Danny Westneat thinks our government should follow Canada's example and raise billions more in taxes without our consent in order to build more railroads for our own good. "It's time we curb votes on transit"
For some reason, the autocrats love their trains.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at November 11, 2005 09:39 AM | Email ThisThese politicians haven't outgrown their childhood instincts. Only now they go for billions of public tax dollars to play with their toys, instead of a few pennies here and there in spare change.
Posted by: Interested Observer on November 11, 2005 10:03 AMWhy sell it? Government does a better job of land developing than the private sector, doesn't it? Just talk to your local politician, especially the rude and arrogant ones.
Posted by swatter at November 11, 2005 10:05 AM
1) I read your posting and the aricle links to Danny Westneat and Mussolini
2) Having grown up in Northern NJ, railroads can work, but you have to remember these lines were built in the 1840's and have been maintained since then.
3) SoundTransit was originally scheduled to run by Boeing Field b4 going to SeaTac. Ron Sims by pushing light rail thru Martin Luther King has destroyed a neighborhood and made the commute time unacceptible.
4) Trains will work, but the quality of the Puget Sound politician will muck it up.
5) Earlier in the 1900's we had Interurban transit from Tacoma to Seattle and Seattle to Everett.
6) The other problem facing Puget Sound is that BNSF is only one track while on the East Coast there are 2 to 4 tracks.
7) Finally we just do not have the intellectual capacity at Sound Transit or in the government agencies to properly implement light rail.
8) If Ron Simms, Christine Gregorire, and Greg Nickels were serious on light rail and transportation, they would hire the retired and laid off Boeing employees with "big project" experience versus their friends.
9) Seattle likes to study things to death, thus most of us will be collecting what's left of Social Security b4 light rail is built.
10) Finally Sound Transit is the Dead Beat Dad of government agencies. ST signs contracts but does not pay the companies. See the Puget Sound Business Journal.b
Vancouver..BC...that is!
Posted by: Susu on November 11, 2005 10:14 AMAnd Westneat reveals the REAL desire of the lefties: changing the law so that the gas tax can go to something OTHER than roads. As in--forcing 'evil' drivers of cars to pay gas tax for oodles of mass transit.
Fuh-get about it.
We are going to focus on Sound Transit and demand a coordinated transportation system. Not bad, eh Tim?
Sound like a valuable thing to do?
Posted by: swatter on November 11, 2005 10:50 AM
One...if Westneat thinks people need to have stuff shoved down their throats, he obviously thinks he won't be one of them. How does he know this? If we get a government strong enough to strong arm us, the first thing to go will be a free, objective press...
Okay, bad example.
The pros, he says, are the ones to build transportation projects. Actually, their track record is the best reason to fire them and lock them up where they can't "help" anyone.
Let's look at the Convention Center. Back when it was proposed the WSDOT knew it effectively capped lane capacity on I-5. Back then, as you will recall, HOV lanes were the wave of the future. The WSDOT, even then, was hostile to the idea of new GPLs.
When it became clear that HOV lanes were not in fact the future of transportation, GPLs were not embraced. Instead, we got rapid transit. We got Sound Transit, which sold one product and delivered another. If I did that as a businessman I'd be in jail, and politicians such as Sims would be cheering.
The Monorail was the victim of flawed assumptions. The planners "assumed" they could believe the numbers on car licensing provided to them by...Sound Transit. Sound Transit cooked the books from one end of the operation to the other. No one should be surprised they were short by 1/3rd. That's why the Monorail didn't pencil out.
So, tell me again, Westneat...why should I trust the "pros?" More to the point, why should I trust "journalists?" The reporting on Sound Transit and the election fiasco has been reprehensible.
No, the monorail learned that they had to have a workable plan for the taxpayers to support it! What is it with these libs? Are there a series of injections they take that kill brain cells?
Posted by: Steve_dog on November 11, 2005 12:05 PMMeanwhile, if we’re going to stick with initiatives as a way to screw around with legislation, I proposed the next time Tim Eyman wants to re-pave his driveway we put that to a statewide vote.
Posted by: Daniel K on November 11, 2005 01:21 PMI suggest we put it to an initiative at that point in time when Eyman wants the taxpayers to pay for his driveway.
Posted by: Danny on November 11, 2005 02:01 PMSound Transit was inefficiently designed and it will encounter additional cost overruns when digging the tunnel in Rainier Valley/Beacon Hill. So the monorail was OK as it was - that's what he seems to be saying. Fortunately, I don't live in Seattle and so the Seattle voters finally got it on the fifth time that the monorail was severely flawed.
Posted by: KS on November 11, 2005 02:28 PMThen the monorail staff found that the plan was unworkable without major changes to the system or the financing of the system. The people of Seattle realized that they weren't getting the bang for the buck that they'd been promised and killed the system.
My biggest issue with initiatives to overturn legislative decisions is that it bypasses the republican form of government which provides us the ability to elect persons to serve as our representatives in government. We also have the ability to remove those persons from office and replace them with others if they're not serving our interests. As the congressional election of 1994 showed, when the people are ready for change they can make it happen, even against entrenched interests.
As far as the State not spending transportation money efficiently, isn't that what the initiative that allows for audits purposefully designed to address?
As far as gas in general, you made the choice to purchase something that uses consumable fuel that must be replenished frequently - you make the choice to pay more money at the pump if your vehicle isn't fuel efficient. As for long commutes, you made a choice to live away from your workplace. I live in Seattle and work in Bellevue and I've made the choice to save myself money by using the bus to get to and from work. It's all about providing people with choice and giving them transportation options.
And, finally, when did having a car and being able to drive become something we'd consider a fundamental right? It's not - it's a choice.
Posted by: Roscha on November 11, 2005 05:25 PMAs long as you want to end voting on transportation, why not end voting on elected officials, because so much of their time is spent campaigning, this way they could spend more time levying taxes against us for stuff we don't want. If you really want a monorail so bad, then buy one. If you can't afford it, don't force me to pay for it because I don't want it. I understand that you want an end to individual freedoms to vote to end taxes, or mass transit systems, and accordingly, you should probably move to a socialist paradise with no individual freedoms like Canada, or possibly France, where everyone is happy all the time except when rioting across the country.
A few hundred years ago, a bunch of freedom loving people got together to fight a war for individual freedom. I stand by their work for freedom. That is why this country is envied, for it's freedom. Take that away, and we are not citizens, only subjects.
I just googled Vancouver and their transportation system. They have approx 2 million people in the area and their transportation system is paid for by (approx) 1/3 fares, 1/3 gas taxes, and 1/3 property taxes. They also just had a large property tax increase.
Interesting system...... theri construction costs obviously don't follow Macon-Davis!
Posted by: sgmmac on November 12, 2005 03:19 PM