra has the right to lease them and collect tolls."

WND could find no reference on the websites of either the San Antonio Toll Party or Campaigns for People that TTC highways were going to be ceded to Spain.

Today, there are some 50,000 miles of interstate highway in the U.S., yet TxDOT has proposed building 4,000 miles of Trans-Texas Corridor superhighways in Texas over the next 50 years. The TTC project at full development will involve the removal of as much as 584,000 acres of productive Texas farm and ranchland from the tax rolls permanently, while displacing upwards of 1 million people from their current residences.

"We may not need to build all 4,000 miles," Black asserted. "But the population of Texas is going to double in the next 40 years and our Texas interstates are already strained. The days of building a 50-year old Eisenhower interstate system are over. TTC is a new model for America."

A close reading of the 4,000-page Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS, posted on the Trans-Texas Corridor website reveals on page 3 the NAFTA purpose of the TTC-35 project, which generally runs parallel to Interstate-35. Under the subtitle "enhance economic vitality," the EIS notes that "approximately 75 percent of America's commerce with Mexico travels through Texas. Increased access and mobility within the study area would improve the movement of people, goods, and services and potentially lead to new employment and business opportunities." This, contend critics, makes clear that the TTC-35 project is not "just a highway needed for anticipated Texas growth," but rather a NAFTA-inspired highway, intended to grow Texas by vastly increasing NAFTA commerce with Mexico.

The 11 separate corridors planned will permanently cut across some 1,200 Texas roads, with crossover unlikely for much of the nearly quarter-mile-wide corridor planned to be built. Dozens of small towns in Texas will be virtually obliterated in the path of the advancing Trans-Texas Corridor behemoth. While supporters, like Perry's administration, call it a necessity, critics says the TTC appears to be the test case for future development of a NAFTA superhighway that would extend north through Oklahoma City, Kansas City and Duluth into Canada, largely parallel to I-35.

"I don’t know if the TTC is going to extend to Oklahoma," Black commented. "I can only speak for Texas."

Nor does Black have any insight into the plans of investment bankers and international capital funds that are unlikely to allow a four-football-fields-wide highway just end at the Texas border, without first approaching Oklahoma, and the other states on the anticipated I-35 path north, to consider accepting their capital to extend the road.

Posted on TxDOT’s Trans-Texas Corridor website are contracts signed by TxDOT that indicate Cintra has paid over $1 billion for the right to negotiate a final construction contract with the state. Cintra Concessions de Infraestructuras de Transporte, S.A. of Spain plans to recover through tolls an investment that is estimated to exceed $180 billion for the full 50-year build-out of the TTC 4,000-mile network.

Cintra won the contract with TxDOT as a result of a competitive bid, said Black. "Cintra promised the State of Texas the best bang for the buck. Besides, they threw in to the deal over $1 billion that the State of Texas could use however we want to." WND can find no description of the competitive bid process on the Trans-Texas Corridor website, nor any identification of the losing bidders.

Last month, the Cintra-Zachry limited partnership stepped in to provide the $1.3 billion TxDOT needed to complete a toll segment of TX-130. In return, Cintra-Zachry obtained the concession to operate the toll segment of TX-130 for over 50 years.

Even though large segments of the Cintra-Zachry contracts have been archived on TxDOT websites, TxDOT has withheld key sections have from the public. TxDOT argues that revealing all details of the TTC transaction would compromise the release of information proprietary to Cintra-Zachry.

---

Related offer:

Last chance to get Tom Tancredo's new book, "In Mortal Danger," for just $4.95. Offer ends Friday at 10 p.m. Pacific.

---

Previous stories:

More evidence Mexican trucks coming to U.S.

Docs reveal plan for Mexican trucks in U.S.

Kansas City customs port considered Mexican soil?

Tancredo confronts 'super-state' effort

Bush sneaking North American super-state without oversight?

Previous column:

Coming soon to U.S.: Mexican customs office

---

[hedgetrimmer]

Its the smallest county in the state and if as proposed the TTC will take over 4% of total land in the county.

This project is so much about wresting control from citizens and granting it to transnational corporations its pathetic.

[ricer1]

FROM GREENVILLE TEXAS NEWSPAPER:
Corridor needs closer look
Published: July 23, 2006  
Herald-Banner Staff

You can’t fault Gov. Rick Perry for wanting to solve Texas’ 
transportation woes. The state is facing a double-barreled 
problem of increasing traffic congestion and decreasing 
funds available for highway construction, leaving him with 
an issue that can’t be resolved with press releases and 
pithy sound bytes.


But the plan he is pushing for — a mega-highway system 
called the Trans Texas Corridor that would cut through Hunt 
County — deserves a closer look before it’s given a stamp of
approval.

The Corridor’s mission is noble enough, as it is designed to
solve both problems through a public/private partnership 
that would be funded by tolls rather than the state’s tax 
funds. It is intended to relieve traffic on the overburdened
interstate highway system that’s getting more clogged with 
each passing year.

However, the closer you look at this project the more it 
becomes apparent that it lacks a fully thought-out plan and 
places the financial well-being of developers over efficient
transportation for the public.

One of the greatest weaknesses of the Corridor is that is 
doesn’t directly link any major metropolitan areas. It is 
specifically designed to bypass the big cities to avoid high
land acquisition costs, but it’s the big cities that create 
much of the traffic that the Corridor seeks to eliminate. 
Creating a huge road that only directly connects rural areas
is just plain silly, as the straightest, shortest route from
city to city will still be the existing interstate system.


Even worse, the Corridor will take land from local owners 
and local tax rolls — including here in Hunt County — and 
turn it over to state-sanctioned concessionaires who will 
compete with local businesses. The Texas Department of 
Transportation has been granted the authority to buy and 
lease land for gas stations, stores, hotels, garages, 
restaurants and other commercial purposes, but these 
state-sanctioned businesses in most cases will not be taxed 
by any city jurisdiction.


Also, unlike the interstate system, the Corridor will be a 
limited-access road with very few exits and no frontage 
roads. As a result, it’s not likely to improve nearby 
property values because that property will have no access to
the highway. It could actually decrease property values as 
it brings extra noise and makes travel on smaller country 
roads more difficult where it cuts across rural areas like a
21st century Berlin Wall.

The proposed financing and construction of the corridor 
raises additional questions, including why the state’s 
private business partners will be allowed to line their 
pockets with a profit when Texans already pay for roads 
through numerous taxes and fees. The toll system may be 
perfectly legal, but it smacks of special-interest politics 
that will make some business owners very wealthy at the 
expense of ordinary taxpayers.


We hope state leaders were listening when local residents 
strongly opposed the Corridor at a meeting in Greenville 
last week. Texas needs better transportation infrastructure,
but the proposed Corridor appears to have plenty of room for
improvement.

[ricer1]

Here's the link to the editorial above. Sorry...

Greenville Herald Banner Editorial

[processing please hold]

We were in Lake Charles this past Saturday, visiting family and shopping for school clothes. I was looking at the label inside some clothing at J.C. Penney. To my surprise this was on the made in:

Mexico
United States
Ca

Anyone else see these lables?

[hedgetrimmer]

Public/private partnerships are not noble, they are fascistic. They give the government too much power in private business, and they unfairly advantage certain businesses, most likely through campaign contributions, graft and perks to the elected and appointed officials.

[hedgetrimmer]

Truckers at inspection stations are now getting stickers that show their inspections are valid for US, CA and MX, so no, not a surprise.