On Tue, 30 Mar 2021 17:36:57 -0500, Jim Joyce
wrote:

On Tue, 30 Mar 2021 05:58:54 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Friday, March 26, 2021 at 10:10:48 PM UTC-4, Jim Joyce wrote:
On Fri, 26 Mar 2021 12:23:07 -0400, wrote:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2021 02:51:42 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

On Thursday, March 25, 2021 at 11:15:23 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Thu, 25 Mar 2021 12:46:18 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

On Thursday, March 25, 2021 at 3:40:22 PM UTC-4, wrote:

Reagan may have been the last president I supported most of the time
but he screwed up a lot too. Where is Eisenhower when we need him?

In Heaven, pursuing dangerously liberal ideas, like the interstate highway
system, desegregation, and Earl Warren.

Cindy Hamilton
The difference was when Eisenhower proposed the Interstate Highway
system he put into place a user fee (gasoline tax) to pay for it.
Since then some democrats have seen fit to raid that tax base to build
railroads to nowhere and subsidize public transportation systems that
paid their own way, even making a modest profit in his time.
Those are also the places with crumbling roads and falling down
bridges. Imagine that.

It's always easier to raise money for sexy projects like new freeways
or bridges than to raise money for boring stuff like maintenance.

Cindy Hamilton

They had the money, they just put it into public transit instead of
roads. Public transit should charge fares that reflect the real cost,
not steal money from other programs.
Unfortunately those people are not willing to pay that. They always
want someone else to pay.
I rarely use public transport but I'm very happy to subsidize it so that
others can afford to use it. Every car off the streets makes it easier for
me to get around. IMO, they should lower the cost to zero to encourage even
more usage.

Personally I think those using mass transit should pay for it, just like most
everything else. People living in NYC, they mostly don't have cars, so they
aren't paying for an auto, gas, insurance, repairs. They already have a great
bargain. I wish I could just pay $3 for a ride instead of driving. If they need to
raise fares to keep things solvent or improve them, the riders should pay for it,
not me. Even worse, no one will be paying for this, it will be just more
borrowed money on the way to the bankruptcy of the US.

Our country has a long history of subsidizing things. If it weren't for
that, they still might not have electricity, telephones, and Internet in
the Northern Plains states. I remember learning about the REA very early in
school.

There is a difference between subsidizing new technology into the
hinterlands and simply pumping tax dollars into a 100+year old
existing railroad. If you take Amtrack from Florida to DC it is not
unlike the trips I took in the 50s. You might even be riding on the
same cars.
An Amtrack ticket for that ride is $135. The actual cost is more like
$400.
It isn't some new age electric bullet train. It is diesel and takes
19+ hours. You can drive it in 15. Air fare is less than $100 one way
and takes a couple hours. There are even $40 flights right now but
that is just to get asses in seats.