"....as we struggle to merely service our unsustainable debt, the only thing this investment will get us is a
Bullet Train to Bankruptcy."
Posted on 03/04/2011 2:03:48 PM PST by george76
"U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Friday that $2.4 billion in high-speed rail funding intended for Florida will be sent to other states after the state Supreme Court upheld Gov. Rick Scott's decision to reject the money..."
Why was the federal government trying to force this boondoggle on the Sunshine State? ... Who is John Galt?
...
"Atlas Shrugged" is a lengthy parable about individualism and freedom. Set in the not-too-distant future, it depicts an America whose economy is falling apart under the weight of an overweening government run entirely by people with approximately the integrity, cognitive ability and humility of a New York Times editorialist.
It is also, in part, a story about trains. Dagny Taggart, heroine of "Atlas Shrugged," is a hard-driving executive at Taggart Transcontinental Railroad. She teams up with Hank Rearden, a steel magnate who has developed a new supermetal, to build the John Galt Line, a high-speed track through Colorado. They encounter political obstacles every step of the way.
Meanwhile, great industrialists are mysteriously disappearing. John Galt, whoever he is, seems to have something to do with it, but precisely what is left for the sequels to explain. Also unexplained in Part I is the significance of an abandoned motor that Dagny and Hank find in an abandoned Wisconsin factory. It is amazingly innovative, an engine that literally runs on air.
There is one big difference between the book and the movie: While the former is set in a vague "day after tomorrow," the latter has a specific timeline: Part I begins in September 2016 and runs through the summer of 2017. Which is an odd setting for a drama about railroads, "a technology that was the future two centuries ago," as Will observes.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
This is happening because China is to be the supplier for the trains. America has corrupt politicians who work for Chinese interests, or the globalist interest instead of protecting individual rights and liberties, as they are supposed to do.
Diane Feinstein is an excellent example of this corruption but PLENTY of republicans are just as corrupt. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an MOU with China for a train that will go nowhere — a 60 mile stretch in water bankrupt central California— before leaving office.
Cornyn, Lugar and many others have worked for YEARS to give over our transporation infrastructure to foreign interests including Mexico, China and Spain.
These days, any money not going to China, will go to India (annointed by the globalists for favoristic treatment because of the billion plus population). It’s one reason why they loathe America, try as they may they’ve only managed to get our population to 300 plus million mostly due to illegal immigration.
Doesn’t anyone advocating this boondoogle realize that it is just a juicy target for terrorists that is much easier to access than an airliner? And just as soon as there is an attack, what other freedoms must we lose in the interests of public safety?
********************************************************
You don’t need a terrorist attack ,, rail distorts in the heat ,, especially long pieces of welded rail... it causes many derailments ... ask Amtrak about that .. a bullet train requires perfect track and to make ridership numbers it would have to make too many stops losing the speed advantage..
because its not their money.
Because they know that trains mean union votes and never ending subsidies for them to spend. Justifying more administrative bureaucrats
Because if the government backs it, its a sure winner with OPM
That is one of those books that I always “meant to read”, but never got around to ...until just recently. I finally determined to read the dang thing all the way through. It was not as hard as I had supposed. I enjoyed it, if one can enjoy a book that spells out so clearly why America is falling apart. It is indeed prophetic.
You may need to read it again to get the full effect (took me 3 read-throughs). Rand has seen the same pattern in Soviet Russia and saw the same patterns developing in the US, even in the 1940’s. You should read the other Rand novels.
I recommend:
The Fountainhead : Though everyone references Atlas Shrugged, I personally feel that The Fountainhead provides a clearer picture of HOW and WHY the Left corrupts society. It shows how the Progressive corrupts the Press and uses it to creates chaos, and how good people are corrupted. She shows how even in the 20’s and 30’s the Left corrupts even good government plans to its own ends. Why do they do it? They are evil. They seek to collect souls. Sounds silly, but this is coming from the atheist Rand. And it doesn’t take much to corrupt the system. Just a little bit of smooth-talking and time.
We The Living : What life was like in Soviet Russia just after the Revolution. Describes how it was impossible to get a job unless you joined a Union. Shades of what the Unions want in the US, today. Describes the destruction of the “rich” and the corruption that followed. Even the Party faithful can’t stand it after a while.
Anthem : Short novela. Describes the final nightmare world envisioned by the main evil character in The Fountainhead. IMO, this is the world Leftists, enviro-freaks and Agenda 21 supporters want: depopulated, totalitarian, agrarian, and impoverished. The complete destruction of the self for the collective.
BFLR
I recommend The Fountainhead
Was also a movie stared Gary Cooper..
for satire on this subject
http://www.theusmat.com/natldesksatire.htm
You bet. Middle of summer in FL and both freight and passenger trains have to slow down due to rail expansion. Good observation. Now the Hi speed rail people will tell you they have special rails, concrete and rail fasteners that are not spikes into wood that pull out. But metal still responds to heat... and cold too. That’s why they pitch Mag Lev— magnum expensive, levitatingly bankrupting.
We the Living also was reflected in FDR new deal. If you weren’t a Democrat you did not get a make work job. It was that simple... hence coining the phrase “Nice work if you can get it” Much of obamanomics is predicated on the gubmint job that is unionized. If we don’t break this we are doomed, just as Jefferson observed we would be if “the people ever are able to vote themselves money”. We the Living is a textbook case of socialism’s nightmare.
I am almost done reading Atlas Shrugged. I have been stunned at some of the parallels in the book with how our society operates.
If you haven’t read it, I would highly recommend it.
Can't admit Obama plan is folly, union jobs = union contributions, sweetheart deals made when they were in power, crony capitalism, etc.
Standard commuter rail using existing track would probably get you from one major population point to another in Florida in less time than it takes to drive (considering the level of congestion in places like Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville) and at about the same public cost as highways. So revive passenger rail...for which the track and infrastructure already exist.
Good argument. Too often people go to extremes on this. George Will is a pretty good example. Here he sounds more like Ann Coulter than his usual mushy self:
Time was, the progressive cry was "Workers of the world unite!" or "Power to the people!" Now it is less resonant: "All aboard!"
Treating rail as some battle of ideologies rather than a pragmatic question of what works is a way to antagonize a lot of good people.
If the market's not there for high speed rail, if regular trains can do the job, if government gets in the way of what actually works in rail transportation, why borrow the money build such a massive project?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.