Good for Arlington, Virginia for pulling the plug on its wasteful trolley project. May the action of a few sages in Arlington become a beacon of light to other municipalities, which may be experiencing the intense pressure of the “smart growth,” mass transit zealots, but really don’t want to bleed scarce tax dollars on projects […]
Highway Trust Fund Nearing the End of the Road
The Highway Trust Fund is a transportation fund financed by an 18.4 cents per gallon gas tax extracted from drivers every time they fill their tank. The tax proceeds are then used to fund work on the country’s rails, bridges, and roadways. Unfortunately, according to a June 2014 CBO report, during the last decade “outlays […]
Murkowski’s Folly
The first rule of communications is crafting an effective message.
A March 11, 2014 op-ed in the Los Angeles Times by former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt provided a unique glimpse into how messaging used by politicians can shift over time. The editorial detailed the push in the 1990s by former Senators Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) to build a 38-mile road connecting the Alaskan towns of King Cove and Cold Bay. Opposed by the Clinton administration, the idea was to expedite the movement of seafood from the salmon canneries in King Cove to the airport in Cold Bay for distribution.
Happy 35th Anniversary, Airline Deregulation!
As a hard-nosed researcher of low fares (in other words, I am a cheap flier), I am appreciative of the fact that, thirty five years ago today, President Jimmy Carter signed the Air Transportation Regulatory Reform Act into law, on October 24, 1978. Prior to airline deregulation, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) regulated the airline […]
Business as Usual in the Land of the Midnight Sun
Alaska has long received more than its fair share of federal funding.
Admitting Failure is the First Step Toward Success
If President Obama’s State of the Union Address could be said to have a message – a common thread, as it were – that message might have been, “There is a whole pile of wonderful legislation with bipartisan support just waiting to be passed.
GM Bailout Could Get Much Worse
WasteWatcher, January, 2013
Chevy Volts Fail to Electrify Customers
In the movie Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner’s character, Ray Kinsella, is on the brink of bankruptcy and debates whether or not it is completely absurd to build a baseball field in his cornfield and expect people to come watch games played by ghosts of former players. In a famous scene, Kinsella is walking in his backyard when he hears a mysterious voice call out, “if you build it, they will come.”
Amtrak: Throw Money from the Train
Since 1971, the federal government has been subsidizing the for-profit passenger rail system Amtrak. The company received $1.4 billion in 2012, and the House of Representatives increased its appropriation to $1.8 billion for fiscal year (FY) 2013. With a trillion dollar deficit and the national debt at a record $16.2 trillion, federal funding for Amtrak […]
The American Infrastructure Crisis
During rush hour on August 1st, 2007, the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge collapsed, killing 13 people and injuring 145 more. This disaster triggered widespread talk about America’s crumbling infrastructure, an issue that has been put on the backburner amidst the Great Recession. Annually, the United States spends approximately $200 billion on surface infrastructure, though it is not nearly enough to combat collapsing bridges and congested roads.