The Coercive $53 Billion
The more I think about it the more annoyed I get at the Obama/Biden proposal (it's more like a demand) that we spend $53 billion on a high-speed rail system the people don't want, don't need and can't afford.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHoodlem arrogantly said the administration was going to coerce us out of our cars in furtherance of its misguided fantasy that we're all going to be traveling on bicycles, roller skates, unicycles or some other greener forms of transportation. We tend to get numb to the sound bites or let liberal outrages pass, but if any Republican had used such language ("coerce the people") there would be hell to pay -- as well there should be. But it bespeaks of the left's attitude toward government and its subjects -- the people's will doesn't factor into the equation until election time approaches. That's why it's so ironic and incongruous for Obama to be lecturing Mr. Mubarak about responding to the democratic will of his people. Obama wouldn't recognize a democratic impulse if his life depended on it.
What many of us have been saying is becoming clearer every day: that Obama isn't remotely serious about the deficit and debt because he believes the government always has to spend more money to get the economy moving, even when it doesn't have any money and is drowning in debt. But he doesn't just believe in government pump-priming for economic purposes. He believes the government really needs to direct how money should be spent as a political matter, that it is government's duty to act as a central planner to allocate resources in ways it deems appropriate, irrespective of the people's will. (That, incidentally, is another reason his denial that his health care bureaucracies will be mandating types of treatment doesn't pass the laugh test.) At any rate this all brings into sharp focus the notorious interrelationship between economic and political liberties as Hayek described. The American people have spoken that they don't want this project and that we can't afford it and Obama says we're going to get it anyway, simultaneously stripping us, in this instance, of both our political and economic liberties.
Another truism this $53 billion project illustrates is that the left is relentless in pursuing its goals. Obama marketed his initial $868 billion "stimulus" package as necessary for infrastructure development. As it turns out, only some 7% of the funds were spent on infrastructure. Then came round two, where he demanded another $50 billion for infrastructure, both because we couldn't be a competitive economy into the 21st century without gold-plated highways and we needed it to "jump start" the economy. Never mind that 17 times that amount (in the stimulus) didn't work to create jobs or appreciably reduce unemployment.
So I'm wondering whether the $53 billion amount is a coincidence. It's awfully close to the $50 billion he wanted for infrastructure and the HS rail is infrastructure. So is this just another way to skin the cat?
Where is the outrage over this proposal? This is more than just typical Biden buffoonery that we can lightly pass off to his incompetence. While we may be a bit desensitized, $50 billion is still a chunk of change and this fantastic idea must be nixed. Besides, is anyone foolish enough to believe that: 1) this bunch can come anywhere close to accurately estimating the cost of such a mammoth project, or 2) that, in any event, its cost won't be substantially greater, perhaps even double?
Do you ever get the feeling that you just want these people to leave us alone -- that they're just bumble bees -- or scorpions -- stinging us over and over again and interfering with our ability to get this country back on track?
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Jun '10
Re: The Coercive $53 Billion
It's funny...when you buy piles of beef tenderloin, piles smoked salmon, a big assortment of imported cheeses, and all the exotic greenhouse-grown organic vegetables you need to go with, it's very hard on the food stamps.
Re: The Coercive $53 Billion
That five-year discretionary spending freeze the President touted during the SOTU sure didn't last long.
May '10
Re: The Coercive $53 Billion
It made my skin crawl to hear Ray La Hood telling me yesterday on the radio that the government had decided it was now safe for me to buy a Toyota but that they were contemplating government requirements that auto manufacturers install systems to override the accelerator, (which Toyota is already doing,) keyless ignition systems (again freely available in the market,) and "black boxes" on cars.
We had to hear how Mr. Toyota had met with him in Washington and how he had met with Mr. Toyota in Japan and so now he feels that Toyota has changed its company culture and we could take his word for it that everything is A-OK.
The notion that the market is not fully capable of taking care of these issues or that Toyota itself couldn't and shouldn't bear the cost of assuring motorists that its vehicles are safe is absurd. Ray La Hood is surely the most insidious perpetrator of the anti-market nanny state currently residing in the administration -- and that's saying something to be sure.
Re: The Coercive $53 Billion
Trace Urdan: IWe had to hear how Mr. Toyota had met with him in Washington and how he had met with Mr. Toyota in Japan and so now he feels that Toyota has changed its company culture and we could take his word for it that everything is A-OK.
The notion that the market is not fully capable of taking care of these issues or that Toyota itself couldn't and shouldn't bear the cost of assuring motorists that its vehicles are safe is absurd. Ray La Hood is surely the most insidious perpetrator of the anti-market nanny state currently residing in the administration ...
Trace: You make a very important point here. It's not just these statists' distrust in the market as a natural regulator of these things, but his idea that because he's in government, in the position he's in, that we can rely solely on his word for a matter that goes to our safety and yet he won't let us rely on the collective word of all the people expressing their will in the market place. Very good catch -- I hope I'm not mischaracterizing your position.
Jun '10
Re: The Coercive $53 Billion
Under the ~Paules Plan state departments of transportation would be incorporated into state lottery boards. Those who rely on public transportation would be issued a stack of lotto tickets on a monthly basis. When the elderly or indigent need a ride, they stand at any convenient bus stop and wave a stack of lottery tickets at passing motorists. No buses and no infrastructure necessary! A trip to the local liquor store might cost one ticket. Across town to the welfare office maybe five tickets. Then you hold a drawing once a month for a million dollar prize. Problem solved. Cheap, too!
May '10
Re: The Coercive $53 Billion
I dunno, el Davebo, surely the Prez wouldn't veto a budget on the basis of not including funding for high-speed rail. This had to be an empty promise to somebody. A "We tried, guys" kind of thing. He'll save his veto for something far more politically two-sided. This is an issue with one side.
One hopes they are bumblebees rather than scorpions. Bumblebees only get one sting, and it isn't fatal.
Re: The Coercive $53 Billion
Mark Levin often makes the compelling point that once you fill out a job application and are hired into the federal bureaucracy or get a few more votes than your opponent in an election, suddenly you're a genius, fully qualified to run disparate industries and micromanage the lives of millions.
Consider that after all the Toyota falderal, with the feds grimly intoning that the company had serious systemic quality problems, a 10-month investigation leaves us with "pedal misapplication" --driver error--as the chief problem, with thick floor mats trapping the accelerator pedal as the sole Toyota-related "defect."
Edited on Feb 9, 2011 at 8:42amMay '10
Re: The Coercive $53 Billion
David Limbaugh
-- I hope I'm not mischaracterizing your position. · Feb 9 at 7:43am
No that's it David. His efforts are arrogant, expensive, and ultimately meaningless, Was there a single car buyer on the planet that was waiting for the U.S. Department of Transportation to tell them whether or not it was safe to buy a Toyota?
May '10
Re: The Coercive $53 Billion
Dec '10
Re: The Coercive $53 Billion
"but if any Republican had used such language ("coerce the people") there would be hell to pay"
Umm... Ray LaHood IS a Republican. Which just makes what he said that much scarier: how deep is this infection on our side?
Dec '10
Re: The Coercive $53 Billion
"The more I think about it the more annoyed I get at the Obama/Biden proposal (it's more like a demand) that we spend $53 billion on a high-speed rail system the people don't want, don't need and can't afford."
David, don't be annoyed at this proposal -- it will never pass.
Instead, prepare to be outraged when Obama and Biden claim that the Republican refusal to put up $53 billion for high-speed rail counts as a $53 billion cut from the Federal budget.
Jun '10
Re: The Coercive $53 Billion
Hey! Why stop at high-speed rail, let's do mag-level, which couldn't possibly cost more than another $100 billion dollars. What pikers!
Sep '10
Re: The Coercive $53 Billion
I don't know anything about the rail system for freight anywhere but here in the Southwest. Our freight rail system is the envy of the world. ObamaRail will do nothing but screw up that system. Imagine freight trains moving onto sidings so that empty passenger trains can pass them. And then imagine our interstate highways becoming more clogged with 18 wheelers.
May '10
Re: The Coercive $53 Billion
Here in the Boston area we might call this .... Big Dig 2.0
Re: The Coercive $53 Billion
Stuart Creque: "but if any Republican had used such language ("coerce the people") there would be hell to pay"
Umm... Ray LaHood IS a Republican. Which just makes what he said that much scarier: how deep is this infection on our side? · Feb 9 at 10:08am
Uh-uh. Busted. Forgot. My bad. But you have to admit, if there were ever a RINO, this guy's it on steroids. But still, I have been captured. Mea culpa, guilty, must go to Protestant equivalent of Catholic confession.
Oct '10
Re: The Coercive $53 Billion
David... Sadly, it is all and always about power. The US is way beyond critical mass. It is a ripe plumb hanging low on the tree, and every power hungry fox is jumping to get it. High speed rail is simply a euphemism for "more power", a pretext, as are most programs proposed by the bigger government, "more power" crowd. Do not deceive yourself by taking their proposals, on their face, seriously.
Either we find a way, and the Tea Party is on to it, to starve the leviathan, or we will continue on the road to serfdom remorselessly. Motor voter anyone?
Re: The Coercive $53 Billion
raycon: David... Sadly, it is all and always about power. The US is way beyond critical mass. It is a ripe plumb hanging low on the tree, and every power hungry fox is jumping to get it. High speed rail is simply a euphemism for "more power", a pretext, as are most programs proposed by the bigger government, "more power" crowd. Do not deceive yourself by taking their proposals, on their face, seriously.
Either we find a way, and the Tea Party is on to it, to starve the leviathan, or we will continue on the road to serfdom remorselessly. Motor voter anyone? · Feb 9 at 10:52am
I don't believe it's only about power. It's also about ideology. These people want socialism imposed and to continue long after they're out of power. Most of them are true believers. I have to take their proposals, even on their face, seriously, otherwise we allow ourselves to be numb and they more easily accomplish their endless mischief. We have to keep raising he**, even if it seems pedestrian and pointless to some.
Dec '10
Re: The Coercive $53 Billion
David Limbaugh
Stuart Creque: "but if any Republican had used such language ("coerce the people") there would be hell to pay"
Umm... Ray LaHood IS a Republican. Which just makes what he said that much scarier: how deep is this infection on our side? · Feb 9 at 10:08am
Uh-uh. Busted. Forgot. My bad. But you have to admit, if there were ever a RINO, this guy's it on steroids. But still, I have been captured. Mea culpa, guilty, must go to Protestant equivalent of Catholic confession. · Feb 9 at 10:51am
As part of your penance, may I ask a favor? I received a gift of an iPhone from someone whom you know well -- but I was unable to get a thank you card to him in his sunny Southern Command. If you ever think of it, please let him know how grateful I am for his generosity. (It's been a couple of years now, so he will certainly not remember the event, but I still would like him to have my thanks.)
Re: The Coercive $53 Billion
Stuart Creque
David Limbaugh
Stuart Creque: "but if any Republican had used such language ("coerce the people") there would be hell to pay"
Umm... Ray LaHood IS a Republican. Which just makes what he said that much scarier: how deep is this infection on our side? · Feb 9 at 10:08am
Uh-uh. Busted. Forgot. My bad. But you have to admit, if there were ever a RINO, this guy's it on steroids. But still, I have been captured. Mea culpa, guilty, must go to Protestant equivalent of Catholic confession.
As part of your penance, may I ask a favor? I received a gift of an iPhone from someone whom you know well -- but I was unable to get a thank you card to him in his sunny Southern Command. If you ever think of it, please let him know how grateful I am for his generosity. (It's been a couple of years now, so he will certainly not remember the event, but I still would like him to have my thanks.)
I will be glad to -- I assume your screen name is your actual name, unlike so many of our illustrious members around here? LOL.
Dec '10
Re: The Coercive $53 Billion
Thank you, David. Yep, I'm me (but if he remembers me at all, it will be as 'Stuart from Moraga').