Passenger Trains > White House HSR Petition

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/fund-high-speed-rail-system-runs-coast-coast-and-connects-all-metropolitan-areas/2KwWYNSb

With what money?

Guess we'll find out Tuesday evening.....

Same inane,impossible route map with HSR routed over Donner Pass, Horseshoe Curve, and the White Mt's east of Albany, ignoring those pesky physical characteristics that both kinds of engineers -- locomotive and civil -- would easily recognize.

So now we have the Tea Party on one side, and the Kool Aide crowd on the other...

Energy taxes? I thought we all just had a tax increase. What is it that this President doesn't understand about being over 16 trillion dollars in debt? Balance the budget. Then build HSR where it makes sense.

Y'all do realize the White House petition site IS NOT a presidental position or proposal site (as much as I hate to defend the idiot). It is simply a venue for citizens to interact with the administration and get a form rejection letter after they reach the "signature threshold" within 30 days. The threshold used to be 50,000 signatures but they recently rasied it because they were actually having to respond to them. I beleive it is now somewhere aroound 200,000 signatures.

This is the same website where people petitioned (and got the 50,000 signatures) for the US Government to build a "Death Star". The ideas presented are written and proposed by your fellow citizens, NOT the US Government or the President.

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> Energy taxes? I thought we all just had a tax
> increase. What is it that this President doesn't
> understand about being over 16 trillion dollars in
> debt? Balance the budget. Then build HSR where it
> makes sense.

I think it would be hard to find any major infrastructure project - public or private - over the last two centuries that wasn't funded by debt. If you hold US Savings Bonds or other Treasury Certificates in your portfolio, as tens of millions of Americans do, you're benefiting from the positive side of public debt. One person's debt is another person's asset. Many people don't realize that the majority - about 75% - of public debt is held by...us...as in US citizens, in the form of bonds, T-Bills, etc either held directly or through mutual investment funds. Balancing the Federal Budget doesn't eliminate debt - it simply means you're matching year-in revenues to expenditures, one of which will continue to be debt service.

Dave

Again, we're arguing over political ideology and not about passenger rail, and it's holding us back terribly.

Passenger rail is booming all over the world; and even in a limited way it's booming at Amtrak (those ridership records, again!).

No progress will be made until we stop looking at passenger trains "ideologically". What a foolish way to view them. We should start looking at them as a way to rebuild America, and catch us up with the rest of the world.

Joe

we need to vote out politicians that tell us we need to grow the manufacturing sector. developing countries can ALWAYS make it cheaper than here in America.

America needs to GROW our MIDDLE CLASS with the well paying jobs of the ENERGY SECTOR that will subsequently increase the DEMAND and FUND the revenues for both current passenger rail expansion and new passenger rail projects........

66

floridajoe2001 Wrote:
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> Again, we're arguing over political ideology and
> not about passenger rail, and it's holding us back
> terribly.
>
> Passenger rail is booming all over the world; and
> even in a limited way it's booming at Amtrak
> (those ridership records, again!).
>
> No progress will be made until we stop looking at
> passenger trains "ideologically". What a foolish
> way to view them. We should start looking at them
> as a way to rebuild America, and catch us up with
> the rest of the world.
>
> Joe

Bravo!

Hmm, can anyone make a petition? Maybe I'll start a save the Turboliners petition! :)

I like trains. This site is about trains. I am tired of politics. There are different forums for those discussions.

Ironic. I'm sitting here listening to the POTUS presenting the SOUA and perusing Train Orders at the same time during the pregnant applause breaks between the topics and sub-topics under basic discussion. While I concur with your vocalization that 'I like trains' and 'there are other sites better placed for political discourse', yes, I do indeed concur. But the reality is that the political process is embedded in everything we say, do, or touch. This is not necessarily a bad thing, nor was it ever intended to be. Trains RULE! Politicians not so much; but they try. We, the electorate need to keep that in mind, return those individuals to office that move us forward, and, by extension, remove those that hold us back. For the record, I am conservative; my wife is an independant, although there is a very fine line between that and my interpretation of a liberal.....suffice to say we have robust and entertaining discussions all the time!

goxmit Wrote:
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> I like trains. This site is about trains. I am
> tired of politics. There are different forums for
> those discussions.

Since the construction of America's first railroads, railroads and politics have been intertwined like celebrities & paparazzi, burgers & fries, sweaters and Fall weather, beaches & swimsuits and beer & pizza.

This reminds me of a Steely Dan/Donald Fagen Song from about 30 years ago "I.G.Y. (What a Beautiful World)" which has the following lyrics:

Standing tough under stars and stripes
We can tell
This dream's in sight
You've got to admit it
At this point in time that it's clear
The future looks bright

On that train all graphite and glitter
Undersea by rail
Ninety minutes from New York to Paris
Well by seventy-six we'll be A.O.K.

What a beautiful world this will be
What a glorious time to be free

> Ninety minutes from New York to Paris

Oh, you've tried to drive the Las Vegas Strip on a Friday night too? :-)

cph Wrote:
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> > Ninety minutes from New York to Paris
>
> Oh, you've tried to drive the Las Vegas Strip on a
> Friday night too? :-)

LOL, good one!!!