Back in 2009, President Obama bragged about shaving a piddly $100 million from the federal budget by encouraging people to save money on travel expenditures by video conferencing.
Now he wants to spend $53 billion on high speed trains so people can travel instead of video conferencing.
Funny… for that pile of loot, you could buy every working adult in America a computer, a webcam, and internet access.
Make up your mind, Mr. President.
Brain dead, train dead. Let’s put him on a rail and run him out of town.
Yeah, but teleconferencing provides no graft for Obama’s buddies.
He just realized that he can control you more on a train than he can on the internets. Even though he’s trying really hard to put an Internets Security Administration agent at every ISP to fondle your virtual junk.
The Obama Shuffle.
“Obama’s High Speed Trains”
Sounds like a derogatory Euphemism from Mrs Obama.
…”the first step in what the White House projects would be a 25-year shift to modern, speedy railways able to reach 80 percent of the United States and offering thousands of jobs.”
According to the USDA’s 2002 census of agriculture – 41.4% of US land is used for farming.
Maybe they could install Internet access on the trains so that the riders can have video conferences while they are zooming back and forth..
Zoom Zoom
Cant we by the computers and choo-choo’s?
High speed trains? Are those anything like monorails? Why that will put us on the map.
As long as we are ‘Winning The Future’ with 19th century tech like rail travel,
$53 Billion could breed a lot of high speed horses, too. WTF!
High-speed mass transit is one of those ideas that Leftists slobber over – it’s SO European (or maybe Japanese – anyway, foreign, and therefore the Best Idea EVAH!).
If he though about it, he’d realize why it’s a ridiculous idea – America is NOT a population-dense tiny country. We’re a Big-Ass, widespread, lots-of-empty-spaces country. It’s a waste of money trying to ferry us across the continent like that – it’s cheaper, and more convenient (not to mention time-efficient) to let us hop a plane when we get the desire to travel.
If we want to take extra time to cross the US, we’ll drive.
It’s the American Way.
In the US, we use airplanes the way that Europe uses trains. The fact that a map of Europe takes up a whole page in a geography book does not mean that Europe is big.
I don’t think that The Smartest Man in teh World™ knows this, not does his batboy.
POTUS = TOTUS
VPOTUS = DOOFUS
Just so long as we don’t let the profit motive decide anything, damn it!
“Is there a chance the track will bend?”
“Not a chance my Hindu friend.”
#11 and 12 make the best points about why this is a stupid idea for America. It kind of makes sense on a limited bases in some of the built up coastal areas, the ones were the leftist live. Again, what makes sense for their little world, does not apply to the country as a whole, but that does not stop them from thinking it should. These same leftist would probably be shocked to learn that about one third of all road surfaces in our country are still unpaved, (Mostly farm and utility roads out in the country) and so a lot of people can’t drive little hybrid cars to and from their home, because the small tires give too little surface clearance.
The good news is, that our country was created with the realization that different geographical locations would have different needs. That is why we have these things called States. If New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts want to get together, and form high speed rail lines across their states, they should. That would be awesome. It would also be a project that should not have to involve the tax dollars of farmers in Iowa who will never ride the things, in their entire life.
Between high speed rail and new windmill technology, we’ll be able to conquer the far off World of Tomorrow. (This is 1845, right?)
Great strides are being made in the race to develop High-Speed horses!
@Mr. M: I beg to be different. High speed rail doesn’t work in built up areas because rail needs to be straight in order to support high speed trains. Existing right of ways just won’t do. In order to build high speed rail, houses and businesses will need to be demolished under eminent domain so that new straight right of way can be built. That’s why Acela is only a speed train, instead of a high speed train (it uses pre-existing right of way).
Every congressperson wants to bring home a contract for high speed rail equipment. NO congressperson wants to bring home the demolishing of local homes and businesses.
Exit question: These issues were hashed during the 90’s (Clinton) when the Acela was put into service. Are liberals too stupid to remember the issues, or do they just not care about the impending waste of cash?
It would actually make more sense to re-develop train use for consumer goods. That would get the semi’s, doubles and triples off the roads, save gas, cut down on not only the transportation costs, but on the infrastructure cost of highways and expressways and vehicle injuries and deaths. There might be some job loss but it would probably even out. This should NOT however be attempted by the government.
The PRIVATE sector is where jobs are produced.
The PUBLIC sector is where wealth is redistributed.
“The PUBLIC sector is where wealth is
redistributedsquandered.”Slight editing by a friend. 🙂
I like mass-transit where it makes sense:
– Sometimes trains make sense;
– Sometimes buses make sense;
– Sometimes airplanes make sense;
– Sometimes mass-transit doesn’t make sense at all.
I like mass-transit; I truly do. I use mass-transit. The very fact that it is subsidized doesn’t bother me, because roads are subsidized, too. (The level of subsidy is another story!) What bothers me the most is that the issue (once again? surprisingly?) is being discussed at the Federal level. It has no business being at the Federal level. A nation-wide system should be done the same way as the airlines are: private enterprise. Commuter rail ought to be the responsibility of the communities it services; ditto light rail; ditto high-speed rail. (and ditto buses, and ditto local roads while I’m at it.)
It never ever truly occurs to these elitist air-holes to leave the money in the community.
Community Organizer my a$$. Obama knows sweet d__ned all about “community” – they weren’t the ones paying him.
Just be glad it’s not a coast-to-coast Hot Wheels track.
Just be glad it’s not a coast-to-coast Hot Wheels track
They haven’t published the designs yet – it well could be this.
@ss396: Mass transit may be all well and good, but it’s simply unconstitutional under the One Man, One Car clause.
It’s not fair to exclude democrats like that. That makes you racist!
First!
How difficult is it going to be to plot an accident on high-speed railroad? – 15 years ago that would be a good idea, but not when we are at war. Who can monitor every foot of railroad? I wouldn’t feel safe to use a high-speed railroad… Better go through pat-downs & fly wherever need to…
Yes, but a train crash is easier to survive than a plane crash, statistically speaking.