Rick Scott has Japanese Train Envy...

[AlphaCrab]

Japan moves in the right direction--the future..Florida--eh, not so much. We do know how to make cuts though!!


"George Will and Rick Scott, Governor of Florida might be confused by the concept of trains but the Japanese sure don't appear to be confused, and neither does China. In December 2010, the Chinese broke the speed record for the world's fastest unmodified conventional commercial train with a top speed of 302 miles per hour (486 kilometers per hour).
The debut of Japan's Hayabusa (also known as "Falcon") train marks the continued investment into high-speed rail in Japan, with plans by Central Japan Railway Company to complete a high-speed train network with speeds in excess of 300 miles per hour by 2045.
With Obama's proposed $53 billion in funding for high-speed rail, the United States is a desirable potential customer of Japan's infrastructure technology.
But will there be any interest from the US once everything is said and done? While Japan and China are breaking records and launching bullet trains, the United States is breaking speed records in what seems like the opposite direction with The Supreme Court having issued "a brief but unanimous decision siding with Scott less than 24 hours after hearing oral arguments" by Florida Governor Rick Scotts against using $2.4 billion in high-speed rail funding in the state".


More--with npics!.....>>>>

Hayabusa High-Speed Train Debuts In Japan (PHOTOS)

 

[GoodWitch58]

I rode the Bullet Train in Japan in the 70s...havetaken the fast trains in Europe many times...great way to travel.

Florida is regressing under this Governor. It will take more than my lifetime for us to recover from his actions I'm afraid...and canceling the train is not the worst decision he's likely to make. but, it is one that will have serious implications for our position in the country and world. Hard to comprehend that he was elected...and that NW Florida voters played such a huge part in that.

 

[30ashopper]

Japan's infrastructure spending is not the example you want to use in justifying a project like this in Florida. ;-) They've been trying to dig out from under a recession now for almost twenty years, using a model similar to Obama's stimulus. Their debt as a percentage of GDP hit 200% recently - an international record seconded only by Zimbabwe. We are moving in the right direction. Long term, getting our borrowing under control is far more important than building trains nobody will use.

 

[30ashopper]

In 2009, Japan's debt service reached 60% of tax revenue. Part of that debt was used to build this train.

Will Japan Default? - Seeking Alpha

Imagine what kind of state the United States would be in if we had to pay 60% of the 2.3 trillion we generated in tax revenue last year toward debt service? Is that really what progressives want for our country? Your policies point in that direction.

 

[AlphaCrab]

Hare, hare, Krishna..we have a Train Wreck of a Governor--no 2 ways about it!

 

[GoodWitch58]

In 2009, Japan's debt service reached 60% of tax revenue. Part of that debt was used to build this train.

Will Japan Default? - Seeking Alpha

Imagine what kind of state the United States would be in if we had to pay 60% of the 2.3 trillion we generated in tax revenue last year toward debt service? Is that really what progressives want for our country? Your policies point in that direction.

charts and graphs can be interpreted to mean anything...I won't even enter into a discussion with you about that...it's an effort in futility. Japan has had fast trains in good times and in not so good...

However, I would rather put my money on Warren Buffet and people who have his vision than on the Tea Party/libertarian governors....Commentary: Rail haters should take a hint from Warren Buffett | McClatchy

There is considerable resistance to rail investment, but that's largely rooted in lack of familiarity. Pundits claim that Amtrak has received billions in federal subsidies since its inception in 1971 and that it's never been profitable.

But were it not for massive federal investment in highways, trucking companies, homebuilders and fast-food chains wouldn't have been profitable, either. Creating the Interstate highway system in the 1950s changed the American economy.

No one today would seriously argue that such investment needed to prove itself to get funding, but imagine what would have happened if anyone did. The roads wouldn't have been built.

The Warren Buffetts of the world have a pretty good track record, so to speak, in predicting what lies ahead. Would you rather listen to them, or to the rail haters?

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/03/07/109709/commentary-rail-haters-should.html#ixzz1FvHcdhBX

We need leaders --and leaders usually have vision. They do not look for all the reasons something won't work, but rather, have the courage to take the risk for something that may seem outside the box, but, because they have confidence in the American people, can make it work.

We need a challenge--another Sputnik moment; President Obama is offering that--and being shot down at every corner by those who have the vilest of reasons for wanting him to fail.

I am confident, though, that vision and reason will eventually prevail...and that people will eventually wake up and wonder what on earth they were thinking.

We will get out of this mindset of lack and fear--I just wish for the sake of my grandchildren we did not have to go through all of it yet again.

 

[AlphaCrab]

Monday Morning Funnies..

Rick Scott's current Train of Thought...

 

[30ashopper]

charts and graphs can be interpreted to mean anything...I won't even enter into a discussion with you about that...it's an effort in futility. Japan has had fast trains in good times and in not so good...

I'm sure the geographic differences between Japan and the United States are not lost on you. (Japan's main islands fit inside of Colorado!) If what we wanted to do was move 127 million people around quickly in a space that size, Japan would be a great example of how to do it. We do not have that problem however.

However, I would rather put my money on Warren Buffet and people who have his vision than on the Tea Party/libertarian governors....Commentary: Rail haters should take a hint from Warren Buffett | McClatchy

We need leaders --and leaders usually have vision. They do not look for all the reasons something won't work, but rather, have the courage to take the risk for something that may seem outside the box, but, because they have confidence in the American people, can make it work.

We need a challenge--another Sputnik moment; President Obama is offering that--and being shot down at every corner by those who have the vilest of reasons for wanting him to fail.

I am confident, though, that vision and reason will eventually prevail...and that people will eventually wake up and wonder what on earth they were thinking.

We will get out of this mindset of lack and fear--I just wish for the sake of my grandchildren we did not have to go through all of it yet again.

The interstate highway system is a great example of how you solve this type of problem on a scale equal to that of the United States.

 

[Bob]

come to orlando and try i-4 within 2 hours of rush hour

 

[AlphaCrab]

Here is the interstate "Eisenhower type" big idea for high speed rail plan for all of Florida...East Coast-West Coast and a central Orlando criss-cross! Viola!