Is George Bush the right leader for America?

[OperaTenor]

"Moguls" - pshah, pfaff, and pfiffle. You know better.

Citations, please, with regards to those successful private railways. I'm betting you'll find that even those that seem to be private on the surface are publicly funded in some way for at least some portion.

It's hard work, I know...

[qwarto]

In the 2004-2008 budget the Bush admin. targeted public transportation, I mean trains. It was not making money, they said. I'm from Europe, and I love our public transportation here. I wonder, do the roads have to be profitable? Because the American budget on roads compared with other countries is just astonishing.
Serious cost-benefit analysis show that train, is the best option for many (not all) regions and trips; Chicago-Dallas, maybe not. But for example both city regions, Chicago and DFW, specially DFW really need improvement in public transportation.

[Shapley]

"Moguls" - pshah, pfaff, and pfiffle. You know better.

"Empire Builders" was another term commonly used.

[Shapley]

Citations, please, with regards to those successful private railways. I'm betting you'll find that even those that seem to be private on the surface are publicly funded in some way for at least some portion.

I'll be happy to provide them, but I don't know what the point is. No other country was built on individual freedom and the spirit of private enterprise, as the U.S. is, so the comparison will be apples to oranges.

The golden era of the railways, i.e. the era of railway expansion, was the era of private railways, here and abroad. Great Britain's system of railways was built by enterprising men such as Brunel and Gooch.

Japan Railways Group

Rail Transport In India

Kenya's First Private Railway

Rovos Rail

Since I am talking about a bold new venture, not merely running a new train on existing rails, a new approach will be needed, and it will require a view towards the financial, not the political, aspects of running the railroad.

If the government builds it, Sen. Robert Byrd will ensure that you cannot get from Chicago to Dallas without passing through West Virginia.

V/R
Shapley

[Shapley]

"Moguls" - pshah, pfaff, and pfiffle. You know better.

I suppose it all stems from what aspect of business you look at it. Since I don't believe making a profit is sinful, I don't consider business magnates who show proficiency at making money in their respective field to be inherently immoral, so I do not use the term 'robber baron'. Those who consider profit to be a bad word, will use the term 'robber baron' frequently.

Interestingly, it is the financial largess of those barons, through such things as the Carnegie Foundation, that has given a voice to so many people who attack the 'robber barons' that built this country.

Perhaps it's time reread Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged...

[Shapley]

Taiwan's High Speed Rail system is being privately built, but apparently will be transferred to public ownership upon completion.

[Shapley]

In the 2004-2008 budget the Bush admin. targeted public transportation, I mean trains. It was not making money, they said. I'm from Europe, and I love our public transportation here. I wonder, do the roads have to be profitable? Because the American budget on roads compared with other countries is just astonishing.
Serious cost-benefit analysis show that train, is the best option for many (not all) regions and trips; Chicago-Dallas, maybe not. But for example both city regions, Chicago and DFW, specially DFW really need improvement in public transportation.

Years ago, many small communities throughout America had public transportation - street cars, rail lines, etc. As the automobile became more and more a fixture of American life, the demand for these systems dimished, and they became expensive dinosaurs. They were dismantled. The rails were paved over or ripped up and sold for scrap. Re-investment in such systems could be justified but, until that happens, investment in long-range transport doesn't seem feasible (I say 'doesn't seem' because I still believe such a system could be made to be successful.)

Without an adequate system of public tranportation in the communities served, people have to drive to the rail station and seek adequate parking. Existing rail lines are frequently in poorer parts of town, where many people do not feel safe parking their vehicles, so they opt to drive them rather than drive them to and park them at the station. If public transport existed, it is argued, people might be comfortable leaving their cars at home or, perhaps, being content to live without even owning a car (as some in larger cities do). Rail travel advocates argue that, if there was community-wide public transportation, rail travel would be feasible.

On the other hand, municipalities might argue that, since visitors arrive by car, they aren't likely to park them and take public transportation, so it is not feasible to offer it. If there was a viable rail line, then visitors would arrive in need of public transportation, and it would be feasible to provide it. It becomes the old chicken-and-the-egg argument.

V/R
Shapley

[barfle]

A couple of years ago, there was an article about the 'end of the one-day business trip'. It dealt with the fact that flight reductions had reduced the number of available flights to the point that it was difficult or, in many markets, impossible, to book flights into and out of a business meeting in the same day, with the result that a typical business trip required a minimum of one-and-a-half to two days out of the office. The article was concerned with the loss of productivity and the fact that it was beginning to cut down on the face-to-face meetings that were once the trademark of doing business.

In my previous job, I traveled extensively. I was the corporate trainer, and whenever we introduced a new product, I was the guy who told the technicians and installers how to make it do what Engineering said it would do (it was often impossible to make it do what Marketing said it would do). Traveling was the biggest perk of the job, since we had offices from Honolulu to Hartford and beyond.

Then computers with graphic capability showed up, and my job became one of writing programs to train technicians and installers. No more weekends in Hawaii for me.

[Shapley]

Geldof and Bush: On the Road

[Shapley]

I think this protestor's poster captures Condi's good side, but they could have put a bra on her:



Maybe they'll name a battleship after her next time...

[Shapley]

Bush's Popularity Seems to Benefit From Success of Troop Surge.

"Almost all the experts said it wouldn't work and it did work and the evidence is everywhere. When a president is right and all of his critics are wrong, sooner or later voters who are not hard partisans recognize that and give the president credit."

Who knows. Perhaps even those Beethoven.com Bulletin Board posters who are not hard partisans will recognize it and give the President credit.

[jamiebk]

I give him every bit of credit he deserves for putting us in a war that did not have to be fought that cost us a trillion dollars and 4145 good lives.

[Shapley]

I give him every bit of credit he deserves for putting us in a war that did not have to be fought that cost us a trillion dollars and 4145 good lives.

typical hard partisan response....

[OperaTenor]

I give him every bit of credit he deserves for putting us in a war that did not have to be fought that cost us a trillion dollars and 4145 good lives.

typical hard partisan response....

[Shapley]

President Bush: I Regret Saying Some Things I Shouldn't Have Said.

[barfle]

Is there anyone in the country people care less about than George W. Bush?

[Shapley]

Is there anyone in the country people care less about than George W. Bush?

Yes. I can name a few dozen public figures, and then there's that crazy guy down the road....

Oh! And that lady that used to read fortunes.....

And the guy that ran the 7-11 until it got bought out.....

And, of course, there are those bums on the corner.....

Walter Mondale. I had to Google to see if he was even still alive.

Ex-President Jimmy Carter. Goes without saying.....

Oh, and probably every one of the Democrats that have so far spent the better part of two years investigating the firings of those nine attorneys no one seems to know the name of......

[OperaTenor]

Oh, and probably every one of the Democrats that have so far spent the better part of two years investigating the firings of those nine attorneys no one seems to know the name of......

I know the name of one of them: Carol Lam.

Shap, you've got that revisionist history thing going again. I know I've posted about her here.

[Shapley]

Shap, you've got that revisionist history thing going again. I know I've posted about her here.

I'm sure you have. I'm merely pointing out that, in national news reports of the past few months, in which they've bothered to mention the ongoing investigation, they merely report that they are investigating the 'firing of nine US attorneys'. They don't bother with the names, and the names haven't been news in some time. Nor, in fact, has the investigation.

I still concede that 'people' care less about them than they do about President George Bush, at this point in history. It could be that, after retirement, President Bush will become as much a household name as Michael Dukakis or Walter Mondale.

[jamiebk]

It could be that, after retirement, President Bush will become as much a household name as Michael Dukakis or Walter Mondale.

More like Jimmy Carter...