Amtrakid17
Route maker in the works
Christie Cancels Tunnel...
- Thread starter Amtrakid17
- Start date
So i was reading the paper today and noticed in on the title page that our idiot of a govenor cancelled one of the biggest commuter projects in New Jerseys history. The new penn station platforms and tunnels have been cancelled due to paying to much money... While saving money the paper predicted that about 40,000 jobs have been lost, 85000 commuter seats have been taken away, and 22000 predicted cars to be off the road will still be there... I was just wondering you think the $9 billion the project was was given budget for would be worth all of those numbers? I dont get it at all...
1....Gov. Christie may run for President in 2012.
2....Gov. Christie needs to show fiscal responsibility to the public....not that the public really elects a President. (Think Electoral College)
3,,,,The State of New Jersey is cash strapped due to high unemployment.
4....The $9 billion budget for the project is expected to be exceeded by more than $2 billion, thereby costing more out of pocket for New Jersey residents.
5....What 40,000 jobs were lost.... they never started digging the tunnel.
Read more here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101007/ts_alt_afp/usinfrastructuretransport
Have fun,
Amtrakid17
Route maker in the works
Hmm guess i didnt read enough into it but 44000 jobs werent lost thats how many could have been created.
William0d0
Active member
Government funded rail projects are great for the relatively few people who use it.
Not so great for "everyone else" who gets stuck paying for it.
I still can't find that part of the Constitution which mandates public transportation.
Not so great for "everyone else" who gets stuck paying for it.
I still can't find that part of the Constitution which mandates public transportation.
Well, you won't find anything in the U.S. Constitution mandating safe drinking water or wastewater treatment plants but most advanced civilizations of the world have found it's prudent to build and maintain them. Ultimately, everyone benefits because the more advanced the infrastructure is, the more efficiently the economy functions.
colourlight
New member
I know how the governer can build the tunnel for a lot less money. He could buy Trainz 2010, go into surveyor and build his own tunnel.
It's a she.
Chris Christie is a he.
That description does not match "her" photo on the Yahoo news site at http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101007/ts_alt_afp/usinfrastructuretransport
.. unless there is something else about "her" that needs explaining.
I think that that could possibly fall under "general welfare", as well as many other infrastructure projects. I mean general welfare is mentioned in the Constitution, but I guess the preamble isn't as important as whats not written below it. Just a thought.
That description does not match "her" photo on the Yahoo news site at http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101007/ts_alt_afp/usinfrastructuretransport
.. unless there is something else about "her" that needs explaining.
He is clearly a man in that photo, though I can attest as a resident of NJ (as well as PA) that he is very much a guy. Portly, perhaps, but quite macho too.
And, yes, our state is flat broke. I mean, I'd like a Ferrari, but there's that little thing about cost. Someday, maybe, but not now...
But the problem is that the State of NJ has been living well beyond it's means for decades now. I know government thinks it's above the rest of us and can spend spend spend money it doesn't have, but it catches up with you eventually.
That description does not match "her" photo on the Yahoo news site at http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101007/ts_alt_afp/usinfrastructuretransport
.. unless there is something else about "her" that needs explaining.
Sorry about that. Big goof on my part.
bigboy4010
Hardcore Steam Breather
It's the political philosophy of conservatives to reduce government size and spending. This is not an act of malice or idiocy. Yeah, I'd like to see impressive railroading projects, but when they go massively over-budget in an economy that does not allow for excessive spending, it is not smart to build. The project was originally given an $8.7 billion dollars budget, but already the forecasts are over $10 billion (or at least close to it) and construction hasn't even begun.
Knowing government construction projects have a tendency to overspend by incredible amounts (for instance the "Big Dig" tunnel in Boston which was budgeted for $2.8 billion but ended up around $20 billion) this tunnel would likely have run into the same problems. Christie was drawing on past experiences (which exist throughout the nation, not just Boston) to decide that this tunnel was going to be too much of a burden to build.
And railroads are hardly general welfare, whereas safe drinking water and waste-water treatment plants are. Those affect health and life. Railroads are solely for the purpose of long-distance traveling and shipment. There are already railroad routes between the two points the tunnel would have connected as it is anyways. Chopping off a couple of hours of commuting time for shipments and people is hardly worth $10 billion.
Knowing government construction projects have a tendency to overspend by incredible amounts (for instance the "Big Dig" tunnel in Boston which was budgeted for $2.8 billion but ended up around $20 billion) this tunnel would likely have run into the same problems. Christie was drawing on past experiences (which exist throughout the nation, not just Boston) to decide that this tunnel was going to be too much of a burden to build.
And railroads are hardly general welfare, whereas safe drinking water and waste-water treatment plants are. Those affect health and life. Railroads are solely for the purpose of long-distance traveling and shipment. There are already railroad routes between the two points the tunnel would have connected as it is anyways. Chopping off a couple of hours of commuting time for shipments and people is hardly worth $10 billion.
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True, then again there's no set definition for "general welfare". It could mean the mandated distribution of meals and clothing for people under a certain income bracket for all one could interpret it for. Granted, most people don't go to that detailed extreme. Although I find "general welfare" a term to be used for basic necessities. And I would include transportation in with that umbrella.
As for the tunnel, I don't think it would be too harmful for it to wait? Unlike some areas, that region actually has rail traffic that ferries passengers back and forth quite reliably? Oh well
William0d0
Active member
Private business can do it for far less money. If people want something, someone will always come along and provide it.
Governments have NEVER done anything efficiently. I want the government to do as little as possible.
Agreed. I should also point out that NJ has had, for decades, perhaps the most corrupt government of any state. NJ's politics are often likened that to Chicago's, complete with ties to organized and unorganized crime. It's really something you have to come here and see for yourself to appreciate, though there's a good book about it called "The Soprano State" Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure.
You are certainly right there. Investing in passenger rail matters is a kind of routine in Gt Britain it is probably that rail nationally doesn't amount to much in the USA unlike here?
Minor point but would have thought this would have been more suited to the Prototype Talk section?
Minor point but would have thought this would have been more suited to the Prototype Talk section?