DEMagoguery Over Philadelphia Train Wreck

[jwoodie]

How do these A$$holes get away with blaming this tragedy on GOP budget cuts? The fact of the matter is that Amtrak already has a system to control train speed, but only installed it on the southbound tracks because they didn't think northbound trains could go that fast. Who votes for these disgusting pukes?

 

[Obiwan]

How do these A$$holes get away with blaming this tragedy on GOP budget cuts? The fact of the matter is that Amtrak already has a system to control train speed, but only installed it on the southbound tracks because they didn't think northbound trains could go that fast. Who votes for these disgusting pukes?

Actually, I posted a link on an earlier thread showing where the Democrats raided the infrastructure money when Obama took office...

It's a shame that the Democrats put pet projects over lives.

 

[Pogo]

How do these A$$holes get away with blaming this tragedy on GOP budget cuts? The fact of the matter is that Amtrak already has a system to control train speed, but only installed it on the southbound tracks because they didn't think northbound trains could go that fast. Who votes for these disgusting pukes?

Aahhhhhhhhhhmmmm..... the first two or three threads I saw on this were insinuating that "Islam did it". When that fell apart we were informed it was The Gay.

Tell me of this "demagoguery".

 

[TheOldSchool]

How do these A$$holes get away with blaming this tragedy on GOP budget cuts? The fact of the matter is that Amtrak already has a system to control train speed, but only installed it on the southbound tracks because they didn't think northbound trains could go that fast. Who votes for these disgusting pukes?

What's more shocking is that the GOP hasn't launched a multi-million dollar probe yet to see if there's any way they can connect the crash to Hillary.

 

[Obiwan]

How do these A$$holes get away with blaming this tragedy on GOP budget cuts? The fact of the matter is that Amtrak already has a system to control train speed, but only installed it on the southbound tracks because they didn't think northbound trains could go that fast. Who votes for these disgusting pukes?

What's more shocking is that the GOP hasn't launched a multi-million dollar probe yet to see if there's any way they can connect the crash to Hillary.

Why would they do that???? Did she run across the railroad tracks in her efforts to get away from the press?????

 

[jwoodie]

How do these A$$holes get away with blaming this tragedy on GOP budget cuts? The fact of the matter is that Amtrak already has a system to control train speed, but only installed it on the southbound tracks because they didn't think northbound trains could go that fast. Who votes for these disgusting pukes?

Aahhhhhhhhhhmmmm..... the first two or three threads I saw on this were insinuating that "Islam did it".

Tell me of this "demagoguery".

Thanks for explaining how these pukes get elected.

 

[daws101]

seem the op is unaware that the railroad industry has been fighting the implementation date for years
it was supposed to be nation wide by this fall.
they want to push it back to 2020.

Rail Against the Machine

So why are conservatives using the public transportation we are told they oppose? Because being stuck in traffic isn’t fun, even if you are driving a BMW. On a commuter train or Light Rail line, you whiz past all those cars going no-where at 50 or 60 miles per hour—reading, working on your laptop, or relaxing, instead of staring at some other guy’s bumper.

Still, libertarians shriek, “Subsidies!”—ignoring the fact that highways only cover 58 percent of their costs from user fees, including the gas tax. To understand how conservatives might approach transportation issues more thoughtfully, we need to differentiate. All public transit is not created equal. You will find few people with alternatives sitting on buses crawling slowly down city streets. Most bus passengers are “transit dependents”—people who have no other way to get around. But most conservatives have cars; they are “riders from choice,” people who will only take transit that offers better conditions than driving. They demand high-quality transit, which usually means rail: commuter trains, subways, Light Rail, and streetcars.

Here we see one of the absurdities of the Republican position on transit. During the recent Bush administration, it was virtually impossible to get federal funding for rail-transit projects; buses were offered instead. But most Republicans’ constituents are served by rail transit.

The perception that conservatives do not use public transportation is only one of the mistaken notions that has warped the Right’s position on transportation policy. Another is that the dominance of automobiles and highways is a free-market outcome. Nothing could be further from the truth. Were we to drop back 100 years, we would find that Americans were highly mobile. Their mobility was based on a dense, nationwide network of rail transportation: intercity trains, streetcars, and interurbans (the latter two electrically powered). Almost all of these rail systems were privately owned, paid taxes, and were expected to make a profit. But they were wiped out by massive government subsidies to highways. Today’s situation, where “drive or die” is the reality for most Americans, is a product of almost a century of government intervention in the transportation market.

Another misperception is that public transportation does not serve conservative goals. Again, to understand the real situation we must differentiate between buses and trains. Buses do help the transit-dependent get to jobs, but for the most part, it is rail transit that serves conservatives’ goals. Subways, Light Rail, and streetcars often bring massive economic development or redevelopment of previously rundown areas. Portland, Oregon built a new streetcar line, a loop of just 2.4 miles, for $57 million. It quickly brought more than $2 billion in new development. The small city of Kenosha, Wisconsin put in a streetcar line for just over $4 million. It immediately brought $150 million in development, with another $150 million planned. Not surprisingly, both cities are expanding their streetcar systems. Buses have no such effect on development because a bus line can be here today, gone tomorrow. The investment in track and overhead wires streetcars and Light Rail require tells developers the service will be there for years to come.
Rail Against the Machine The American Conservative

 

[Dragonlady]

I wish to comment that the photo of streetcars used up thread is a picture of the Toronto Transit Commission's streetcar barn. This storage and service depot was three blocks from our house in Toronto.