“Doctor why have you stopped the bypass surgery – the patient is dying!”

“I’m sorry.  It’s not bipartisan.”

<big><big>When “bipartisanship” clogs health care reform, we should bypass it.</big></big>

[Hat tip to <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/06/senator_bernie_sanders_and_the.html?hpid=topnews">Senator Bernie Sanders for the inspiration</a>.]

It’s the guys from Fairly Odd Parents!

For Immediate Release
April 9, 2009

DURBIN AND ILLINOIS DELEGATION ASK DOT TO SUPPORT REVIVAL OF ILLINOIS TRAIN CAR INDUSTRY

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today led the Illinois Congressional Delegation in asking the Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, to support their effort to revive the passenger rail car manufacturing industry in Illinois. The Department of Transportation recently announced that $90.8 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has been committed to rehabilitating train cars in the United States and returning them to service – the average age of an Amtrak car is now 25 years. Additionally, there is $8 billion in Recovery Act funding available for high speed rail.

“It is time to establish rolling stock manufacturers here in the United States,” wrote the Illinois members. “Although we no longer manufacture passenger rail cars in Illinois, Illinois is still home to a vibrant rail industry that has the capacity to quickly modify existing facilities to accommodate the production of passenger rail rolling stock.

“The time is ripe to harness Illinois’ position and to capitalize on the massive new investment into intercity passenger rail. With the Department’s assistance we could bring good paying jobs to the United States while advancing cleaner, cheaper and greener transportation options for Americans.”

The domestic railcar giant Pullman Company provided a strong manufacturing base for over a hundred years in Illinois, providing rail cars that are still on the tracks today. But those companies have long since closed their doors and left the business of making passenger rail cars, due in part, to years of underinvestment in the U.S. and increased investment by European countries.

Durbin has spearheaded an effort in Illinois and in Congress to repair Amtrak’s aging fleet of passenger cars, bring rehabilitated cars to Illinois and revive the train car industry in the United States. In May 2008, he led a bipartisan group of Senators in requesting that Amtrak increase the number of train cars available for use on new routes in Illinois. In July, Durbin introduced a bill – the Train CARS Act – that proposed a package of financing options to bring our existing train cars into a state of good repair and lay the groundwork for the next generation of trains built in America.

Members signing on to today’s letter include: Senator Roland Burris (D-IL), Representatives Melissa Bean (D-IL), Judy Biggert (R-IL), Jerry Costello (D-IL), Danny Davis (D-IL), Bill Foster (D-IL), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Debbie Halvorson (D-IL), Phil Hare (D-IL), Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL), Tim Johnson (R-IL), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Dan Lipinski (D-IL), Don Manzullo (R-IL), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Aaron Schock (R-IL) and John Shimkus (R-IL).

[Click for the Text of the letter below]

Secretary LaHood
DOT Secretary

We write to seek your support for an effort to revive the passenger rail manufacturing industry in Illinois. This industry has been dormant in the United States for many years. We see a tremendous opportunity in the Administration’s strong support for high speed rail to bring the industry back to the U.S. and back to Illinois.

The current fleet of passenger rail rolling stock in this country is in serious disrepair and cannot adequately meet current demand, let alone future expansion of the intercity rail system. This past holiday season, Amtrak did not have enough rail cars to handle the ridership demand. Compounding a tenuous situation, Amtrak suffered several equipment failures that left hundreds of riders stranded or able to reach their final destination by transferring to intercity bus service. These events clearly indicate that we need to re-fleet the aging rolling stock that our rail system has been barely getting by with for far too long.

Unfortunately, domestic companies making passenger rail cars have shuttered their doors and left the business of making passenger rail cars due to years of underinvestment in the United States and increased investment by European countries. But the Administration’s commitment to an $8 billion initial investment in high speed rail in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has changed that equation. It is time to establish rolling stock manufacturers here in the United States.

Illinois provides the best opportunities for these companies. The domestic railcar giant Pullman Company provided a strong manufacturing base for over a hundred years in Illinois, providing rail cars that are still on the tracks today. Although we no longer manufacture passenger rail cars in Illinois, Illinois is still home to a vibrant rail industry that has the capacity to quickly modify existing facilities to accommodate the production of passenger rail rolling stock.

We will need your leadership to start this process. We ask that the Department of Transportation initiate a dialogue with the domestic and international railcar industry to explore the viability of building manufacturing capacity here at home.

As you know, Illinois holds a preeminent status among states when it comes to rail transportation. It was the steel, iron and steam of our railroads and trains that cemented our place as the transportation hub of North America. Today, Illinois continues in that tradition by being home to the only place in the country where all Class I freight railroads meet and where we have the fastest growing passenger rail ridership in the country.

The time is ripe to harness Illinois’ position and to capitalize on the massive new investment into intercity passenger rail. With the Department’s assistance we could bring good paying jobs to the United States while advancing cleaner, cheaper and greener transportation options for Americans.

Thank you for your consideration of this request, as always we stand ready to assist you in further developing a world class intercity passenger rail system.

Sincerely,

-30-

“I don’t think this tendency [to report a modest budget increase as a "steep" budget cut] stems from an intentional malice – it’s more of an epiphenomenon rooted in years of being led to believe that the president is obligated to a). increase military spending, and b). do so in a way that preserves or expands all existing Pentagon programs, however wasteful. Anything else computes as a ’spending cut.’”

Brian, I don’t think I’d necessarily attribute it to “intentional malice” either – but that’s hardly the only possibility. Perhaps it was just a “business decision?“

I’m no economist, but my sense is we are not likely to recover much this year or next. Longer term, however, I think what President Barack Obama has outlined as his major initiatives is solid (in no particular order):

- Energy & the Environment – Alternative energy, replacing/retrofitting/designing in a more environmentally friendly/sustainable way is going to be big business with returns in reduced fuel usage and increased employment. There are already a number of players involved, from consultants like Better Environmental Solutions and the Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation (WECC) to a new real estate investment fund G2B Ventures. Long-term projects like high speed rail will increase employment short-term, and payoff in travel efficiencies once they’re up and running. High speed rail has the potential to revolutionize U.S. travel and become a game-changer for moving people and products.

- Health Care – this is one area where we might expect returns relatively quickly (perhaps starting in the next 2-3 years?) – and it promises long-term to reduce American business costs and increase productivity – thus increasing our economic competitiveness.

- Education speaks more directly to Matt’s comparison with education levels during the Great Depression – but even there we have so few people graduating college (and not enough graduating high school), must less taking graduate-level coursework, that there’s still room for growth (if not as much room as there was in the Depression era). An increase in technical education, like they have in Europe, might also be an area of tremendous growth.

The fact is that since the 1960s we’ve really let our country go through lack of major, smart investments in our infrastructure and society. There’s been an obvious downside to this that we’ve all experienced, but the upside is there is real room for growth. Long-term I think there’s good reason for optimism, even if short-term things do not go particularly well.

You have a chance to end the nonsense. You have a chance to repair and restore the College of DuPage as an effective institution focused on educating DuPage residents – not whatever you want to call the egregious actions of a number of current board members.

For the 6 year term
Vote for Kim Savage
Vote for Tom Wendorf
Vote for Nancy Svoboda

For the 2 year term
Vote for Sandy Kim

A vote for Savage, Wendorf, Svoboda and Kim, all endorsed by the Friends for Education District 502 and the COD Courier, as well as newspapers like the Daily Herald (Savage, Wendorf and Kim), is a vote for the College of DuPage. Improve the college with your vote – don’t let it go down the tubes.

“In other words, roads work really well up to a point, and then they work really badly. And many, many roads in America work really badly much of the time, costing Americans some $78 billion in lost time and wasted fuel. But high fuel prices led to reduced driving last year — enough reduced driving that many roads which had been working badly began to work well again. But because of the tipping point phenomenon, it didn’t take anywhere near a 30% reduction in driving to get a 30% reduction in congestion.”

In the Chicago Metro Area congestion in 2008 was down 17.4% compared to the prior year and travel times went down 3.4%. The peak travel hour during the week even changed from Friday 5-6 PM to Thursday 5-6 PM.

In the Milwaukee Metro Area congestion in 2008 was down a more modest 4.4% compared to the prior year and travel times went down 0.3%. The peak travel hour during the week, similar to Chicago, changed from Friday 5-6 PM to Thursday 5-6 PM.

In the Madison, WI Metro Area congestion in 2008 was down a whopping 39.6% compared to the prior year and travel times went down 1.2%. Madison’s peak travel hour during the week changed from Wednesday 5-6 PM to Tuesday 5-6 PM.

The reduced travel congestion is great, but a down economy won’t last forever. Future fuel efficiency gains will effectively lower the cost of gas for miles driven – counteracting at least some if not all of the expected fuel price increases. So we have a temporary respite from congestion – but without mass transit and alternative transportation solutions, we’ll be back to the traffic jams of the recent past once the economy picks up. That’s why investing in mass transportation and alternative transportation now is still necessary to prepare us for a better future.

Note: My family has never been to California – and we don’t have any plans right now….