been screaming for this for years

Mass rail transit is nothing more than a tool for socialists. Socialists hate American individualism....which is the enemy of their collectivism. What could be more free and individual than you in your own car? That’s why socialists hate cars...cars represent indvidual freedom....for socialists the less cars the better. They would rather you lived in a dense population center where they can control you. Because you know….socialists are “smart”… and they know what is best for you…

ObamaDrama cracked a joke that by using rail transit one wouldn’t need to take his shoes off….what an idiot.....mass rail transit would become a prime target for terrorists….hey BO…remember the train and subway bombings in Europe?…..and who is going to pay for the additional high cost of protection on top of the high cost to build plus the high cost of upkeep?

And what working person on vacation is going to take a train across the country when he can fly in 1/10th the time? Even at 150 mph it will still take at least 20 hours to cross the country...that's a big waste of time when you'd rather be spending your week off at Disneyland....we are not like Europe....America is BIG....maybe that's why not too many use Amtrak...besides, travel in a car is very comfortable...you can stop at McDonald's any time you feel like it...

In fact, who is going to take the train anywhere when it's easier to drive where you need to go? When you need your car to do errands after work or you want to go someplace other than where the rail lines go? Unless you live in high population areas where it makes sense… forget it….but here we get back to the radicals goal….they want us to live in dense rabbit warrens….they hate suburbia and small town America….you know…where the rednecks live…they want to force us all into regulated “green” urban population centers…

Forcing rail transit on America is nothing more than another socialist commie step to control us and take away our liberties….and Maobama is leading the way...
So....all those decades the US was fairly smothered in an extensive and reliable passenger rail transit network, up to the 1950s,
we were a nation of "Socialists" ? All those robber barons were actually closet commies ?

I don't think we should 'force' rail transit upon any city or region, but IF we can invest in such a way to reduce our dependence upon oil, make transportation better, that is good.
Trains are more safe and more efficient than cars and trucks and planes, you realize.

And are you aware that the budget for building and maintaing the highway system is enormous ?
Isn't that socialist, putting all that government attention and money into roads and highways ?
And levess and dams and bridges and all forms of govenment assisted transportation would be socialist as well.

What is NOT socialist to you ?
but all those train lines are going out of business because they cant compete
why should the government be taking them over and wasting tax dollars on runing a system that cant even stay in business
 
Looking at the surface I see no reason to object to the project. I am all for speeding up travel as long as it's safe. And this seems to be a project that would be legitimately authorized by the Constitution in the governments job to govern interstate commerce.

Of course, I havent seen the hidden costs involved. Nor the specific benefits of it. But with a brief look at the matter, It may not be bad.

This is the problem, the governments rarely look at those themselves and jump on the band wagon without considering the long term effects, costs, or risks involved. Then wonder why all the tax payers are upset when these project fail and cost too much later on.
 
I think high speed mag lev rails are long overdue.

So that project actually would be a very good use of stimulus money.

However I doubt that a mere $740 billion is enough to really create an effective system of such rail lines.

But it would be a good start.

Jet liners are a STUPID way to travel.

They pollute like crazy, and traveling by Jet is hardly convenient anymore.

Pollute your talking about polluting..My God do you not realize that Cities are the places where most pollution is already and now lets ad somemore with rails..Ok new rails with only solar or wind power just like the left campaign said...Got a better idea eliminate cities
have people move back to the country and this would probably do more to relieve pollution than any thing else.
 
Save is the problem here avatar. We already have a High speed rail system from Boston to DC. Half the time it doesn't run at top end because of rail and road bed problems. Multiply the distance by about four and the dificulties in keeping up the road bed by about ten and figure on a good day half your time will be spent at speeds well below best due to track problems. Keep in mine the distance between London and Berlin via the Chunnel is actually less than the distance fromBoston to Atlanta.
 
All the negative comments are amusing but wrong.

Cato is hardly a source for well reasoned fair minded analysis, any organization supported by corporations or ideology needs to viewed in that light.

How many have ridden the Metro in Washington? In Philly, we have the Frankford Elevated and the Broad street subway, both well used.

Go to Paris and ride their Metro, or Spain's metro or train service, Barcelona even has bikes for quick trips in busy areas. Paris is the best I have seen, but we are heading to England on our fortieth.

You ostriches lost the election, and continue to lose credibility as you stand still and the cobwebs grow and bind you tighter. Time to move into the future and alternative means of getting from here to there.

Ah, going the way of Truthmatters aka oxymoron, in not including who you are responding to. Perhaps because it would be too easy to dismantle your points?

In honor of your mention, we turn to Wiki:

Cato Institute - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C.
The Institute's stated mission is "to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets, and peace" by striving "to achieve greater involvement of the intelligent, lay public in questions of (public) policy and the proper role of government." Cato scholars conduct policy research on a broad range of public policy issues, and produce books, studies, op-eds, and blog posts. They are also frequent guests in the media.

The Cato Institute is non-partisan, and its scholars' views are not consistently aligned with either major political party. For example, Cato scholars were sharply critical of the Bush administration on a wide variety of issues, including the Iraq war, civil liberties, education, health care, agriculture, energy policy, and excessive government spending. However, on other issues, most notably Social Security,[1][2] global warming,[3][4] tax policy,[5] and immigration,[6][7][8][9][10] Cato scholars had praised Bush administration initiatives. During the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Cato scholars criticized both major-party candidates, John McCain[11][12] and Barack Obama.[13][14]...
 
this issue is way too complex for you morons

i won't even read through this thread - it is already obvious it goes way over your heads

one thing is for sure - it won't help the economy

it WILL reduce CO2 emissions though - which is pointless of course

in end he's doing it because it's just something that Americans psychologically will feel good about. he wants us happy about getting robbed.

he should have built the Autobahn instead. nobody gives a fuck for any bullet trains in France or Japan or wherever. but Autobahn is the shit !

so you see the difference between Hitler and Obama is that Hitler built the cool Autobahn while Obama will build a very lame fucking train ...
 
All Democrats are cracking up to be is gimmme gimmmie gimmmie people. dosen't say much for or about you. cept gimmie!


And you're proving FDR was right...


A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
 
Screaming Eagle asks a good question:

What IS it about radical lefties and and their love for rail mass transit?

Two things, I think...

Efficiency of rails and our disgust for what the automobile society has done to our nation.

Not only is the auto society bankrupting us, but just look at what it's done to our cities, our national landscape, our air and water and so on and so forth.

That's why we think mass transit makes sense.

The REAL COST of the automobile society is staggering and what's more it IS unsustainable.

We all like our cars and the freedom it bring us.

But the costs, the real costs to society are too high to justify it.
 
We all like our cars and the freedom it bring us.

But the costs, the real costs to society are too high to justify it.

it was only yesterday that i said you hate freedom and here you go again - saying freedom cannot be justified

freedom doesn't need to be justified ...

you are a Fascist. what did you think ? did you think Fascists thought they were "bad" or "evil" ? They were like you - brainwashed little lemmings.
 
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The cost of the automobile society is directly tied to the luddite lefts unwillingness to enmbrace new technologies in almost every field of energy production.
 
and now , yes - "My Boy" Obama is going to do it. I personally don't give a damn that this site is filled with so many Obama haters, I love that he's the Prez and something like this, even as small as it is, is exactly why I love him - forward thinking

Obama unveils high-speed passenger rail plan - CNN.com

Dude...

The highspeed rail will not improve business to Las Vegas, at all.

The highspeed rail will take a decade to build.

The highspeed rail will create maybe a few thousands jobs, or ten thousand jobs at most.

And you just cry with joy that this is happening...why?
 
I think high speed mag lev rails are long overdue.

So that project actually would be a very good use of stimulus money.

However I doubt that a mere $740 billion is enough to really create an effective system of such rail lines.

But it would be a good start.

Jet liners are a STUPID way to travel.

They pollute like crazy, and traveling by Jet is hardly convenient anymore.

I disagree. A good use of stimulus money would be to pay off necessities and fund only necessities.
 
I think high speed mag lev rails are long overdue.

So that project actually would be a very good use of stimulus money.

However I doubt that a mere $740 billion is enough to really create an effective system of such rail lines.

But it would be a good start.

Jet liners are a STUPID way to travel.

They pollute like crazy, and traveling by Jet is hardly convenient anymore.

It's a trade off, not an improvement really. Pollution isn't just exhaust fumes, there's oil used to lubricate, space for tracks, cleaning chemicals for the mechanical and magnetic components (magnetic components require a lot more maintenance unless you like having the train fly off the track at 500 mph), etc.. No better, no worse, just different types of pollution.

But different types of pollution are acceptable. They have no problem building thousands of windmills, blotting the landscape and upsetting eco-systems just so long is it hasn't oil wells which take up no more space and are no more unsightly.

Now we're going to replace air travel with electric trains. You left out the cost of maintaining those eletrical power plants and the amount of fossil fuels required to maintain each one.

All paid for with nonexistent money.:cuckoo:
 
All Democrats are cracking up to be is gimmme gimmmie gimmmie people. dosen't say much for or about you. cept gimmie!


And you're proving FDR was right...


A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Walking forward, groping in the dark as you lefties do usually results in breaking your nose on a wall or going over a cliff.
 
The cost of the automobile society is directly tied to the luddite lefts unwillingness to enmbrace new technologies in almost every field of energy production.

Did you mother drop you on your head?

ALL you need to do is look at the posts of your right wing comrades... the right is against change, new ideas and new technologies...

The clinical name for what you are doing is projection...


A liberal on his way to the next NASCAR event...

163_0802_2008_readers_rides_38z+2001_ford_f250_super_duty+gary_tooley_of_huntingburg_indiana.jpg
 
MagLev Economics

The Shanghai maglev cost 9.93 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) to build.[17] This total includes infrastructure capital costs such as manufacturing and construction facilities, and operational training. At 50 yuan per passenger[18] and the current 7,000 passengers per day, income from the system is incapable of recouping the capital costs (including interest on financing) over the expected lifetime of the system, even ignoring operating costs[citation needed].

China aims to limit the cost of future construction extending the maglev line to approximately 200 million yuan (US$24.6 million) per kilometer.[17]
The United States Federal Railroad Administration 2003 Draft Environmental Impact Statement for a proposed Baltimore-Washington Maglev project gives an estimated 2008 capital costs of 4.361 billion US dollars for 39.1 miles, or 111.5 million US dollars per mile (69.3 million US dollars per kilometer). The Maryland Transit Authority (MTA) conducted their own Enviromental Impact Statement, and put the pricetag at 4.9 billion dollars for construction, and 53 million a year for operations. [2]
While high-speed maglevs are expensive to build, they are less expensive to operate and maintain than traditional high-speed trains, planes or intercity buses.[citation needed] Data from the Shanghai maglev project indicates that operation and maintenance costs are covered by the current relatively low volume of 7,000 passengers per day.[citation needed] Passenger volumes on the Pudong International Airport line are expected to rise dramatically once the line is extended from Longyang Road metro station all the way to Shanghai's downtown train depot.
The proposed Chūō Shinkansen maglev in Japan is estimated to cost approximately US$82 billion to build, with a route blasting long tunnels through mountains. A Tokaido maglev route replacing current Shinkansen would cost some 1/10th the cost, as no new tunnel blasting would be needed, but noise pollution issues would make it infeasible.
The only low-speed maglev (100 km/h) currently operational, the Japanese Linimo HSST, cost approximately US$100 million/km to build.[19] Besides offering improved operation and maintenance costs over other transit systems, these low-speed maglevs provide ultra-high levels of operational reliability and introduce little noise and zero air pollution into dense urban settings.
As maglev systems are deployed around the world, experts expect construction costs to drop as new construction methods are innovated along with economies of scale.

I think there's a future for this tecnology particularly along the East Coast and West Coast population centers.

At $11.5 million per mile, the cost to build a Boston to Washinton Trail which stops in New York Philadelphia Baltimore and Washinton would be about

440miles x $111.5 million per mile = $490,660,000,000

FWIW, that's about 11.5 times more expensive than building another a four lane superhighway per mile.

Sound like a good investment to me.

We're investing more in 100 year old tecnology (roads and auto infrastructure) than we should.

We ought to be thinking about phasing out the automobile society.

We're not going to be able to susptain it much longer anyway, if our population continues to grow at the rate it's been growing.
 
The cost of the automobile society is directly tied to the luddite lefts unwillingness to enmbrace new technologies in almost every field of energy production.

Did you mother drop you on your head?

ALL you need to do is look at the posts of your right wing comrades... the right is against change, new ideas and new technologies...

The clinical name for what you are doing is projection...


A liberal on his way to the next NASCAR event...

163_0802_2008_readers_rides_38z+2001_ford_f250_super_duty+gary_tooley_of_huntingburg_indiana.jpg
so, we have another hypocrite liberal that doesnt practice what they preach

:lol:
 

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