Why Do Conservatives oppose High Speed Rail?

If this is such a great idea, why do we need hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer assistance to get it started? Shouldn't private investors be eager to be part of this?

 

See the edit above, Explain yourself, visionary.

 

Like the broken clock, you are momentarily accurate.

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Because it's not about private profit.

 

It goes like this guys.

1. Spend billions and billions

2. Make no projections or assumptions statistically.

3. ??????

4. Country profits in the end (because highways did)

 

A project of that magnitude is way too large for ANY private investor(s) to take on. However, should the government ever seriously pursue it, it will put a lot of private sector people to work. It would be way too large for government scope.

 

You're a poor visionary. What real visionaries do is build things themselves, often from the ground up. They don't ask for others to pay for their ideas with no (*)(*)(*)(*)ing statistics to back up their ideas. You're no Steve Jobs lol!

Get some foresight bro

 

You guys are telling us Amtrak was a bust, yet people still ride it.

 

5. Reference projects like amtrak that make airlines look like apple stock in the 2000s

 

Steve Jobs was a chump as you likely are. Unlike you, Steve Jobs (chump or not) rarely assumed.

Any other assumptions to add this evening? Or do you prefer to mire in your sloth? Or would you prefer someone else to decide for you?

 

You just admitted you're a broke visionary. Enough said w/ regards to your visions.

 

The for-profit Airlines are bankrupt so that is a poor analogy to use if you are trying to make a point.

Amtrak is there to provide transportation. It still does that if my humble memory is functioning.

 

Maybe because it would be a single, centralized project. Government tyranny and whatnot.

 

Once again, you've assumed incorrectly.

 

You're broke and you know it lol. I know I know you have $2k saved up in your bank account. I didn't mean you're on the streets begging for crack.

Now let's follow along the path of past visionaries. Remember, most people aren't visionaries, including myself. But you claim to be. So we need to compare you to prior visionaries to see if you're up to par.

So question 1:

Are you over 22?

 

If the Federal Government gives 100% of the funds to build and operate it, I don't care. Ask me to pay for any of that Browndoggle and............

 

A private company is who sold it to the state of Florida and lobbied Obama to fund it. This is all about making those people rich while sticking the people with a wasteful project that will set them back hundreds of billions we don't have.

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Why not? Should the federal government waste mony left and right as long as the states don't chip in?

 

Does so poorly. We laid more rail before nationalization of the train industry then since and for good reason. The government can't build anything without wasting a few billion.

Airlines are burdened by leaching unions. They will never be a good business model and neither will GM.

 

And what?

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We do have the money to build it.

 

Same old argument about anything. Infrastructure is a societal investment. Again, what of the Interstate Highway System that conservative politicans are letting bleed dry?

Airlines will never be profitable until they take a page out of Southwest's book. That's why they get bailed out by the government.

Until 2012, GM was the largest automaker in the world. Nice try.

 

You are spending a fortune now on infrastructure. Just have little to show for it because of government waste. The stimulus cost more then the highway system.

Getting rid of the unions will go a long way. All union businesses struggle.

They were when the unions took over. They haven't made profits in years and still needed a bailout despite their success. That should tell you something. But your a leftist and will ignore that part.

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By "do have the money" you mean you will add it to the debt for another generation to pay because we have to borrow it all?

 

That's the point.

We don't have modern high speed rail service in the United States!

 

Ask why even Democrats who supported "high speed rail" in California are now saying it is a boondoggle.

First off in may of these cases, in particular Wisconsin as that is the state I reside in, it is NOT high speed rail. In order to make the cost proposal more palatable they designed around existing freight rail lines which is abysmally slow compared to the 180+ mph you get on real high speed rail that you see in countries like Germany and Japan. High speed rail only makes sense over large distances on its own trackline so it doesn't have to slow down for freight trains.

Over short distance light rail (not to be confused with high speed rail) is one of the worst options for transportation. Unlike bus routes which can be changed instantly, once you lay down that track or the power lines in the case of cable trolleys you lose all flexibility and if you want to change routes you have to spend even more money building new tracks or cable lines.

 

And doesn't raise my taxes to do so. Start taking my money for asinine ideas and you'll hear from me.

Please don't throw my hard earned money down the crap hole.

 

Because the demand doesn't exist. No point wasting money to have something just because other places do.

 

The fiasco, pushed by rich private interests good at duping leftists into showering them with cash, with high speed rail in Florida was blocked thankfully. The rails dropped you off and started in places where you needed cars to get too. Dodged a bullet there.