[Future Useless Eater]

...the upcoming referendum, which will ask if local voters would support a half-cent tax hike to fund transportation projects.

Sounds very much like a recent Minnesota gas-tax increase...

But then the Republicans added a clause...
The extra money could ONLY BE USED FOR ROADS AND BRIDGES ( NO MASS-TRANSIT )

Then the democ-RATS decided to drop the whole idea!

TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS is DEMO-SPEAK for mass-transit!

[Willie Green]

But then the Republicans added a clause...
The extra money could ONLY BE USED FOR ROADS AND BRIDGES ( NO MASS-TRANSIT )

GOP shoots itself in the foot again.

U.S. Petroleum & Crude Oil Overview
(thousand barrels per day)

	1960	1965	1970	1975	1980	1985	1990	1995	2000
U.S. Crude Oil Production	7,035	7,804	9,637	8,375	8,597	8,971	7,355	6,560	5,834
U.S. Petroleum Imports	1,815	2,468	3,419	6,056	6,909	5,067	8,018	8,835	11,093
Total	8,850	10,272	13,056	14,431	15,506	14,038	15,373	15,395	16,927
Imports as % of Total	20.5	24.0	26.2	42.0	44.6	36.1	52.2	57.4	65.5

High-speed rail as an alternative mode of transportation in the U.S. is long overdue. We are reaching the point of diminishing returns as we expand our 4-lane interstates to 6 or (gasp!!!) 8 lanes. And even costly airport expansions make little sense when (prior to 9/11) the air corridors themselves are over-congested.

High-speed rail and maglev offer the perfect alternative to augment & supplement our highway and air transportation infrastructure. For regional trips between 150 and 350 miles, it is faster than automobile and not that much slower than air. Yet offers the potential to alleviate both congested highways and air corridors!

In light of current economic conditions, construction of this vital transportation infrastructure should be accelerated.

[DennisR]

Are you sure you are not speaking of Washington State (aka USSRW)?