More Evidence Porkulous Was a Waste of Our Tax Money

Eh?

There ya go.

As predicted, "We still have a long way to go." "They're [the economic challenges we face] not going to be solved overnight." "I'm ready to roll up my sleeves."

Fuck me.

As much as I like rail and like the concept of a decent high speed rail network in the US, North America doesn't have the population density to support such a network, nor does it have a topography favourable for such a network.

The population density required sits east of the Mississippi River, with a few nearby cities west of there; even then, the ideal density doesn't really start until you hit the Atlantic Sea Board. You're talking about a single HSR corridor roughly along I-95 or US 1, and maybe up to Montreal and down to Toronto. It's not a realistic solution for North America.

A more realistic solution would be for more passenger rail right of way in the US, because some of the big problems that Amtrak faces (outside of budgetary concerns) is sharing rail with freight operations. When a Union Pacific crew reaches the end of shift, and they're in the middle of nowhere, that train just stops in its tracks. If it's not on a siding, any passenger trains needing to get by are stuck until that freight crew's shift start up again... in eight-12 hours. And again, given Amtrak's budget concerns, it's not a solution that will ideally work in the US. It may in Canada, but Canada doesn't face our financial crisis (directly).

If rail is to be supported, it has to be built at the local level, using light rail, subway or commuter rail. Most cities do NOT have the density or population base to support it, and there's still a lot of voter resistance to these projects. Even Portland, which is a very rail friendly city, could be argued that it doesn't have the population density to really justify the MAX system (though I'm glad it's there).

Do these capital projects help with economic growth and urban development? Possibly. It took a long while for development to happen at the Cascades Station on the Red Line, but it wound up being big box stores (Ikea, Target, etc) that Portland didn't really want (lulz).

But most cities can't support a light-rail network. Phoenix would be a terrific example, given how sprawled it is. In order to maximize its coverage, it would require a network that would put London's underground to shame... and would miserably fail, because the density's so low the costs would never be recouped.

If we wanted to talk about spending stimulus money that most Americans didn't want spent, I could make a better argument that the money would have been better spent on culture instead of job creation. Spend the money on composers, writers, playwrites and musical composer/writers. Spend the money on orchestras and theatre groups, on Broadway. There was a time where Broadway or the Met were affordable, supposedly. Now, I hear, it costs $50 for nosebleed seats. The arts may be a luxury, but they should be an accessible luxury.

Deficit reduction, which WILL happen eventually, WILL result in higher unemployment. Well, if it is done right that is, meaning government jobs will be cut.

Problem is, you have no other choice.

Anyways, Canada is apparently going to have a HUGE labour shortage in the construction industry in the next 10 years. Oh right, nobody wants to do that kind of work anymore. Nevermind.

In other news, looks like our government is cutting over a 1,000 government jobs with planned savings of over a billion dollars.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/07/04/protest-tories-proposed-environment-cuts/

Not much, but hey at least we're doing something.

I think one huge thing that's holding the economy back is that everyone is waiting to see how the Supreme Court rules on whether Obamacare is unconstitutional. No one's making any moves 'til the dust settles on that one.

Just to set the record straight.

No grammar in the RR, no, wait... What?!?!?!