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03 Sep 2011 12:49

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Politics: Obama presses Congress to pass job-saving transportation bill

  • Right away, over 4,000 workers would be furloughed without pay. If it’s delayed for just 10 days, we will lose nearly $1 billion in highway funding that we can never get back. And if we wait even longer, almost 1 million workers could be in danger of losing their jobs over the next year.
  • President Barack Obama • Speaking in his weekly radio address about the importance of passing the Surface Transportation Bill — a bill that funds the construction of highways, bridges and so on — before the end of the month. If not, he claims it could cost thousands of jobs, if not more. The AFL-CIO and Chamber of Commerce —a.k.a. unions and big businesses — both support the bill. But Republicans, of course, take issue with the way Obama is framing the debate. Sigh. JUST WORK, GOVERNMENT! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Jan 2011 21:43

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Politics: High-speed plans for building high-speed rail

  • 85% of Americans to have access to high-speed rail within 25 years source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Dec 2010 19:56

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U.S.: Midwest states screw themselves out of high-speed rail money

  • money The federal government gives a lot of money for high-speed rail projects across the country. The benefit could potentially be major.
  • principle Annoyed by having to take the money, Ohio and Wisconsin want to cancel their rail projects and use the cash for roads. The DOT says no.
  • money Know what happens to that money now? It goes to fund other states’ rail projects instead. Man, those states sure showed Obama! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

07 Oct 2010 22:27

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U.S.: Chris Christie’s N.J. rail tunnel cancellation = Shaky political ground

  • New Jersey’s governor just gave public works projects a body blow today. Why, you ask? Well, Chris Christie, frustrated over the possibility of putting taxpayers on the hook for billions in cost overruns, ordered the shutdown of a massive, long-in-the-works plan to build a passenger rail tunnel under the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York City. While his reasons are fiscal conservative to the core, let’s just emphasize a few things about what he’s costing his state by shutting down the largest public works project in the country:
  • $8.7 billion, the estimated cost of the New Jersey rail project
  • $3
    billion     the amount the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey had already promised for the project
  • $300
    million     the amount New Jersey may have to pay back the federal government for the unfinished project
  • $2.7B the anticipated cost overruns of the already-in-progress public works project
  • 6,000 the number of jobs the project would have given New Jersey construction workers
  • 20 the number of years the wheels had been turning on this highly-anticipated project source
  • » And lots of people are pissed, too. Even considering the costs of this project (which had bipartisan support, by the way), the potential benefits could’ve been long-term and might’ve paid for themselves. Homeowners lost out on higher home prices. Commuters lost the possibility of less-annoying commutes. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood sounded like he wanted to shout in Chris Christie’s face so loudly it ripped the governor’s skin off. And Christie, while bolstering his support among the right, could hurt his re-election chances because of the perceived flip-flop. This is dangerous ground no matter the fiscal benefits.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Dec 2009 11:15

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U.S.: Feds: Leaving people stuck in grounded planes is not cool

  • Starting in April, the limit is three hours. Ever get that weird cabin fever feeling from being stuck in one place for too long? Well, after one too many incidents where people were stuck in planes on the tarmac for as many as 10 hours (holy crap!), the feds have stepped in. “Airline passengers have rights, and these new rules will require airlines to live up to their obligation,” said transportation secretary Ray LaHood. Good someone remembered that. Bad someone had to say it. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Oct 2009 22:02

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U.S.: Good job not fixing that San Francisco Bay Bridge right, guys

  • 270,000 commuters were screwed over source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Apr 2009 18:50

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U.S.: The Obama administration wants to fix our sucky rail system

See those red lines? They go faster than the grey ones. If they do it right, Amtrak might finally have a better rep than Amway. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

25 Mar 2009 10:30

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Biz: Another piece of the economy, durable goods, unexpectedly perks up

  • +3.4 increase in durable goods (computers, machinery, etc.) sales in February; that’s really good. Time to party! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Mar 2009 21:34

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U.S.: There’s a lot of roads to repair, a lot of jobs to be had

  • 200 road-repair projects could be covered by the stimulus source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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