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5 comments

1 freetoken  Sat, Nov 6, 2010 2:03:04am

Republicans are (nearly all of them, anyway) opposed to rail because:
1) the oil companies don’t want the competition;
2) automobile ownership is a sign of social status, including proclamations of virility;
3) many other countries depend upon rail for transportation, and since the US is “exceptional” we are not supposed to be like them (e.g., Europeans.)

2 Michael Orion Powell  Sat, Nov 6, 2010 3:25:34am

Every single other major economy, including the ones that are growing past us, are grabbing on to high speed rail. It’s sad to see Republicans cling to the past like this.

3 Michael Orion Powell  Sat, Nov 6, 2010 3:47:05am

re: #1 freetoken


3) many other countries depend upon rail for transportation, and since the US is “exceptional” we are not supposed to be like them (e.g., Europeans.)

Nah, instead we must be dependent on subsidized freeways and automobiles made by companies either subsidized by taxpayers or located in countries with effective high speed rail systems of their own. Doesn’t everything just make so much sense in Republican World?

4 DO WINGNUT WORDS SHOW THEY EVOLVED BRAINS?11!!  Sat, Nov 6, 2010 3:48:47am

I was trying to understand the reasoning behind the modern right wingers opposition of this. I found some interesting comments.

The issue for those of you missing it , is we can’t not afford to spend money we DO NOT HAVE. Mr. Obama’s “Let me put it on your Grandchildren’s Tab” brand of economics is failing around the world and it has to be stopped. While I don’t question some of the benefits of a improved rail system, it is time to face facts. Mr Obama’s spending must be stopped.
ImRick1957 6:31 AM

This project should have never been on the drawing board. Amtrak has cut way back on stops and I just don’t see any use for this sort of public transportation. It would cost the tax payers a bundle in the long run to maintain in Ohio. We are a blessed country and most people have Autos. Spending the money on roads and bridges would be a better choice. If we were a 3rd world country were more people use public transportation this may be a good idea. But who knows, a few more years of Obama we may need trains.
5h0ck3r_ 6:15 AM

5 Michael Orion Powell  Sat, Nov 6, 2010 3:59:33am

From those comments, I’m left thinking that there is a cultural perception shift, which is really quite understandable. I’ve never been to Ohio but I’ve been throughout much of the United States. It makes sense that someone in Bozeman, Montana or Butler, Pennsylvania isn’t going to see the use in hauling out money for a high speed rail project when they’ve been using cars for generations, often to haul items from place to place and don’t really need to jump from city to city the way urbanites or suburbanites do.

That divide has been around forever. Cars took off in the cities long before they started to be used in urban areas. Seattle, WA just built a rail line, as did Portland. California approved of a line from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and hopefully the Golden State will be weened off of its state-sponsored sprawl at some point.

When their electorate don’t see the personal need for such lines, it makes sense that Republicans can frame this as another progressive program being forced down people’s throats. High speed rail programs are a sign of modernity, and like their ideological cousins over in the Middle East, conservatives oppose modernity.


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