McBlogger: low-calorie but still full-flavor: Around Texas

December 14, 2008

Around Texas

Ron Kirk for Transportation Secretary? He wasn't a great Mayor of Dallas. He wasn't a good Senate candidate. Now the President-elect wants to put him in charge of the Transportation Department? Let's keep in mind this is the same Ron Kirk who thinks tolls are just nifty. His point is the same one most of the 'thinking liberals' make, namely that gas taxes disproportionately effect the poor. What these well intentioned people never pick up on is that when you're tolling damn near every road, you drive up the costs for all consumers creating the very problem your tolls were meant to avoid. Either in terms of paying the toll or sitting in traffic on a surface road or increased costs at stores that sell good transported by trucks that paid the tolls, the poor (even those who don't drive) end up getting soaked. As Democrats, we've always been pragmatic when looking at problems, costs associated with those problems and how best to fund them.

Unfortunately, it's become accepted as gospel that tolls are the best funding solution in Democratic circles, no matter how wrong that thesis is. Kirk is a part of that problem and that makes him a very unsuitable choice.

The reality is we need someone dedicated to transportation who can come at our infrastructure problems with innovative, multimodal solutions. We need someone who can recommend sensible, long term financial structures not someone who will simply kick the can down the road, soaking taxpayers in the process.

Elizabeth Ames Jones has decided to run for Senate. Lucky, aren't we?

Am I the only one who thinks this bitch is the candidate equivalent of fruitcake? Pretty but absolutely worthless? And trust me, this isn't a Democrat vs. Republican thing. This bitch is as dumb as a box of fucking rocks. Click the goddamn links.

For you Dallasites, there's a delay in the plans to reconstruct LBJ. Apparently, the firms need some more time to figure out how to dig out 6 additional toll lanes underneath the freeway. And rebuild the free part of the road. I feel for y'all... you're actually going to have to use surface roads for about five years.

Oh and the Trinity Toll Road is kinda moving forward. But not really.

Austin has low electric rates. Who knew?

Posted by mcblogger at December 14, 2008 11:37 AM

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Comments

DMN is reporting this morning Kirk as USTR. I haven't seen that from anyone else, but Becerra has been waffling on the position for over a week now.

Posted by: Kedron Touvell at December 14, 2008 03:56 PM

Oh, and on the Austin Energy article, the Statesman didn't even mention the fact that AE contributes $100 million to the City's general fund every year and that the city basically uses the utility as a "piggy bank of last resort" whenever it needs to find money for various economic development projects. Take into account those costs and the deregulation story looks even worse. Silly Repubs.

Posted by: Kedron Touvell at December 14, 2008 04:14 PM