there used to be oversight requirements for banks / lenders. these requirements alerts the regulators if the banks are taking hughe credit risks. Phil Gramms and those of his ilks legislated to remove these oversight requirements.
I've been saying this for 3-4 years now. Imagine if Texas had a high speed rail system connecting downtown Houston-Dallas-Austin-San Antonio. You could make each leg in <2 hours and step off in downtown {enter city here}. It would: create jobs. reduce oil dependency used by car/planes spur economic growth in each city reduce noise pollution take traffic off roads etc etc etc There is 100 reasons why it's a good idea. Most consumers would much rather spend 2 hours on a train than a "45 minute" flight ...which actually takes 3 hours including drive to the airport, security checkpoints, etc etc. Not to mention train travel is just much more pleasent the air travel. Obama, since I know you are reading this thread. Make it happen!
We would have to try it in places like Dallas to Houston to find out. I think it is worth attempting though. The airline industry is failing so...
Works across Europe. It would be amazing to be able to trave from one side of country to the other for practically nothing. This would be a great government spending opportunity, not to mention reduce greenhouse gases. If this actually happened, I think the airlines should try and get into this. Would be a great way for them to diversify out of just airline travel.
Europe in general has a much higher population density than America. High speed rail could work along the coasts and possibly Texas, but through most other parts of the country it wouldn't be effective. And it's not really that cheap, a quick search for a ticket from Berlin to Munich, a little bit farther than Dallas to San Antonio, shows tickets being $122 to $150 one way. From Washington DC to New York on Amtrack is around $70 one way, for high speed service it would be even higher. High speed trains would be nice to have and would make a great alternative to flying, but I don't see it happening here any time soon. At least not on a large scale.
Mileage reimbursement rate currently is at $.505/mile which means that those prices would be on par with what it costs to drive. Of course if your driving a 1981 honda civic your costs might be a little less.
Well one thing about going into debt for valuable infrastructure is so much better than going into debt to give tax breaks to the wealthy. Such tax breaks just bid up the price of real estate, fine wines and art. I heard Obama make a a quick remark about a month ago that the worse thing about the collosal debt run up by the Bush Administration is that we have so little to show for it.
Not everyone lives in a metropolis. It is very expensive to run fiber out to some little farm in Kansas or on a mountaintop. Wireless can only hold so much bandwidth. The primary reasons why other countries are ahead in speeds is because of population density and demand. Most people use a fraction on their speeds. They spend hundreds of dollars to upgrade their computers every year or so for the latest operating system, but their usage pattern remains the same....watching pron, clicking on a silly email that downloads a virus or opening up a couple office documents. I can reassure you the government would not do you any favors if it took over. Are you ready to pay .05 for every email you send? Pay $10.00 more a month because CFBBS is not a preferred website? The government has only been good at creating better devices to kill people ... everything else they do a piss poor job.
Looking a bit longer can give you a host of options to reduce rail costs in Germany (and I don't doubt that there are similar plans in the other EU countries, as well as many other options). Here's an example... There are three versions of the BahnCard, Germany’s network card, which are valid for one year on national DB routes (excluding DB Autozug). The BahnCard 25 (cost - 55 Euro for 2nd class) - Gives a 25 discount and may be also used in conjunction with the SparPrice 25 and SparPrice 50 fares. BahnCard 25 for children (6-18 years) for 10 EUR! Valid for travel in 1st and 2nd class. The BahnCard 50 (cost - 220 Euro for 2nd class) - Gives a 50% discount. Senior citizens over 60, students (18-25 years), children (6-17 years), disabled people and those drawing an early pension due to ill health may buy the BahnCard 50 for half the normal price. The BahnCard 50 is worthwhile for passengers who travel long distances and/or more frequently. New! You automatically receive the RAILPLUS logo on your BahnCard 25 or 50 which entitles you to a 25% discount on cross-border trains operating in 29 European countries. http://www.bahn.de/db_irland/view/products/bahncard.shtml One thing you need to remember is how expensive gasoline is in Europe and that we've recently experienced a taste of that here. Besides saving the cost of gasoline for your car, the time to travel by car, compared to rail (time is worth something, as well), and the productivity you have access to, by being able to sit in comfort and work if you want, you also are making a real impact on reducing your carbon footprint. Just food for thought.
high speed rail would cost an insane amount of cash in a state this size. Just from IAH to downtown would be billions. I would vote for it though.
You also have to remember Americans love their cars. The bigger, the better. We get up on sunday morning to wash, wax and polish our cars. We fret over every nick, ding, and stain. We have to have every electronic device possible built in. Many people pride their cars over their house. Even though many of us hate driving, we love the control to stop and pull over anytime. It will take a couple decades for people to change their mentality. You would also need mass transit in the local cities to move people around. We hate to walk our fat asses around more than a block. Its possible, but people would need to change.
Likely not. History is littered with programs that were designed for a specific time and specific crisis, and because of their success....they endured far after their usefulness was played out.
Thr part about living within means I think is very,very important. I think not only us, but the government also. I think every family should have some kind of budget and you shouldn't have 40% of your take home going out the door. I think that's what people have to really come to grips with. Personally I can spend a lot more if I choose to, but I'm always living on the assumption I might have to replace one of my rigs or just a few months ago when diesel was almost $5 a gallon. People come to my house and wonder why it isn't bigger or why I don't have 5 german cars outside, but that's not me. Meanwhile, I can go over there house and think of how they can afford what they have off 2 teachers salary. I make probably 5 times what their household makes, but I'm a little tight with mine. I think the Dave Ramsey plan is and should be followed by more people and their lives will be very different.
Speaking of rapid transit, I don't understand why they didn't build that rail all the way to say league city that would pickup and go downtown. If they actually had any sense, they wouldve made a big circle with multiple runs to edge of houston and bring commuters into the city. We have all these people driving into and out of houton and that rail is largely limited. I'm willing they can save 200k commuter daily easy. Also, it think they're building a high speed 200mph train that will go from sf to la.That will be fun.
This is what i loved about the HOV ... The idea was not very well thought out, including encouraging the use of cars. But it does carve out a nice path into the city for future rail deployment.
