Showing posts with label railways. Show all posts
Showing posts with label railways. Show all posts

California Officials Dread Rail Project Trial

by Steven Greenhut.       Those readers who are familiar with Judge Gideon Tucker's words that "No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session," might chuckle that two good-news-for-taxpayers stories came out of Sacramento last week. They came, coincidentally, as legislators had left town to enjoy their spring   ... MORE

Atlas Shrugged Part III: Who Is John Galt?

by Brian Doherty.      A labor of love over money. John Aglialoro is a businessman, and a very successful one, named by Fortune magazine in 2007 as the 10th richest small business executive in the country. But his latest project is, he says, about “love.” It’s the film Atlas Shrugged III: Who is John Galt?, the conclusion of a trilogy of movies based    ... MORE

Rails To Trails: A Train Wreck For Property Owners

by Kathryn Ciano.    Rails to Trails is a government program to convert abandoned railroad tracks to recreational trails. Sounds great, except that the tracks run over private property, and the private landowners haven’t been paid for this permanent land grab. A case before the Supreme Court this term, Brandt v. United States, demonstrates the program’s  ... MORE

Niels Gerson Lohman: Why I Will Never Return To The U.S.

America has become an ugly place to visit.      After a year of travelling, I had planned a last, short trip. I was going to take the train from Montreal to New Orleans. The travels I had been undertaking earlier this year had brought me to places that were meant to form the background of my second novel. This trip, however was for my  ... MORE

Emily Goff: The Top 10 Ways Washington Wastes Money

Lawmakers have lost control.      Whether it’s negotiating over how much to spend on government operations or the government’s borrowing limit, we hear a familiar refrain in Washington these days: There is absolutely no room to cut federal spending. This is not the case. Many people remember the millions spent on the infamous “Bridge     ... MORE

Steve Chapman: TSA's Inept Bureaucracy Mindlessly Grows

Just like its close relative, the cancer cell.        If you're an air traveler who feels the urge to pull your hair out every time you enter a security line at the airport, you may have considered taking Amtrak or even the bus instead. If so, you may want to scratch that idea. The Transportation Security Administration, you see, is showing up in ... MORE

Ron Nixon: TSA Expands To Railroad Stations And Beyond

Government expands its warrantless search program.     As hundreds of commuters emerged from Amtrak and commuter trains at Union Station on a recent morning, an armed squad of men and women dressed in bulletproof vests made their way through the crowds. The squad was not with the D.C. Police Department or Amtrak’s      ... MORE

Why Freight Rail Pays And Passenger Trains Flunk

by Michael Barone. Forty years ago, American railroads were in trouble. The Penn Central, the largest railroad, had recently gone bankrupt. American freight rail was technologically obsolescent and hamstrung by union rules and government rate regulation. American passenger rail was unprofitable and unreliable. Freight rail was   ... MORE

Cal Thomas: The Stossel Solution

It works if America is still about liberty. In order to get the correct answer to anything, one must ask the right question. That is what former ABC News and current Fox News TV host John Stossel does on his weekly program. If ever there was "must see-TV," this is it. Stossel's show on Saturday, June 30 was a classic. It was called "Government,         ... MORE

AP: Broke California Spends $62 Billion On High-Speed Rail


They can always get a bailout. California lawmakers gave the green light to start building the nation's first dedicated high-speed rail line, a multibillion dollar project that will eventually link Los Angeles and San Francisco. The move marked major political victories for Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown and the Obama administration. Both have promoted ... MORE

Washington Times: A Streetcar Named Debt

Rail projects highlight out-of-control spending priorities.    The District on Friday completed the first phase of testing for its $1.5 billion streetcar project. The nation’s capital joins big cities like Los Angeles in advancing the revival of a transportation option that has been obsolete for more than half a century. The Obama administration is spearheading the  ... MORE

John Hayward: Buffett Cleans Up After Keystone XL

The Sage of Obama is one lucky guy.  When President Obama, who is normally a great proponent of “infrastructure” projects, made his bizarre decision to block the Keystone XL pipeline project, I wondered if he might have been induced to create those thousands of American jobs if the oil could be moved by his beloved high-speed rail. As it turns out, oil ... MORE

LA Times: TSA Screenings Not Just For Airports Anymore

Terror checkpoints doing more inflicting than detecting.   Rick Vetter was rushing to board the Amtrak train in Charlotte, N.C., on a recent Sunday afternoon when a canine officer suddenly blocked the way. Three federal air marshals in bulletproof vests and two officers trained to spot suspicious behavior watched closely as Seiko, a German shepherd ... MORE