Comments on: Transportation Improvements: Convincing Conservatives

By: Karass

Karass — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 20:06:09 +0000

Theyhave buses in Alaska? I didn’t see many when I was there. Lots of SUVs and pick-up trucks and ATVs but not buses.

By: MC Decatur

MC Decatur — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 20:03:39 +0000

Conservatives won’t ride buses? Sounds like a “gotcha question” by the liberal media. Even Sarah Palin rides a bus these days!

By: Marty

Marty — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 13:46:03 +0000

Weren’t the same arguments against spending government money made by conservatives when the federal interstate highway system was proposed and built? Or how about the trillions of government dollars spent to complete our air transportation system? These are both examples of government basically subsidizing private transportation. Shouldn’t the conservative argument have been that these should all just have been private efforts?

The only reason conservatives can point out that people do not prefer travel by high speed train in this country is because for 50 years the government has been spending trillions of dollars subsidizing roads and air travel instead of high speed rail.

The other side is simply arguing that because the era of cheap oil is over we are going to have to change that and start builing a high speed rail network in this country. The other choice is continue subsidizing oil producing regimes in the middle east that hate us. Surely conservatives don’t want us to continue doing that?

By: DEM

DEM — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 13:34:33 +0000

No, they can afford the bus and ride it because they can afford that but not their own car. That’s a more likely explanation than Lind’s, which seems to be that political affiliation, as opposed to income, explains ridership. If what he meant is that whites won’t ride because they’re essentially racists, that’s another smear altogether.

By: DEM

DEM — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 13:32:07 +0000

I’m talkingout the Lind quotes. He’s talkintg about a rail network.