Brownback Asks Trump To Save Some Kansas Highway Projects

KCUR 89.3 ^ | January 26, 2017 | Jim McLean & Sam Zeff

[norwaypinesavage]

I stopped sending letters to Santa Claus when I was 8. You’d think governors could do the same.

[TheNext]

The Blackhole of Govt worker pensions will suck up ALL tax dollars provided. Take a camera to the RV park and see how the funds are being spent.

[Savage Rider]

The viaduct comes first. All others can wait until Kansas residents pay enough gas taxes.

[vette6387]

“The know where it went. It went to cover the budget deficits of the last six years, and is going to cover the projected deficits for this year and next.”

So if you or I were faced with this problem, we would HAVE to cut back because we have nothing liken to the Federal Government to back us up. I suspect that Kansas, not unlike California where I reside, has a public employee compensation and retirement problem with which they refuse to deal. The time is not far off when all government employees are going to be forced to take a substantial haircut, because governments have kicked the financial can down the road just about as far as they are able.

[vette6387]

So tell us all just how Kansas is doing with their Public Employee pension plans! My bet is that is one place these “budget deficits” are going.

[Spktyr]

Another DOT site has a different take on that: https://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0362

How Freight Moves

Freight is moved by rail, water, pipeline, truck, and air. The rail network accounts for approximately 40 percent of U.S. freight moves by ton-miles (the length freight travels) and 16 percent by tons (the weight of freight moved). [5]

On the rails, in general, bulk freight, such as grain and coal, ships in rail cars and consumer goods, such as items found at a neighborhood store, ship in containers or trailers called intermodal traffic. Intermodal traffic refers to the transport of goods on trains before and/or after transfers from other modes of transportation such as planes, vessels, or trucks. It has been the fastest growing segment of the freight rail industry since 1980.

[Alberta's Child]

That’s a good source, and a good point. The explanation about intermodal rail traffic illustrates the discrepancy between the tonnage measure and the ton-mile measure. Many loads that are moved by rail end up on a truck at some point, but the opposite is not usually true.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Actually, for the T-Works program, I believe the gas tax was increased and the state’s sales tax was increased by 1 percent. Unfortunately, when Brownback cut business taxes, he exempted around 1000 businesses from paying it altogether, causing a loss of revenue for other budget items. He could always re-instate them at a lower rate, rather than plundering the highway funds.