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Re: Railroad and Passengers Held Hostage,,,,,,again!
Author: OldPoleBurner
Date: 11-28-2012 - 21:39
I too have focused much of my 40 year career serving the needs of public transportation, because I believed in it. So I have no particular issue with anything you have said. The fact is that public infrastructure is invested in by the public, for only one reason. -- Well, actually two.
First and foremost, our government (the entity that is supposed to do the public's bidding) has a duty to "Provide FOR the General Welfare". And publicly accessible infrastructure is absolutely critical to accomplishing that. Whether it is in the form of canals, wagon trails, stage roads, post roads, toll roads, railways, or whatever; it was so in 1789 when the Constitution was ratified, and it is still so now! Providing for publicly accessible infrastructure is probably the most important of all the things that could be done. But notice that it is usually the very last thing on any politician's agenda, if it is there at all!
Second, the fact that providing for such infrastructure is sometimes not a very remunerative activity; means that in some cases, private enterprise simply cannot manage to accomplish this critically important function. Especially if we expect to have a national economy universally and equally accessible to all. That means government must somehow get it done anyway.
Providing for the "General Welfare" in this manner (but not personal benefits) ranks right up there in the Constitution, with providing for the common defense, ensuring domestic tranquility, and securing the blessings of liberty for our selves and our posterity. It's all right there in the preamble. Note also, the intent of the framers, in mandating that commerce among the states (infrastructure is critical to that commerce) must be federally regulated and facilitated.
So yes, public transportation, at all levels, does indeed broadly facilitate the general welfare of everyone. But much of what is being spent in certain other areas merely supports a very narrow set of interests. Important to them perhaps, but nevertheless too narrow in application to be a "General" anything.
The only negative about public transportation I can think of at the moment, is the seemingly inherent wastefulness of government - which by first hand eyewitness, has sometimes demoralized and outraged me. I wish we could have solved that problem and thus have been able to do a much better job of providing FOR the general welfare.
Perhaps someday, someone will figure out how to fix what really went wrong in the first place. So that it can again be made remunerative enough to attract the usually more efficient private enterprise system, to to again engage in it. But either way, the "General Welfare" must be provided for, even if by the "Last resort".
First and foremost, our government (the entity that is supposed to do the public's bidding) has a duty to "Provide FOR the General Welfare". And publicly accessible infrastructure is absolutely critical to accomplishing that. Whether it is in the form of canals, wagon trails, stage roads, post roads, toll roads, railways, or whatever; it was so in 1789 when the Constitution was ratified, and it is still so now! Providing for publicly accessible infrastructure is probably the most important of all the things that could be done. But notice that it is usually the very last thing on any politician's agenda, if it is there at all!
Second, the fact that providing for such infrastructure is sometimes not a very remunerative activity; means that in some cases, private enterprise simply cannot manage to accomplish this critically important function. Especially if we expect to have a national economy universally and equally accessible to all. That means government must somehow get it done anyway.
Providing for the "General Welfare" in this manner (but not personal benefits) ranks right up there in the Constitution, with providing for the common defense, ensuring domestic tranquility, and securing the blessings of liberty for our selves and our posterity. It's all right there in the preamble. Note also, the intent of the framers, in mandating that commerce among the states (infrastructure is critical to that commerce) must be federally regulated and facilitated.
So yes, public transportation, at all levels, does indeed broadly facilitate the general welfare of everyone. But much of what is being spent in certain other areas merely supports a very narrow set of interests. Important to them perhaps, but nevertheless too narrow in application to be a "General" anything.
The only negative about public transportation I can think of at the moment, is the seemingly inherent wastefulness of government - which by first hand eyewitness, has sometimes demoralized and outraged me. I wish we could have solved that problem and thus have been able to do a much better job of providing FOR the general welfare.
Perhaps someday, someone will figure out how to fix what really went wrong in the first place. So that it can again be made remunerative enough to attract the usually more efficient private enterprise system, to to again engage in it. But either way, the "General Welfare" must be provided for, even if by the "Last resort".
