Joe Biden: Why America Needs Trains

[BridgeTroll]

I agree that he is not so much a "new face" as he is a rather obscure one.  While well known in the upper midwest... most of the country does not know too much about him...

[FayeforCure]

how does Tommy Thompson qualify as a "new face"...he was Gov. of WI and then served as Health & Human Services secretary under W

Yup another career politician!!

[BridgeTroll]

Yup!  just like Mr Biden!

[Ocklawaha]

Mica does support the development of it around the country but has called into question, as many of us have, the Florida Project, which is full of flaws.

Where has "Mica called into question" the Florida Project for HSR?

Can you point for a source that states Mica's reasons for opposing federal investment in Florida high speed rail,..........or are we giving him a free card by simply assuming "he must have his reasons?"

Sure Faye, IT WAS YOU!

It is in YOUR POST #1046 Which has a partial clipping of about 1/2 of the Mica piece.

Topic: John Mica Calls Florida's High Speed Rail Application a "Dog"  (Read 1179 times)
FayeforCure
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 1046

http://www.tampabay.com/news/transportation/masstransit/article1016211.ece

...But is Florida ready for high-speed rail?

With no regional rail systems in place to connect with the new line, U.S. Rep. John Mica of Winter Park, the ranking Republican member of the House Transportation Committee, says no.

"Unfortunately, Florida has had so many unsuccessful fits and starts that their reputation for falling down on major infrastructure projects is probably going to be a detriment," he said.

He points to the bullet train reversal and the Central Florida light rail project sidetracked by Tallahassee lawmakers who bickered over liability issues in the past two legislative sessions.

Mica also questions the financial viability of the proposed high-speed rail corridor. He says only the link from the Orlando airport to Disney World would have enough riders to support it.

"The rest of the leg to Tampa is a dog," he said.

Ultimately, though, it's a matter of timing, he said. High-speed rail needs local rail as support so passengers can get around when they reach their destination.

His focus is on getting federal money for regional systems, including $10 million that U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor requested for rail in Tampa Bay.

I thought it funny that your clipping ended just before the line where he repeated exactly what Lake and I have been saying all along.

"Then we connect together with high speed," he said. "Doesn't anybody get that? How dumb can you be?"

Then again, a DEMOCRAT agreed with him! And with us.

U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, a Democrat from Jacksonville who chairs the Transportation Committee's subcommittee on railroads, said Florida's chances suffer from a lack of leadership at the state level.

"The people in charge tell me Florida talks a good game, but every time they have to put money on the table they come up short," she said, saying there's no funding available for high-speed rail in the state budget and light rail in South Florida is struggling financially.

Both Mica and Brown note that California voters recently voted to spend $9.8 billion on high-speed rail in that state.

"They're ready," Brown said.

So in review...

WE HAVE NO RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE (See every transit post by OCK and LAKE)

WE HAVE A REPUTATION FOR FAILING WITH RAIL (We're really good with FREEways and BRT though!)

WE KILLED THE EFFORT AT A PUBLIC-PRIVATE HSR TRAIN (Thanks JEB)

WE PLAN A TRAIN THAT WILL ONLY SERVE AN AMUSEMENT PARK (Ever hear me call it Rat Train?)

WE LAID OUT A ROUTE THAT MISSES EVERY TOWN IN CENTRAL FLORIDA (Calling it a Dog is OCKLA-poetic)

WE STILL HAVE NO PLAN FOR A STATE WIDE "CAL TRAIN LIKE" NETWORK (Can you spell regular Amtrak)

HE IS WORKING ON GETTING FUNDING FOR THAT LOCAL RAIL NETWORK (What MJ is all about)

THEN WE CONNECT TOGETHER WITH HIGH SPEED, DOESN'T ANYBODY GET THAT, HOW DUMB CAN YOU BE?
(OMG is there an echo in the room?)

THEN BROWN ADDED:

WE HAVE A LACK OF LEADERSHIP IN TRANSPORTATION (But we have CUTR!)

WE ARE ALL TALK NO ACTION ON RAIL (Anybody remember LRT to Orange Park? NOW we have BRT lanes!)

WE CAN ALL STAND AT THE CROSSING AS CALIFORNIA, ILLINOIS, OREGON, NORTH CAROLINA...etc ROAR PAST

OCKLAWAHA

[CS Foltz]

Well!

[Ocklawaha]

Back to the topic title, and considering that WE KNOW certain highly placed members of the house are reading this, IMO what we need is thus:

A STATEWIDE SYSTEM OF 5 TRAINS - EACH WAY - DAILY:
(70 Daily State - Amtrak partner trains crisscrossing Florida every day)

Jacksonville - Baldwin - Tallahassee - (two trains continue on) - Marianna - Crestview - Pensacola

Jacksonville - Baldwin - Starke - Alachua - Gainesville

Jacksonville - Baldwin - Starke - Waldo - Ocala - Wildwood - Dade City - Tampa

Jacksonville - Orange Park - Palatka - Deland - Sanford - Orlando - (split with two continuing on to West Palm - Miami via Winter Haven - Sebring) - Lakeland - Tampa

Jacksonville - St. Augustine - Daytona Beach - Melbourne - Ft Pierce - West Palm - Miami

Miami - West Palm - Sebring - Lakeland - Tampa

Tampa - Lakeland - Orlando

PLUS - INCREASED FREQUENCY (Min 2 daily each way) AND ADDITION OF SEVERAL (32 trains crisscrossing the Southeast) LONG DISTANCE ROUTES:

NYC - DC - Richmond - Charleston - Savannah - Waycross - Jacksonville - (Tampa) and (Miami) sections

NYC - DC - Richmond - Raleigh - Hamlet - Columbia - Savannah - Jacksonville - (Tampa) and (Miami) sections

NYC - DC - Charlottesville - Greensboro - Charlotte - Columbia - Savannah - Jacksonville - (Tampa) and (Miami) sections

(Buffalo - Cleveland - Columbus - Cincinnati) sections
(Detroit - Toledo - Lima - Dayton - Cincinnati) sections
(Chicago - Indianapolis - Cincinnati) sections
Cincinnati - Lexington - Knoxville - Chattanooga - Atlanta - Macon - Valdosta - Jacksonville
(Miami) and (Tampa) sections

Chicago - Indianapolis - Louisville - Nashville - Chattanooga - Atlanta - Manchester - Cordele - Waycross - Jacksonville
(Miami) and (Tampa) sections

Chicago - Carbondale - Memphis - Birmingham - Columbus - Cordele - Waycross - Jacksonville
(Miami) and (Tampa) sections

Birmingham - Montgomery - Dothan - Thomasville - Valdosta - Jacksonville (connecting cars south)

LA - PHX - HOU - New Orleans - Biloxi - Gulfport - Mobile - Pensacola - Crestview - Marianna - Tallahassee - Baldwin - Jacksonville (Miami) and (Tampa) sections

Anyone still with me note that these lines interlace, when they arrive in Jacksonville the "State Trains" take over the duties and forward the trains on to BOTH Florida Coasts. Florida gains a network, Georgia and Alabama and South Carolina and North Carolina all get networked to and from the Florida market. This idea would also reintroduce service to large sections of Tennessee, Ohio, and bring rail service back to Kentucky. Atlanta, Charlotte, Birmingham - Memphis - Cincinnati - Columbus - Cordele - Waycross - all become major railroad route junctions.

IT'S NOT THAT I WANT JACKSONVILLE AS THE HUB, WHAT ISN'T UNDERSTOOD IN TALLAHASSEE OR WASHINGTON OR CITY HALL IS THAT WE ARE THE HUB OF THE SOUTHEAST.


OCKLAWAHA

[mtraininjax]

We also need the winning lottery numbers, but what do we have in common, no money for either.

[CS Foltz]

Ock.......I concur! Past due to re-establish what once was a real railroad network! Which brings me to a question......can any railroad retake ROW that was abandoned?

[Ocklawaha]

Railroads can, but generally they buy back or reconstruct. They have the power of eminent domain, but that is a REALLY bad situation, get's ugly and costly. The best deal is to have the state's "Rail Bank" (Georgia, Oklahoma) the track and right-of-way, or have "Rails to Trails" (Missouri, Florida) take over long stretches with their standard "preserve the right of way for the future contract."

Yes Mtrain, it would cost us, BUT shifting just a fraction of our DOT highway money to rail would more then pay for it. We're not talking new money-suckers here, just rearrange where the bucks are going NOW.



OCKLAWAHA

[Dog Walker]

Some body is expanding their passenger rail network.

http://www.railwayage.com/breaking-news/passenger-railcar-deliveries-at-eight-year-high.html 

[FayeforCure]

Some body is expanding their passenger rail network.

http://www.railwayage.com/breaking-news/passenger-railcar-deliveries-at-eight-year-high.html  

With railcar deliveries at an eight year high,............could it be that the political environment created by Democrats is favorable to RAIL?

New railcar deliveries last year were nearly double the 596 cars delivered in 2008.

"you get a picture of a vibrant, growing passenger rail industry. There’s been a dramatic turnaround, and it’s picking up steam."

That said, Tommy Thompson's support for Amtrak is something I really value,..........also because unlike John Mica Tommy Thompson is able to see and do what's right regardless of his party affiliation.

This is a report on the annual Stem Cell Summit, September 24, 2008:

The four-term Wisconsin governor has been a supporter of embryonic stem cell research since 1998, when University of Wisconsin anatomy professor James Thomson first isolated human embryonic stem cell lines.

He, like many speakers at the World Stem Cell Summit, called upon the next president to lift the restrictions put in place by Bush.

Thompson also recommended an aggressive plan to cure cancer. He said he would advise the next president to take up a plan he talked about in his short-lived 2008 presidential candidacy.

That plan would aim for curing breast cancer by 2015, prostate cancer by 2020 and all forms of cancer by 2025.

“We have the capacity to do that,” Thompson said. “Just like we put a man on the moon. And just like Ronald Reagan says, ‘Tear down this wall.’”

Thompson’s remarks were a part of a panel that also featured Democrat Greg Simon, who oversaw the NIH and the National Cancer Institute as chief domestic foreign policy adviser to former Vice President Al

http://www.badgerherald.com/news/2008/09/24/thompson_says_he_per.php

Even while serving under Bush as NIH Chief ( when dissent was absolutely squashed), he had the courage to speak up for stem cell research:

NIH Agency Chiefs Criticize Federal Policy on Stem Cells

The Washington Post | April 7, 2005 | Rick Weiss | .

Breaking with a tradition of deference to top administration officials, several institute directors at the National Institutes of Health went public yesterday with their distaste for federal restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research.

Their comments, put to paper at the request of Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and disclosed in conjunction with an NIH appropriations hearing yesterday, reflect festering frustration over the policy initiated by President Bush in 2001.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-36038.html

Go Tommy Thompson!!!!!

[Ocklawaha]

That said, Tommy Thompson's support for Amtrak  is something I really value,..........also because unlike John Mica Tommy Thompson is able to see and do what's right regardless of his party affiliation.

Faye, this is more of your typical "Mica Hate" hidden within your post. Another hijacking attempt? 

Y'all would probably find it interesting that in a recent hour or so with John Mica, Stephendare and I
tried every hook in the book to get him to say anything negative about Faye. We used name calling, lunacy even asked his aide who has become quite close to MJ. GUESS WHAT? Not only did Mica speak of Faye, he told us how much he respects her views, her gallantry etc. Nothing but a glowing report from the right. Big man meets small woman?

OCKLAWAHA

[FayeforCure]

Y'all would probably find it interesting that in a recent hour or so with John Mica, Stephendare and I
tried every hook in the book to get him to say anything negative about Faye. We used name calling, lunacy even asked his aide who has become quite close to MJ. GUESS WHAT? Not only did Mica speak of Faye, he told us how much he respects her views, her gallantry etc. Nothing but a glowing report from the right. Big man meets small woman?[/color][/b]

Funny, how you and Stephendare got to meet and speak with John Mica in person.........

A front page Orlando Sentinel article on March 5th, 2007 showed me approaching Wiley Deck, his district represtative, for an appointment in the district during spring recess of 2007, where we were told John Mica was completely booked for meetings away from his district offices.

My request to meet with him on stem cell research was initiated first in Sept of 2006, and I finally was able to secure an appointment, by driving myself and wheelchair bound son all the way to DC in April of 2007. A 7 month delay to discuss a lifetime of suffering for 100,000 million chronically ill Americans, while he was able to meet with campaign donors on the golf course no doubt.

Some kind of constituent services for the disabled!!!

Hey if all you want is silence or glowing remarks from people about their representatives, all accountability is out the door.

Good thing the Disabled American Veterans holds John Mica accountable, by giving him a clearly deserved rating of 0

http://www.votesmart.org/issue_rating_detail.php?r_id=1898

Too bad you, as a member of Disabled American Veterans don't feel the need to hold John Mica accountable for his dismal ratings with the DAV in consideration of your fellow Disabled American Veterans!!!!! Shame on you.

[Ocklawaha]

...and so, uh? What's your point?

You hate Mica? Why not just say it instead of dragging the man through your mud ad infinitum.

Why should I feel shame because I won't decend into your hate filled level?  I don't like the color of my family's police uniform either, but I wouldn't have him abandon law enforcement over it.

Chill out with some calming music...
http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x1xuvd&related=0"%20type="application/x-shockwave-flash"%20width="480"%20height="365"%20allowfullscreen="true"%20allowscriptaccess="always"

OCKLAWAHA

[FayeforCure]

Why should I feel shame because I won't decend into your hate filled level?  I don't like the color of my family's police uniform either, but I wouldn't have him abandon law enforcement over it.

Ah, so you admit you don't give a damn what John Mica's score is with the Disabled American Veterans? Or for that matter on anything? He really does get a complete free card by you.

What happened to old-fashioned accountability,..............you are trying to hold me accountable without holding John Mica accountable,...........go figure.

THAT must be the reason why we have so many incompetent leaders.