Discussion for article #236353
Get 'em Guv! I, personally, would have used harsher words than SOB, but good for you anyway!
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What are they smoking exactly? The money that they could have used on infrastructure.
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The big business owners of the Republican Party have a great interest in getting their hands on the Amtrak, at pennies on the dollar, so they can peel off the unprofitable parts for tax write-downs, milk the Northeast Corridor as long as they can before it crumbles, and raid those really juicy pension plans to leverage on increasingly risky and unrelated deals until they collapse, at which point theyâll declare bankruptcy, claim theyâre unable to meet their obligations and pass them back to the federal government, where the 99% will have to cough up more to cover their relentless greed. In short, thatâs why the Republican stooges continue to cut Amtrakâs funding and push it to fail: âPrivatizing it will make it better.â Thatâs their mantra and it usually translates: "It will mean more $$$$ for our owners/contributors and thatâs a win/win for US!
Itâs just SameShitDifferentDay for the GOP.
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George Will and conservatives loathe trains and railway systems because they will turn fine, upstanding American Citizens into collectivist slaves of the state.
According to the bespectacled one with the Dennis the Menace hair do [most likely a toupee]:
So why is Americaâs âwin the futureâ administration so fixated on railroads, a technology that was the future two centuries ago? Because progressivismâs aim is the modification of (other peopleâs) behavior.
Forever seeking Archimedean levers for prying the world in directions they prefer, progressives say they embrace high-speed rail for many reasons â to improve the climate, increase competitiveness, enhance national security, reduce congestion, and rationalize land use. The length of the list of reasons, and the flimsiness of each, points to this conclusion: the real reason for progressivesâ passion for trains is their goal of diminishing Americansâ individualism in order to make them more amenable to collectivism.
I donât know about Archimedian levers, but when it comes to the seven simple machines of Greek Antiquity, George Will and his fellow conservative bog people could use a good screw.
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When asked about it, Sen. Pandering Asshole (R-Dumbfucks) stated:
âEveryone Knowsâ that the only people who use AMTRAK are âElitist East Coast Liberalsâ, not âReal Americansâ who drive their Pick-Up Trucks to work like GOD intended (itâs right there in the BIBLE!) We donât want âOURâ taxes to support these âCreeping Socialism Luxury Trainsâ for these âGodless Communistsâ because if we do then GAYS will get married and âBENGHAZIâ.
Now excuse me, I have to get to my FOX News interview.
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It could have been worse; John Boehner could have strangled a kitten that was wearing an Amtrak T-shirt to drive the point home.
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Some of us embrace high speed rail in order to get somewhere sooner. For some reason, that justification rarely gets mentioned.
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The gop bags have the blood of thousands on their hands due to this âŚ
and thisâŚ
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/478b-infrastructure-bill-blocked-senate-123000148.html
The Gov is correct and much more kind than I would beâŚ
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Gasoline is subsidized and has been forever. GOP idiots.
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âPrivatizing it will make it better.â
Your scenario is basically what the GOP wants to with Social Securityâprivatize it, extract as much money in fees and charges as they possibly can, and if it ends up going down the tubes they donât give a shit. Same with privatizing public education and every other conceivable function of government.
Theyâre vultures and blood-sucking parasites.
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I âT&Râdâ your comment because youâre right. However, I think itâs also interesting to note that the Northeast Corridor is a route that is used by politicians, both Left and Right. In a very real way, they have skin in this game but they wonât admit it because the Rethugs constituency isnât able to understand issues that donât affect them directly and immediately. If the Deep South (and parts of the midwest) doesnât think a particular situation affects their people and area, then itâs worthless and maybe even evil.
Our political systems no longer concerns itself with the country as a whole but with specific areas that have influence on a political base.
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I am very happy with Governor Rendell for making these remarks. As I mentioned before, the connection betweenâŚ
voting---------------competent elected officials---------------decent public policy----------------quality of life
seems to be a concept most people in the United States cannot fathom . Perhaps Mr. Rendellâs statements will strike a chord.
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Itâs kind of sad that the harshest words we hear from any Dem is a retired governor. Congress? Schumer? Reid? Pelosi? Debbie Waste of Space Schultz? Hillary?
crickets
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When I hear âDynamic Scoringâ I always think of the 50âs Charles Atlas ads wherein one could build a muscle-packed body in seven days by means of Mr. Atlasâ âDynamic Tensionâ
Dynamic Tension! It sounds so sciency and profound; how could it not work?
Conservatives are always the ultimate free-lunch get-something for nothing fabulists. I think they really believe this shit; itâs not just some âfool the rubesâ exercise.
The money quote from your citation above is:
During yesterdayâs floor debate in the House, Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) mocked the Republicansâ reliance on dynamic scoring before the vote.
With Saturdayâs running of the Kentucky Derby in mind, Yarmuth said, âIt would be as if somebody went out and said, âIâm going to buy a two-year-old for $2 million, and then that two-year-old Iâm sure is going to win the Kentucky Derby. So Iâm going to use that $3 million purse that that horse is certainly going to win next year, and Iâm going to plug that into my budget, so my budget will come out ahead.â
LIke âDynamic Tensionâ and just one week to muscularity:
âYes, it could happen, but thereâs no evidence to believe it will happen,â he added. âThatâs one of the ways this budget reaches so-called balance.â
Fabulistic policy and tribalistic religiosity defines todayâs conservative movement.
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I would have a problem with this statement if he were criticizing a past vote outcome, or if he was saying how the vote should go (that would be politicizing an accident within a few days of it occurring). But all he is saying is that they could have delayed the vote. Very reasonable statement.
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I agree with your take on the Republicansâ motives for defunding Amtrak. Another aspect that I believe is overlooked is the Rightâs hatred of labor unions and fear of working people exercising collective power generally. Railroads have a high percentage of organized workers as does the post office. In the public sector they attack teachers unions and other organized civil servants. Destroying organized labor is part of the long-term plan.
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So if government shouldnât be subsidizing rail systems, why should it be subsidizing a system of public roads and highways?
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The other big reason for the rightâs absolute hate & loathing for Amtrak and the rail systems in general is that it allows people who arenât wealthy to be able to move around the country with (relative) ease. They want the nation to basically be nothing more than a group of unconnected nation-states where the people who live in them have no affordable way to move from one state to another (or even move faster within their own state).
Better to dismantle it and just fly over the peons, who are stuck where they are due to our crumbling (and probably soon to be non-existent) infrastructure. Hard to believe that a Republican is actually the one who thought an interstate roadway system would be a good thing decades ago. That guy would have been run out of the party on a rail these days.
Money going to the oil producers, natch.
More cars on the roads means more profit for the corporations that sell oil to be made into gasoline.