2024

[cradleandshoot]

The Democrat party HAS to find some new blood. What I mean by that are Democrats willing to back up the bus from their far left wing members.

That's not the problem. The problem is the ones who focus on culture war issues that gets Conservatives' panties in a bunch.

You can be "far left", and govern well. What this means is simple: aggressively pro-Union, pro-worker protection, ditch NAFTA, ditch Trickle down economics, give free health care, free education/training, and spend 20x times what we do on education.

In every other 1st world nation, Cradle? The above is MODERATE, not wide-eyed liberal.

We TRIED trickle down and free market. It doesn't work. Clearly. Obviously. 50 years Right Wing economics, executed by both Dems and Rs', has failed so freaking badly that America's lifespans are going DOWN. This is ABSURD and inexcusable for a country with the biggest GDP on Earth...because you don't buy infrastructure and goods and services with GDP. You buy it with CASH.

And America is holding all the poker chips. I'm tired of us acting like we don't.

You know this already, that is not how the game is played in NYS. The FLP Democrats run this state with an iron fist with little tolerance for those with political differences. They have effectively made the Republican party a non factor in this state. They have the numbers and what they say goes. I witness the dysfunction in state government on a daily basis. We are lucky that in Monroe County we have a progressive Democrat named Adam Bello who has done an outstanding job as County Executive. He has a unique ability to get everyone to get along for the most part.

I dunno Cradle, NYS is definitely blue, but you've had GOP Governors and even GOP mayors of the City of NY, so seems to me it's a lot like my state of Maryland which too is definitely blue but in which we just came off an 8 year GOP Governor who was quite popular or my former state, the Communist State of Massachusetts, which has had a series of GOP Governors. Isn't it more of a matter of of the GOP being willing to put moderate candidates forward who don't offend the culture stuff but demonstrate real governing competence? That's what has worked in past cycles...put forward these MAGA warriors and you're gonna get Dems for sure as most people in those states don't want crazy, they want competent. Likewise, Dems do well with candidates like your Bello...competent. The progressive social stuff doesn't have to get in the way.

There is nothing wrong with a progressive perspective. The most important and difficult thing that must be done is to not tune out the opinions of people who are not progressive. Progressive ideas and conservative ideas can coexist. Reagan and Tip O'Neil made it work and they didn't even hate each other.

Agreed; indeed we are best off when they compete on the basis of effectiveness not purist ideology. And when compromise is embraced as good governance in a democracy.

It seems like "it's my way or the highway" is the new way of political thinking. There was a time when being the speaker of the house was an important and prestigious position. That ship has sailed for the Republican party. It makes me wonder who in the world would want the job in this backstabbing political environment.

Hakeem Jeffries

Seriously, there is no way for a Republican speaker to survive while providing good governance, with positions with sound majorities getting votes and enacted..not without Dem cooperation and cover. Let’s hope Johnson bucks the hardliners with Ukraine funding and then adopts the Senate conservative compromise and the Democrats give that cover.

Odds are that won’t happen because the Hardliners and Trump are too strong, but that’s the only way it’s not a continuous cluster-f for the Republicans.

An amazing moment on this forum. You and I are in 100% total agreement. The Republican party as it was just 10 years ago has imploded right in front of the nations eyes. The astounding part is that trump actually and realistically has a chance to win. That might be why Joe Biden is cussing out his own people as to why his poll numbers suck. The best thing Joe could have done for the Democrat party would to have been to fall on his sword and withdraw. He is making it much harder for the Democrats to win an election that should have been pretty easy.

[a fan]

The only thing I understand about this conversation is that Amtrak loses money hand over fist and is always in need of the corporate welfare that everybody loves. Amtrak has never been a profitable operation after over 50 years. Our beloved late Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, who has a train station named in her honor, was a huge fan of high speed rail. A one billion dollar investment would have cut the time from Buffalo to Albany to around 3 hours from the present 5 hours. Nobody that I know of has a desperate need to get to Albany that quickly, unless your a politician who doesn't like to fly.

You saw the chart I gave you, Cradle. When you give rails and trains a FRACTION of what you give to roads and airports? What would you think would happen.

If I want to "win" this argument (and I don't)......what do you suppose would happen if you flipped the Government subsidy, and gave all the money to rail, and a fraction to roads?

Our rails would be FILLED with cargo and people...and you'd tell me that roads don't work.

You, just like OS, are pretending like both rails and roads are using private funds in a free market. This is the OPPOSITE of what happens. Passenger rail fails in America because that's what we CHOOSE to invest in.

Heck, make it a 50/50 split in Government spending. Watch what happens.

Right now...and this ignores that in the last 100 years, the spending was far more lopsided toward cars....roads consume 44% of Federal Transportation spending. 23% goes to planes, 22% goes to trains, and 10% to ports etc.

Old Salt is livid at even the idea of altering the above percentages even one percentage point....which is absurd. And he's telling us that if we dare to move those numbers around, we're pie-eyed commie-hippies.

He's trolling again. He doesn't REALLY believe this.

Future generations will move those numbers around via their elected officials, and our Republican will be just fine. You know: like our Constitution envisioned. No hippie-commie plot needed.

All I'm saying is this. The Amtrak passenger run from Buffalo to Albany has always been a money pit for Amtrak. Think about it a Fan, do you think there are that many people every day with a desperate need to get to Albany ASAP? You can drive there from Buffalo in under 6 hours depending on how closely obey the speed limit. The debate between you and OS is something I won't touch with a 10 foot pole. From what I know the practicality of rail freight and passenger travel varies greatly from state to state. I'm sure it can be vastly improved but that will require mind boggling amounts of taxpayer money. That is before you figure how it can be done. That would be any engineers challenge of a lifetime.

You're looking at the effects of over 100 years of constant Federal intervention and money. All I'm telling OS (and everyone else) is that Republicans are behaving as if how the US Transportation system works and is set up has NOTHING to do with Free Market forces. It was ENTIRELY and COMPLETELY crafted by our Government, and all the choices we made since the rail and the internal combustion engine was invented.

Any changes to this system? It will not, and cannot happen overnight. But it will change, like it or not.

In 2024? We'll spent ~$100 billion on the Dept. of Transportation. Know how much we paid on the interest on US debt last year?

$659 Billion. $659 Billion dollars that go to NOTHING....because Americans let their leaders give them free sh(t, and let them convince Americans that taxes are bad.

Point is: we can do these things EASILY. We CHOOSE not to do them, Cradle.

Put me in charge. I'll get rid of that deficit, and spend our money FAR more wisely than we are now....and i readily admit that spending our money more wisely is VERY low bar.

[Typical Lax Dad]

[OCanada]

There are two aspects to a public works project. One is expenses and the other is benefit. Benefit never seems to get discussed. Europe’s rail system is far more efficient, beneficial and cost effective. Japan’s too. Nothing a change in the way we go about funding these things coukd not mostly correct. The 8 billion or so Trump drove up the national debt is not helpful but the debt is managable relative go the size of the economy.

If you want to really benefit the economy and its citizens enact universal healthcare, the cost of our system is staggering and hurting growth. Costs have exploded, results are dropping and yet the quaint notion we have a good system still hangs around. No, i am not referring to Obamacare

[njbill]

Put me in charge. VERY low bar car costs.

Forgive me. Couldn't resist.

[youthathletics]

I'd love a fast train option...someone pulled together some data points:
https://www.quora.com/How-long-would-th ... ain-system

[Typical Lax Dad]

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-roo ... California.

[a fan]

There are two aspects to a public works project. One is expenses and the other is benefit. Benefit never seems to get discussed. Europe’s rail system is far more efficient, beneficial and cost effective. Japan’s too. Nothing a change in the way we go about funding these things coukd not mostly correct. The 8 billion or so Trump drove up the national debt is not helpful but the debt is managable relative go the size of the economy.

If you want to really benefit the economy and its citizens enact universal healthcare, the cost of our system is staggering and hurting growth. Costs have exploded, results are dropping and yet the quaint notion we have a good system still hangs around. No, i am not referring to Obamacare

That's the part that REALLY gets me angry with this Republican game of telling voters that "trains are hippie nonsense".

We can EASILY make using trains cool....and connect what is current called "FlyOver America" to Americans who would normally NEVER see the beautiful parts of Arkansas, Wyoming, Montana, and on and on. Which would be an ENORMOUS help to the economies of these regions.

But.....nope. Trains, and most especially high speed trains are a communist plot to turn America into China.

Oh, and BTW, "Americans can't do it." So we give up.

These are the EXACT same Boomers who cheered as we blew MASSIVE amounts of our GDP to go to the moon.....and think of ALL the technologies we got from that R&D? Now that it's 2024? Oh, we can't do anything new as Americans.

[Typical Lax Dad]

There are two aspects to a public works project. One is expenses and the other is benefit. Benefit never seems to get discussed. Europe’s rail system is far more efficient, beneficial and cost effective. Japan’s too. Nothing a change in the way we go about funding these things coukd not mostly correct. The 8 billion or so Trump drove up the national debt is not helpful but the debt is managable relative go the size of the economy.

If you want to really benefit the economy and its citizens enact universal healthcare, the cost of our system is staggering and hurting growth. Costs have exploded, results are dropping and yet the quaint notion we have a good system still hangs around. No, i am not referring to Obamacare

That's the part that REALLY gets me angry with this Republican game of telling voters that "trains are hippie nonsense".

We can EASILY make using trains cool....and connect what is current called "FlyOver America" to Americans who would normally NEVER see the beautiful parts of Arkansas, Wyoming, Montana, and on and on. Which would be an ENORMOUS help to the economies of these regions.

But.....nope. Trains, and most especially high speed trains are a communist plot to turn America into China.

Oh, and BTW, "Americans can't do it." So we give up.

These are the EXACT same Boomers who cheered as we blew MASSIVE amounts of our GDP to go to the moon.....and think of ALL the technologies we got from that R&D? Now that it's 2024? Oh, we can't do anything new as Americans.

American Can’t Do spirit.

[PizzaSnake]

There are two aspects to a public works project. One is expenses and the other is benefit. Benefit never seems to get discussed. Europe’s rail system is far more efficient, beneficial and cost effective. Japan’s too. Nothing a change in the way we go about funding these things coukd not mostly correct. The 8 billion or so Trump drove up the national debt is not helpful but the debt is managable relative go the size of the economy.

If you want to really benefit the economy and its citizens enact universal healthcare, the cost of our system is staggering and hurting growth. Costs have exploded, results are dropping and yet the quaint notion we have a good system still hangs around. No, i am not referring to Obamacare

That's the part that REALLY gets me angry with this Republican game of telling voters that "trains are hippie nonsense".

We can EASILY make using trains cool....and connect what is current called "FlyOver America" to Americans who would normally NEVER see the beautiful parts of Arkansas, Wyoming, Montana, and on and on. Which would be an ENORMOUS help to the economies of these regions.

But.....nope. Trains, and most especially high speed trains are a communist plot to turn America into China.

Oh, and BTW, "Americans can't do it." So we give up.

These are the EXACT same Boomers who cheered as we blew MASSIVE amounts of our GDP to go to the moon.....and think of ALL the technologies we got from that R&D? Now that it's 2024? Oh, we can't do anything new as Americans.

American Can’t Do spirit.

Present subject aside, for me the question is "Should America Do?"

Should America produce unfathomable quantities of novel chemical compounds without any sort of introductory period to determine if they are harmful?

Should America leave water policy regarding riparian rights, groundwater extraction, etc. to a patchwork of local and state interests?

Our "federal" system is creaking under strain as the "good times" recede and the tough decisions loom.

[a fan]

There are two aspects to a public works project. One is expenses and the other is benefit. Benefit never seems to get discussed. Europe’s rail system is far more efficient, beneficial and cost effective. Japan’s too. Nothing a change in the way we go about funding these things coukd not mostly correct. The 8 billion or so Trump drove up the national debt is not helpful but the debt is managable relative go the size of the economy.

If you want to really benefit the economy and its citizens enact universal healthcare, the cost of our system is staggering and hurting growth. Costs have exploded, results are dropping and yet the quaint notion we have a good system still hangs around. No, i am not referring to Obamacare

That's the part that REALLY gets me angry with this Republican game of telling voters that "trains are hippie nonsense".

We can EASILY make using trains cool....and connect what is current called "FlyOver America" to Americans who would normally NEVER see the beautiful parts of Arkansas, Wyoming, Montana, and on and on. Which would be an ENORMOUS help to the economies of these regions.

But.....nope. Trains, and most especially high speed trains are a communist plot to turn America into China.

Oh, and BTW, "Americans can't do it." So we give up.

These are the EXACT same Boomers who cheered as we blew MASSIVE amounts of our GDP to go to the moon.....and think of ALL the technologies we got from that R&D? Now that it's 2024? Oh, we can't do anything new as Americans.

American Can’t Do spirit.

The math that anti-train folks ALWAYS completely forget? Right freaking now? Do we pay to drive on roads, or not?

It's free, for almost every stretch of America, save places on the East Coast where States are too cheap to pay for the things, so they set up tolls. So if you REALLY want to compete with roads fairly and evenly? Make trains free.

Not suggesting we do that, but the idea that you have to compete with something that the government doles out for free is ABSURD.

[a fan]

There are two aspects to a public works project. One is expenses and the other is benefit. Benefit never seems to get discussed. Europe’s rail system is far more efficient, beneficial and cost effective. Japan’s too. Nothing a change in the way we go about funding these things coukd not mostly correct. The 8 billion or so Trump drove up the national debt is not helpful but the debt is managable relative go the size of the economy.

If you want to really benefit the economy and its citizens enact universal healthcare, the cost of our system is staggering and hurting growth. Costs have exploded, results are dropping and yet the quaint notion we have a good system still hangs around. No, i am not referring to Obamacare

That's the part that REALLY gets me angry with this Republican game of telling voters that "trains are hippie nonsense".

We can EASILY make using trains cool....and connect what is current called "FlyOver America" to Americans who would normally NEVER see the beautiful parts of Arkansas, Wyoming, Montana, and on and on. Which would be an ENORMOUS help to the economies of these regions.

But.....nope. Trains, and most especially high speed trains are a communist plot to turn America into China.

Oh, and BTW, "Americans can't do it." So we give up.

These are the EXACT same Boomers who cheered as we blew MASSIVE amounts of our GDP to go to the moon.....and think of ALL the technologies we got from that R&D? Now that it's 2024? Oh, we can't do anything new as Americans.

American Can’t Do spirit.

Present subject aside, for me the question is "Should America Do?"

Should America produce unfathomable quantities of novel chemical compounds without any sort of introductory period to determine if they are harmful?

Should America leave water policy regarding riparian rights, groundwater extraction, etc. to a patchwork of local and state interests?

Our "federal" system is creaking under strain as the "good times" recede and the tough decisions loom.

They loom because Congress has been dysfunctional for 20+ years, and have stopped governing at the Congressional level. My Senator, an ACTUAL conservative, just bailed because he's sick of wasting his time doing nothing. So we lost a good, honest man from our Legislature.

The Republicans USED to be the crew that put infrastructure first, and was one of the 1st reasons to cast votes for them. Since that bedrock principle has evaporated, we're falling apart at the seams.

[Typical Lax Dad]

There are two aspects to a public works project. One is expenses and the other is benefit. Benefit never seems to get discussed. Europe’s rail system is far more efficient, beneficial and cost effective. Japan’s too. Nothing a change in the way we go about funding these things coukd not mostly correct. The 8 billion or so Trump drove up the national debt is not helpful but the debt is managable relative go the size of the economy.

If you want to really benefit the economy and its citizens enact universal healthcare, the cost of our system is staggering and hurting growth. Costs have exploded, results are dropping and yet the quaint notion we have a good system still hangs around. No, i am not referring to Obamacare

That's the part that REALLY gets me angry with this Republican game of telling voters that "trains are hippie nonsense".

We can EASILY make using trains cool....and connect what is current called "FlyOver America" to Americans who would normally NEVER see the beautiful parts of Arkansas, Wyoming, Montana, and on and on. Which would be an ENORMOUS help to the economies of these regions.

But.....nope. Trains, and most especially high speed trains are a communist plot to turn America into China.

Oh, and BTW, "Americans can't do it." So we give up.

These are the EXACT same Boomers who cheered as we blew MASSIVE amounts of our GDP to go to the moon.....and think of ALL the technologies we got from that R&D? Now that it's 2024? Oh, we can't do anything new as Americans.

American Can’t Do spirit.

Present subject aside, for me the question is "Should America Do?"

Should America produce unfathomable quantities of novel chemical compounds without any sort of introductory period to determine if they are harmful?

Should America leave water policy regarding riparian rights, groundwater extraction, etc. to a patchwork of local and state interests?

Our "federal" system is creaking under strain as the "good times" recede and the tough decisions loom.

Did you see Dune 2?

[cradleandshoot]

The only thing I understand about this conversation is that Amtrak loses money hand over fist and is always in need of the corporate welfare that everybody loves. Amtrak has never been a profitable operation after over 50 years. Our beloved late Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, who has a train station named in her honor, was a huge fan of high speed rail. A one billion dollar investment would have cut the time from Buffalo to Albany to around 3 hours from the present 5 hours. Nobody that I know of has a desperate need to get to Albany that quickly, unless your a politician who doesn't like to fly.

You saw the chart I gave you, Cradle. When you give rails and trains a FRACTION of what you give to roads and airports? What would you think would happen.

If I want to "win" this argument (and I don't)......what do you suppose would happen if you flipped the Government subsidy, and gave all the money to rail, and a fraction to roads?

Our rails would be FILLED with cargo and people...and you'd tell me that roads don't work.

You, just like OS, are pretending like both rails and roads are using private funds in a free market. This is the OPPOSITE of what happens. Passenger rail fails in America because that's what we CHOOSE to invest in.

Heck, make it a 50/50 split in Government spending. Watch what happens.

Right now...and this ignores that in the last 100 years, the spending was far more lopsided toward cars....roads consume 44% of Federal Transportation spending. 23% goes to planes, 22% goes to trains, and 10% to ports etc.

Old Salt is livid at even the idea of altering the above percentages even one percentage point....which is absurd. And he's telling us that if we dare to move those numbers around, we're pie-eyed commie-hippies.

He's trolling again. He doesn't REALLY believe this.

Future generations will move those numbers around via their elected officials, and our Republican will be just fine. You know: like our Constitution envisioned. No hippie-commie plot needed.

All I'm saying is this. The Amtrak passenger run from Buffalo to Albany has always been a money pit for Amtrak. Think about it a Fan, do you think there are that many people every day with a desperate need to get to Albany ASAP? You can drive there from Buffalo in under 6 hours depending on how closely obey the speed limit. The debate between you and OS is something I won't touch with a 10 foot pole. From what I know the practicality of rail freight and passenger travel varies greatly from state to state. I'm sure it can be vastly improved but that will require mind boggling amounts of taxpayer money. That is before you figure how it can be done. That would be any engineers challenge of a lifetime.

You're looking at the effects of over 100 years of constant Federal intervention and money. All I'm telling OS (and everyone else) is that Republicans are behaving as if how the US Transportation system works and is set up has NOTHING to do with Free Market forces. It was ENTIRELY and COMPLETELY crafted by our Government, and all the choices we made since the rail and the internal combustion engine was invented.

Any changes to this system? It will not, and cannot happen overnight. But it will change, like it or not.

In 2024? We'll spent ~$100 billion on the Dept. of Transportation. Know how much we paid on the interest on US debt last year?

$659 Billion. $659 Billion dollars that go to NOTHING....because Americans let their leaders give them free sh(t, and let them convince Americans that taxes are bad.

Point is: we can do these things EASILY. We CHOOSE not to do them, Cradle.

Put me in charge. I'll get rid of that deficit, and spend our money FAR more wisely than we are now....and i readily admit that spending our money more wisely is VERY low bar.

What is the tab going to cost? Investment in infrastructure doesn't come cheap. Whose gonna finance the multi trillion dollar investment? The ChiComs? The American taxpayer? I would like to believe there would be a coordinated and logical plan. This is something that becomes important to all of the lower 48. This isn't the type of project you whip up overnight. As is always the case " the devil is in the details"

[a fan]

What is the tab going to cost? Investment in infrastructure doesn't come cheap. Whose gonna finance the multi trillion dollar investment? The ChiComs? The American taxpayer? I would like to believe there would be a coordinated and logical plan. This is something that becomes important to all of the lower 48. This isn't the type of project you whip up overnight. As is always the case " the devil is in the details"

Cradle, my man.....I JUST told you we blow 6x----SIX TIMES-----what we spend on ALL of our Transportation needs on freaking interest on our MASSIVE debt.

THAT is where I'd pull from...balance the motherf'ing budget, like you and I have discussed for YEARS.

We've lost our way. If we had adults in Congress? Every single one of them would be advocating raising our taxes JUST pay for the free stuff and bailouts from Covid. Remember those?

We have to pay for what we get. That's it.

And Infrastructure, by definition, has a ROI.

[PizzaSnake]

There are two aspects to a public works project. One is expenses and the other is benefit. Benefit never seems to get discussed. Europe’s rail system is far more efficient, beneficial and cost effective. Japan’s too. Nothing a change in the way we go about funding these things coukd not mostly correct. The 8 billion or so Trump drove up the national debt is not helpful but the debt is managable relative go the size of the economy.

If you want to really benefit the economy and its citizens enact universal healthcare, the cost of our system is staggering and hurting growth. Costs have exploded, results are dropping and yet the quaint notion we have a good system still hangs around. No, i am not referring to Obamacare

That's the part that REALLY gets me angry with this Republican game of telling voters that "trains are hippie nonsense".

We can EASILY make using trains cool....and connect what is current called "FlyOver America" to Americans who would normally NEVER see the beautiful parts of Arkansas, Wyoming, Montana, and on and on. Which would be an ENORMOUS help to the economies of these regions.

But.....nope. Trains, and most especially high speed trains are a communist plot to turn America into China.

Oh, and BTW, "Americans can't do it." So we give up.

These are the EXACT same Boomers who cheered as we blew MASSIVE amounts of our GDP to go to the moon.....and think of ALL the technologies we got from that R&D? Now that it's 2024? Oh, we can't do anything new as Americans.

American Can’t Do spirit.

Present subject aside, for me the question is "Should America Do?"

Should America produce unfathomable quantities of novel chemical compounds without any sort of introductory period to determine if they are harmful?

Should America leave water policy regarding riparian rights, groundwater extraction, etc. to a patchwork of local and state interests?

Our "federal" system is creaking under strain as the "good times" recede and the tough decisions loom.

Did you see Dune 2?

Waiting for son to finish watching the first so we can go together. He's running out of time...

[cradleandshoot]

What is the tab going to cost? Investment in infrastructure doesn't come cheap. Whose gonna finance the multi trillion dollar investment? The ChiComs? The American taxpayer? I would like to believe there would be a coordinated and logical plan. This is something that becomes important to all of the lower 48. This isn't the type of project you whip up overnight. As is always the case " the devil is in the details"

Cradle, my man.....I JUST told you we blow 6x----SIX TIMES-----what we spend on ALL of our Transportation needs on freaking interest on our MASSIVE debt.

THAT is where I'd pull from...balance the motherf'ing budget, like you and I have discussed for YEARS.

We've lost our way. If we had adults in Congress? Every single one of them would be advocating raising our taxes JUST pay for the free stuff and bailouts from Covid. Remember those?

We have to pay for what we get. That's it.

And Infrastructure, by definition, has a ROI.

That doesn't answer the question of what the total price could be. That is if your talking about an update that includes all 48 states. The sticker shock may make it impossible to sell. How many trillions do you think it would take?

[Typical Lax Dad]

There are two aspects to a public works project. One is expenses and the other is benefit. Benefit never seems to get discussed. Europe’s rail system is far more efficient, beneficial and cost effective. Japan’s too. Nothing a change in the way we go about funding these things coukd not mostly correct. The 8 billion or so Trump drove up the national debt is not helpful but the debt is managable relative go the size of the economy.

If you want to really benefit the economy and its citizens enact universal healthcare, the cost of our system is staggering and hurting growth. Costs have exploded, results are dropping and yet the quaint notion we have a good system still hangs around. No, i am not referring to Obamacare

That's the part that REALLY gets me angry with this Republican game of telling voters that "trains are hippie nonsense".

We can EASILY make using trains cool....and connect what is current called "FlyOver America" to Americans who would normally NEVER see the beautiful parts of Arkansas, Wyoming, Montana, and on and on. Which would be an ENORMOUS help to the economies of these regions.

But.....nope. Trains, and most especially high speed trains are a communist plot to turn America into China.

Oh, and BTW, "Americans can't do it." So we give up.

These are the EXACT same Boomers who cheered as we blew MASSIVE amounts of our GDP to go to the moon.....and think of ALL the technologies we got from that R&D? Now that it's 2024? Oh, we can't do anything new as Americans.

American Can’t Do spirit.

Present subject aside, for me the question is "Should America Do?"

Should America produce unfathomable quantities of novel chemical compounds without any sort of introductory period to determine if they are harmful?

Should America leave water policy regarding riparian rights, groundwater extraction, etc. to a patchwork of local and state interests?

Our "federal" system is creaking under strain as the "good times" recede and the tough decisions loom.

Did you see Dune 2?

Waiting for son to finish watching the first so we can go together. He's running out of time...

Make sure its IMAX.

[PizzaSnake]

There are two aspects to a public works project. One is expenses and the other is benefit. Benefit never seems to get discussed. Europe’s rail system is far more efficient, beneficial and cost effective. Japan’s too. Nothing a change in the way we go about funding these things coukd not mostly correct. The 8 billion or so Trump drove up the national debt is not helpful but the debt is managable relative go the size of the economy.

If you want to really benefit the economy and its citizens enact universal healthcare, the cost of our system is staggering and hurting growth. Costs have exploded, results are dropping and yet the quaint notion we have a good system still hangs around. No, i am not referring to Obamacare

That's the part that REALLY gets me angry with this Republican game of telling voters that "trains are hippie nonsense".

We can EASILY make using trains cool....and connect what is current called "FlyOver America" to Americans who would normally NEVER see the beautiful parts of Arkansas, Wyoming, Montana, and on and on. Which would be an ENORMOUS help to the economies of these regions.

But.....nope. Trains, and most especially high speed trains are a communist plot to turn America into China.

Oh, and BTW, "Americans can't do it." So we give up.

These are the EXACT same Boomers who cheered as we blew MASSIVE amounts of our GDP to go to the moon.....and think of ALL the technologies we got from that R&D? Now that it's 2024? Oh, we can't do anything new as Americans.

American Can’t Do spirit.

Present subject aside, for me the question is "Should America Do?"

Should America produce unfathomable quantities of novel chemical compounds without any sort of introductory period to determine if they are harmful?

Should America leave water policy regarding riparian rights, groundwater extraction, etc. to a patchwork of local and state interests?

Our "federal" system is creaking under strain as the "good times" recede and the tough decisions loom.

Did you see Dune 2?

Waiting for son to finish watching the first so we can go together. He's running out of time...

Make sure its IMAX.

That's the plan.

My son is happy to tell me how Star Wars, his touchstone for space opera, is superior. Won't entertain any debate re the verisimilitude of Bene Gesserit "weirding ways" vs Jedi powers.

[Typical Lax Dad]

There are two aspects to a public works project. One is expenses and the other is benefit. Benefit never seems to get discussed. Europe’s rail system is far more efficient, beneficial and cost effective. Japan’s too. Nothing a change in the way we go about funding these things coukd not mostly correct. The 8 billion or so Trump drove up the national debt is not helpful but the debt is managable relative go the size of the economy.

If you want to really benefit the economy and its citizens enact universal healthcare, the cost of our system is staggering and hurting growth. Costs have exploded, results are dropping and yet the quaint notion we have a good system still hangs around. No, i am not referring to Obamacare

That's the part that REALLY gets me angry with this Republican game of telling voters that "trains are hippie nonsense".

We can EASILY make using trains cool....and connect what is current called "FlyOver America" to Americans who would normally NEVER see the beautiful parts of Arkansas, Wyoming, Montana, and on and on. Which would be an ENORMOUS help to the economies of these regions.

But.....nope. Trains, and most especially high speed trains are a communist plot to turn America into China.

Oh, and BTW, "Americans can't do it." So we give up.

These are the EXACT same Boomers who cheered as we blew MASSIVE amounts of our GDP to go to the moon.....and think of ALL the technologies we got from that R&D? Now that it's 2024? Oh, we can't do anything new as Americans.

American Can’t Do spirit.

Present subject aside, for me the question is "Should America Do?"

Should America produce unfathomable quantities of novel chemical compounds without any sort of introductory period to determine if they are harmful?

Should America leave water policy regarding riparian rights, groundwater extraction, etc. to a patchwork of local and state interests?

Our "federal" system is creaking under strain as the "good times" recede and the tough decisions loom.

Did you see Dune 2?

Waiting for son to finish watching the first so we can go together. He's running out of time...

Make sure its IMAX.

That's the plan.

My son is happy to tell me how Star Wars, his touchstone for space opera, is superior. Won't entertain any debate re the verisimilitude of Bene Gesserit "weirding ways" vs Jedi powers.

My daughter’s boyfriend felt the same way. He’s is now wavering. He was stunned by Dune 2 on the big screen.