New Wisconsin governor tries to bust unions

Sure you can. The problem is, they won't.

Yes, especially when it is a political elitist like the Obama.

OK. I'm maybe 1/3 of the way through this thread, so apologies if I'm screwing up the flow, but...

This strikes me as interesting. "Progressive" economic and tax policies are more likely to shrink the middle class than eeeeeeevil corporate fatcats, with wallowing in their Scrooge McDuck money vaults. Reason?

Say you change the tax laws to be more "fair." Who carries that cost? Not The Rich. They've got enough money that it is worth spending some on accountants and lawyers and figuring out ways to hide their money from the Tax Man.

Not The Poor. They don't have anything to tax. In fact they're living off subsidies, so you really can't get any money from them.

So the middle class gets squeezed--by the very people who play class warfare, bitching about the "vanishing middle class" when they, themselves are to blame for it.

Tampa to Orlando? The distance alone rules out any practical use of High-Speed Rail. The moment the train gets up to any decent speed, it's already needing to slow down.

If the corridor were from Tampa to Miami or Orlando to Miami, I could see a justification. Distance-wise, even, Tampa to Daytona or Canaveral would be a stretch, nevermind that it'd be pointless.

But, but, the Europeans have all sorts of trains! We want our govt. subsidized trains!



And as to the wailing and gnashing of teeth in union / organized crime / pinko circles (yes Async. I'm kiddng here ) this week:

What's at Stake in Wisconsin's Budget Battle

Who's in charge of our political system—voters or unions?

Poll: Public unions a hard sell

Stand fast Governor Walker! Stand fast! :smoking:

Yep just like AmTrak. Even in the Northeast AmTrak has to be heavily subsidized. And that is arguably the part of the country where rail could be profitable yet it's not.

^^^

Do you apply the same logic to public opinion on the tax cuts? An even greater majority were against those.

I don't know what you're talking about. Polls aren't reliable it's far too easy to manipulate the results in favor of the result you want. They are fun to throw around though especially when places like the Politico publish ones which go so badly against their own ideology. :smoking:

Nobody is making any references to the polls you participated in multiple times.

Yeah rail travel isn't much of a money maker, tourists and commuters alike tend to avoid trains. The real value of rail networks is the ability to transport an enormous variety of goods on a consistent basis without the need for sophisticated technology.

Is This How a President Should Act?

What did that sign say back there? Welcome to Venezuela

Tell that to the Japanese. One of their premiere links is between Nagano and Tokyo which is about 110 miles. Of course, if JEB! Bush hadn't orchestrated the killing of the bullet train to begin with we'd already have the Tampa/Orlando link and be applying this money to Tampa/Miami. Orlando to Miami makes absolutely no sense for more reasons than I care to go into.

High speed rail between Tampa and Orlando is dumb. It takes what, two hours tops to go from door to door? How long is it going to take to drive to the rail station, find a parking spot, check in, ride the train, disembark, and find secondary transportation when you get there?

Also, both cities are sprawled out and haven't the internal public transportation that European or Asian cities have.

What are you gonna do when you get there? Rent a scooter?

So can someone on here give me an example of a capitalist country where there is no collective bargaining or unionization and the workers are treated well and are well paid for their work? These people should also have relatively good health and be able to retire at a reasonable age (let's say 70).

If traffic on I-4 is light that's all it would take. However, traffic is never light and at times approaches LA Style gridlock. When gas hit $4 a gallon a couple years back, all of a sudden there was real interest in mass transit. Tampa's biggest debate was whether to have light rail going to TIA or bus service. Either way there was going to be a link to the airport. Orlando's end was going to connect to OIA and Disney.

There's millions of employees who are treated well, paid well, and get good health and retirement benefits without ever getting anywhere near a union. And I'm one of them. :smoking:

Tampa-Orlando is 85 miles. That's a very low distance for HSR; I'd say that 100 is about the lowest where it's reasonable.

If traffic on I-4 is light that's all it would take. However, traffic is never light and at times approaches LA Style gridlock. When gas hit $4 a gallon a couple years back, all of a sudden there was real interest in mass transit. Tampa's biggest debate was whether to have light rail going to TIA or bus service. Either way there was going to be a link to the airport. Orlando's end was going to connect to OIA and Disney.[/QUOTE]

So build a 75-mph rail corridor between the two. 75 isn't HSR, but it is directly comparable to freeway speeds. But then you have the city sprawl issues and the possible lack of good internal infrastructure within Tampa or Orlando to support a dedicated rail line.

Traffic along I-4 isn't just people who live in Tampa and Orlando going back and forth between those two cities. HSR isn't going to take a fraction of the congestion that would be needed to clear it up, plus it'll be a money pit, too.

Disney getting rail to and from the OIA, while making sense, doesn't have any relevance to the I-4 HSR. Anybody going to Disney is going to go straight to Orlando, not all of a sudden deciding to add Ybor City or Clearwater as a precursor.

I could point out that they sure as hell don't do it know, because no one in their right mind would make the drive. However, that's not what I believe the rationale should be for building it. It is interesting that a republican legislator pointed out that the (Republican) Legislature approved the HSR plan last year and the (quasi-Republican) governor signed it. In effect, the Thief Executive is vetoing to a law that has already been enacted. But, details, details. He's got his private jet to fly around in. Fuck everyone else.

Video: Doctors handing out fake medical excuses at WI union protest

Integrity. :smoking:

Huh? If the idea sucks, the idea sucks. Democrat, Republican, whatever.

We just ain't got the motherfucking money.

The Search for the "Badger 14" continues.

Yep, the union that represents Florida businesses, Associated Industries, the State Legislature, the Mayors of the cities involved...everyone they're all wrong all of them and you're right. gotcha.

FTFY.

If they don't agree with you, they're corrupt. Gotcha.

When it comes to public works, politicians, and contractors, yeah, sure, you betcha.

Flip the script. Just think how easier it will be for private enterprise to construct such an in-demand HSR when corporate taxes and regulation are curtailed?

The United States?

Seriously: few people are union workers, most are paid far above what workers in other countries doing the same jobs are paid (and that is actually a problem), and all are essentially promised safe and decent workplaces by law.

I'm not a member of a union, I make a very decent salary (I even get profit-sharing), have very good health care as part of my compensation (and the company has even absorbed all of the increases in the last few years). I'm eligible for a 401K and I receive a guaranteed stipend of about $1400/month from the government (Social Security) when I turn 67.

The plan was for private enterprise to build it and be on the hook for cost overruns. Frontline argues that maintenance would be humongous, but I want to see some numbers to back that up.

The investigation into fraudulent Doctor's Notes in Wisconsin begins. Good I hope the doctors who did this get sent up for fraud and any teacher turning in one of their notes should be fired. Probably won't happen, but it should.