gokeefe wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 8:43 am The longer this goes on the more it makes me think that the federal government really does feel this should be paid for by New York and New Jersey.Oh they absolutely think so, less under the last administration (but still somewhat) and much more under this one.
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It needs to be funded just like all of the other bridges and tunnels are; through the port authority.
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Right and I think that thought is shared by a lot of people in Washington who don't change from one administration to another.
gokeefe
Maybe we should look at the politics of funding this project?
1. How does funding this project help the present administration and its political party ?
2. Will it cause them to get any electoral votes in the next presidential election ? Have to doubt it.
3. If a tunnel bore fails will the opposition be blamed ? Probably that they id not do enough o get funding through.
4. Does the party holding back the funds believe a tube failure will hurt the economy ? Present political ins probably do not . The chaos after the failure in one tube should be an indication ?
1. How does funding this project help the present administration and its political party ?
2. Will it cause them to get any electoral votes in the next presidential election ? Have to doubt it.
3. If a tunnel bore fails will the opposition be blamed ? Probably that they id not do enough o get funding through.
4. Does the party holding back the funds believe a tube failure will hurt the economy ? Present political ins probably do not . The chaos after the failure in one tube should be an indication ?
Here's the other part of the point I'm making ... I don't think the Obama administration was really sold on federal funding for this project either. It's such an obvious choice for Recovery Act money and even then they didn't pursue it either.
gokeefe
gokeefe wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 1:07 pm Here's the other part of the point I'm making ... I don't think the Obama administration was really sold on federal funding for this project either. It's such an obvious choice for Recovery Act money and even then they didn't pursue it either.The problems with the tunnel didn't get really bad until after Hurricane Sandy. Those tunnels are on borrowed time.
Rails are better than roads!
Maybe the answer is to induce Senator Schumer to hold a press conference vigorously denouncing the whole project as unnecessary--the White House might approve it in a heartbeat and get it done. 
east point wrote: 2. Will it cause them to get any electoral votes in the next presidential election ? Have to doubt it.Zero chance. Trump could fund this fully with zero state funding and the NYC/Northeast NJ delegations would make sure he got zero credit for it.
Please. Schumer, Gillebrand, Nadler, AOC etc would still blame him for anything that happened while he was in office, regardless of the fact Obama didn’t fund it either.
3. If a tunnel bore fails will the opposition be blamed ? Probably that they id not do enough o get funding through.
4. Does the party holding back the funds believe a tube failure will hurt the economy ? Present political ins probably do not . The chaos after the failure in one tube should be an indication ?
Heck, they’ll blame Trump for the next 20 or 30 years and have a complicit media willing to echo and reinforce
the blame shifting regardless if it’s true or not.
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eolesen wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 2:46 pmHe's probably done 20 or 30 years damage to America's international relationships.
Please. Schumer, Gillebrand, Nadler, AOC etc would still blame him for anything that happened while he was in office, regardless of the fact Obama didn’t fund it either.
Heck, they’ll blame Trump for the next 20 or 30 years and have a complicit media willing to echo and reinforce
the blame shifting regardless if it’s true or not.
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I agree though , that he will fund nothing that would benefit New York , and doesn't seem particularly interested in Amtrak , or any public transport.
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The only train trips I regret are the ones I didn't take.
The only train trips I regret are the ones I didn't take.
The question is has Chao followed the president by no releasing the EIS for how many over due days ? is it over 600 days now ? That is where the problem lies. I cannot believe if the buck does not stop at the presidents desk !
Better question,Where did FedDOT and Chao bury the report?
AT his request?
AT his request?
The Land of Enchantment is not Flyover country!
Or maybe, the reality is that this doesn't matter to the 300+ million Americans that don't live in the NYC area? They'll see it as "What does it matter if some vulture capitalist has to go through the horrors of spending another 45 minutes to get to work to 'unlock shareholder value' by axing my job?"
Nasadowsk wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 9:16 am Or maybe, the reality is that this doesn't matter to the 300+ million Americans that don't live in the NYC area? They'll see it as "What does it matter if some vulture capitalist has to go through the horrors of spending another 45 minutes to get to work to 'unlock shareholder value' by axing my job?""Your job got axed because it cost the vulture capitalist 45 minutes more to get to work, and that's 45 minutes more pay they had to shell out. Guess where it came out of?"
NY and NJ pay billions more in Federal taxes each year than they get back from Washington. So they should be able to get some funding for this important project. That used to be considered plain common sense. Not so much these days. Do we really need a military budget that is approximately the sum of all other countries combined? Maybe that's one reason that other industrialized but less militarized countries have so much better infrastructure and transportation systems than we do. Not to mention that we pay at least twice as much per capita for inferior medical care than other industrial countries.
We need to restructure our priorities to provide more stuff, like public transportation and decent roads, and less to fund multi billion bailouts and tax breaks for the one percent. If we made these changes there would be plenty of money for infrastructure. Look at western Europe and Japan.
As for right now, I hope NY and NJ and the Port Authority are willing and able to put up the money for Gateway. The Feds might come up with a few bucks if the Dems win it all this fall, but even then I wouldn't hold my breath. And who knows, His Majesty King Cuomo might have a hissy fit and refuse to participate because he has some grudge against some NJ official.
We need to restructure our priorities to provide more stuff, like public transportation and decent roads, and less to fund multi billion bailouts and tax breaks for the one percent. If we made these changes there would be plenty of money for infrastructure. Look at western Europe and Japan.
As for right now, I hope NY and NJ and the Port Authority are willing and able to put up the money for Gateway. The Feds might come up with a few bucks if the Dems win it all this fall, but even then I wouldn't hold my breath. And who knows, His Majesty King Cuomo might have a hissy fit and refuse to participate because he has some grudge against some NJ official.
Gateway, Portal and Moynihan projects all impact every state from MA to FL to LA. So the assertion that it is only a NY/NJ thing is false. Every rail passenger who travels through the North River tunnels should be screaming at their congress critters and state politicos every day to get these projects done. And if they don't, then we can play DEAL! (Don't Elect Any Incumbents)
Harry
