June 23, 2009

39%'s been busy with the vetoes

First up was this piece in the Austin Chronicle regarding the partisan vintage of the bills 39% has been vetoing. I know it will come as a shock, but the overwhelming majority are Republican bills.

Just kidding! Nah, they're mostly Democratic and bi-partisan bills which, now that I think about it, is par for the course for a man who could only get 39% of Texans to vote for him. Some of these bills are pretty important. Some of them would have done a lot of good. None of it will receive a lot of attention. What will, however, really burn his ass is the veto of HB 2142 and the signature of SB 882.

2142 was the bill that put some taxpayer friendly restrictions on the pro-toll propaganda campaign being run b y TXDOT known as Keep Texas Moving. This one will be a huge favorite with the crowds in East Texas along the 69 corridor.

SB 882 was the bill by Spendthrift John Carona that actually PAID money to firms who bid on TXDOT projects but were not selected. Of course, the whiny refrain is that even bidding on these projects is expensive and without this there would have been fewer bids. Which is a load of crap because a company that can't afford the scratch to put together a proposal shouldn't even be in the damn running for a project. In point of fact, I could set up an engineering firm specifically to bid on TXDOT projects with the expectation that I'd lose every time... but I'd be richly paid for the loss. This process and this bill are an egregious waste of taxpayer funds.

And 39% took the additional step of signing it. Of course, I doubt the Hutchison crew is smart enough to pick up on this. Democrats, however, are so it'll come up in the general regardless of the R candidate.

I was ready for a real fight in 2010 but if you mooks are just going to make it easy, then go and keep (to use the words of a friend of mine) tripping over your own dicks.

Posted by mcblogger at 10:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 22, 2009

Transportation Fun Time!

Sorry about the title. I didn't know what else to call this post. 'Screeching Rant Time' also came to mind but it didn't really have the.... oh, how to put this... spirit of lightness and frivolity I was seeking.

As Stern reported a few days ago, 39% made a big and useless show of supporting that eminent domain amendment that's set to hit the ballot in November. The funny thing... that amendment has no teeth and provides absolutely no real reform which is why it's supported by 39%... and Ag Commissioner Todd Staples.

Posted by mcblogger at 10:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 03, 2009

Another privatization failure

I got some pretty nasty criticism from some people for saying the Lege really didn't know what they were doing when it came to privatization and more specifically the transportation bank. I based my comments on the fact that, well, their efforts to date have been pretty lousy. 3588, 792 and the abysmal HB300. So far, the score is zero for the Lege, three for me.

As it turns out, you guys and gals aren't the only ones. In Chicago, they underpriced their meter system by almost $1 billion. So, when someone like me questions TXDOT about the value of a CDA, it's because I know TXDOT's folks are idiots when it comes to calculating the value of our infrastructure. When I question you Legislators about the laws you're passing that enable TXDOT to do stupid things, why not take a step back and really look at what you're doing.

It might help you avoid a Chicago like mistake.

Posted by mcblogger at 09:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 01, 2009

The sun sets on TxDOT

No sooner did I get the post up about the action over the weekend then my phone starts ringing with the news that HB 300 died... and 1959, the safety net bill, as well thanks to the work of Rep. Leibowitz. Apparently, someone changed the next sunset review from two years to four years and no one was going to let this drag on until 2013.

Mad props are due Terri Hall, Hank Gilbert and everyone at TURF who, we've heard, kept the phones ringing all day. Not to mention the House D's and more than a few Republicans who finally decided that enough was really enough.

So, unless something happens tomorrow, the Lege is bound for a special. And won't that be fun.

Posted by mcblogger at 01:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Just kill it already

HB 300 has been the source of a lot of consternation today and it appears that everyone kinda agrees... this fucker needs to die.

I really have to give props to Senator Carona for being a bigger son of a bitch than the other son of a bitch. John, I pray the two of us never meet because then we'll be forced into a contest of petty and honestly, I don't know who'll come out on top. I like my chances but your performance today was brilliant.

Carona's beloved local taxing option got pulled out of the bill in conference. Apparently, it had something to do with Hegar on the Senate side (big surprise that, Hegar's made an enemy out of just about everyone this session) and Linda Fucking Harper Goddamn Brown, who managed to pull her fat face out of a trough long enough to keep the Republican dream of privatizating everything alive just a little longer. Oh, and fucking all Texans. So, he's threatening to filibuster the bill to death.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not all in love with Carona now. I think his alliance with Nichols is unholy and his decision to filibuster HB 300 is based only on the elimination of the local option, not on the transportation bank. Or privatization in general or converting existing, paid-for highways into private tollways. Or the fact that the reco's of the Sunset Committee (like electing TxDOT officials) has been completely left out. Stripped, in part, by Carona himself. Yes, the loss of local option in conference is irony at it's finest. Still, if the result is the same (the death of HB 300) then it's all good.

The funniest thing about all this is the Republican opposition to the local option, to giving the voters a direct say in how we fund transportation in this state. They've made it very clear by opposing this that their primary concern is not what's best for Texans... it's enriching investment bankers by privatizing roads.

So, here's to hoping that either the House kills HB 300, or Carona does. It's a bad bill and it truly needs to die.

Posted by mcblogger at 12:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 22, 2009

Come on, Lege!

With 404 and 17 coming to the floor, all you need a little wake up call. You don't want to be on the team with Carona and Nichols.

OPEN LETTER TO THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE

Quit putting lipstick on your pig!

DATELINE MADRID, May 22, 2009 (A day that will go down in infamy?) - It is insulting to impugn Texans' intelligence by pretending that the private toll contract for I-69 (officially called Comprehensive Development Agreement) that both foreign and domestic interests alike are pushing the State to sign is NOT part of the Trans Texas Corridor (TTC). Today, the Texas Legislature may vote to seal its fate as the politicians who sold Texas highways to the highest bidder with its eyes wide open, despite near universal outrage by ordinary Texans.

You tried to dupe the public into thinking the Trans Texas Corridor is "DEAD," but all we have to do is follow the money to find out your true intentions. As the battle over handing our highways to foreign toll operators has continued to heat-up, some lawmakers have tried to quell their colleagues and their constituents' natural apprehension by making them believe that signing the Trans Texas Corridor contract to privatize our public roadways is simply upgrading Hwy 77 to interstate I-69. But we know better. As long as Rick Perry still occupies the Governor's office, we live by the old adage: "Trust but verify."

Both TxDOT and the private concessionaire, Iridium/ACS, use I-69 and TTC-69 interchangeably (until the Trans Texas Corridor brand name became radioactive). The official designation by Congress since 1995 calls the project "high priority corridors 18 and 20" and it has referred to it as an international trade corridor. Amendment #2 to SB 17 in committee referred to high priority corridors 18 and 20. The project has also been called "corridor of the future," NAFTA Superhighway, and more. Regardless of the official name, Texans know the TTC when they see it, so quit trying to put lipstick on your pig.

The news release dated June 26, 2008 from Madrid specifically calls the project the Trans Texas Corridor project I-69/TTC-69 and states ACS will choose the route, develop the timelines, and priority activities for the ENTIRE 1,000 km CORRIDOR for the next 50 years, not simply upgrading Hwy 77 to an interstate in the valley. Hwy 77 is called the "first route."

The news release further further states:

1) ACS Infrastructures Development, the North American branch of Iridium, the concession development company of ACS, and the Texan concessionaire Zachry American Infrastructure have become the successful bidders for the design, planning and development, as strategic partners of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), of the I-69/TTC infrastructure corridor for the next 50 years.

2) The I-69/TTC (Trans Texas Corridor) will connect the Mexican border with the Gulf of Mexico coastline, Houston and major industrial and logistics centres in Texas with the north of the country.

3) The I-69/TTC development project includes, in its initial design, the construction of a 1,000 kilometre network of highways and roads as well as railway lines. Based on this, ACS and Zachry will draft a Master Plan with the Texas Department of Transportation to establish the priority activities as well as the form and deadlines for their execution.

4) With the award of this project, ACS and Zachry, the largest construction group in the State of Texas, have become strategic partners of the Texas Department of Transportation and shall propose the development of specific projects and activities for which they will have a preferential negotiation option without public tender.

5) In fact, the consortium is already considering the renewal of a first route whose concession will be negotiated with the Texas Department of Transportation, the US 77, which shall include the construction of a series of highways under concession regime connecting to it and which shall require an investment of 2,500 million dollars.

DO NOT vote to re-authorize CDAs. SB 404 and SB 17 are mere window dressing for the Trans Texas Corridor and the sale of our public highways, our lifelines for daily living, to foreign interests. Texans don't want it, and are hopping mad the Legislature is still pursuing this despite the public outcry. I have not met ONE Texan who is FOR this (notwithstanding the highway lobby). Texans won't soon forget paying homage to Cintra or ACS to get to work for the next 50 YEARS! It's simply, UN-Texan!

Terri Hall is the Founder of Texas TURF. TURF is a non-partisan grassroots group of citizens concerned about toll road policy and the Trans Texas Corridor. TURF promotes non-toll transportation solutions. For more information, please visit their web site at: www.TexasTURF.org.

Posted by mcblogger at 10:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Stop me if you've heard this one before

Senator Nichols and Senator Carona walk into a bar with some guy from Zachry. They immediately make a deal with the owner to take a cover at the door in exchange for a large cash payment up front. They then start collecting a pretty high cover at the door and soon the owner realizes that the payment he took up front doesn't really make up for the lost business. Worse, the agreement he signed states that he has to pay THEM in the event that there aren't enough people willing to pay the cover.

OK, so it's not a really funny joke but it's pretty close to what's going on in the Lege with privatization. SB's 17 and 404 come to the House today for (what we hope) will be a one time only performance. We also hope they'll be booed out by the members. Or, at least, the House Democrats.

Because I want to beat the hell out of the Republicans with this vote next year. Feel free to contact your Rep and ask them to vote no...

512-463-4630 and ask for your State Representative OR email them at firstname.lastname@house.state.tx.us

And yes, for those of you in the Lege, this DOES override the privatization moratorium. Forget what you've heard from Senators Nichols and Carona.

Posted by mcblogger at 10:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 21, 2009

The Republican Party of Texas... completely in the bag for privatization interests

SB 855 is up today which will allow the state to index the gas tax and give MPOs the ability to raise the local gas tax within their area by no more than 10 cents per gallon. The Republican Party is, of course, panicking.

While it's true no one likes their taxes increased, EVERYONE realizes we need roads. Lots of them and we need to improve the ones we have. Everyone, except the Republican Party of Texas, realizes that roads cost money. Well, that's not true... the R's realize roads cost money. That's why they want to sell off your roads, convert them to toll and then build more toll roads with the proceeds.

That's called progress, friend. At least here in Texas they call it progress. In other states, they call it 'extortion' and 'political corruption'.

Just to show you how stupid this is... the RPT claims this increase, which won't be a full 25 cents anyway (I know, shocking that the Republican Party of Texas would lie. It's almost as disappointing as finding out that Santa's not real or that the bartender you've been flirting with all night and thought was flirting back, bats for the other team), will cost jobs and cause costs to go up. Which is funny because the last time we increased the gas tax, the State of Texas boomed for a decade. And D's controlled the Legislature.

Take a moment to think about that. The last time the State did really well economically was when we had a Democratic Legislature.

The Republicans also failed to mention that the gas tax per mile would be less than a penny. Under some of their plans, it would be as much as $1.00 in toll taxes. PER MILE.

Call 512-463-4630, ask for your State Rep and ask them to please vote YES on SB 855.

Posted by mcblogger at 10:38 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 19, 2009

ACTION ALERT - Keep The Privatization Moratorium

Once again, we have to call up to the Lege... the Cap switchboard is 512-463-4630 and ask for your State Representative. When someone in their office answers please let them know your name and that you're calling to ask the Representative to VOTE NO ON SB 404 AND SB 17.

Please follow up with an email to them using the following format firstname.lastname@house.state.tx.us.

Take 30 seconds to make sure that TXDOT can't sell our roads!

Posted by mcblogger at 01:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Oh... this is why indexing of the gas tax will fail...

No, it's not because it won't bring in enough money (it will... at least as long as we continue to use liquid fuels), in point of fact indexing the gas tax will actually fill the funding hole at TXDOT without raping tax payers and will help control the prices charged by contractors since it will tie the funding to actual costs, not inflated prices.

But, alas, it won't pass, because of these folks: Texas Public Policy Foundation, Texas Eagle Forum, Texans for Fiscal
Responsibility, Americans for Prosperity, and the Free Market Foundation.

Legislation approved by the committee during the past 24 hours--House Bill 9 and Senate Bill 855--permits a 15-cent statewide increase of the gas tax within 10 years, as well as a new 10-cent-per-gallon local gas tax. This represents a potential 25-cent increase per gallon, on top of the current 20-cent gas tax--a whopping 125 percent increase within 10 years. While these measures require voter approval, the organizations listed above reject the flawed notion that requiring voter approval makes this measure acceptable.

Now, these groups are all about the crazy. For one thing, you can tell that's the case by the last sentence in which they decide that just because we, the voters, WANT this it's still not OK. They also seem to think there are endless streams of money available from the taxes we already pay and that, somehow, just eliminating waste will do the trick. Now, I won't argue there is waste in government... there is waste in ANY human endeavor, private or public. However, it won't give you enough money to do anything significant. Period. Cutting, say, $100 mn from the state budget just isn't going to get us a rebuilt 35 Freeway. Sorry. Actually, in Texas today, it really won't pay for much since many of our cities have larger budgets. That's like the budget for a 4A school district.

But thanks y'all for trying.

These groups all, at one point or another, supported privatization and toll taxes, which are the ultimate redistribution of wealth. Most of them still do, though we've heard that Cathy over at the Eagle Forum has found the light and decided that we shouldn't privatize. We'll definitely believe that when we see it. The reality, as most of these folks know but won't acknowledge, is that indexing the gas tax won't even restore the buying power the tax had in 1992. All it will do is keep it from losing value going forward. However, that hasn't stopped Peggy Venable from going for a dip in the deep end...

"These bills permit a 125 percent increase in the gasoline taxes paid by Texas drivers," said Peggy Venable, Director of Americans for Prosperity-Texas. "Legislators are holding onto the false notion that by requiring voter approval they are absolving themselves of the reality that this permits a colossal tax increase that is going to impose a tremendous burden on Texas families and businesses.

That's still better than the 1000% increase that tolls and privatization will give us. Oh, and just for Peggy, a little lesson in inflation... If you tax something at a constant rate (say, I don't know, 18 cents per gallon of gasoline) inflation will eventually eat up the spending power represented by that 18 cents. Basically, the entity receiving the tax money loses buying power and the consumers paying the tax actually see the tax, as a percentage of their income, DECREASE.

All indexing the gas tax is going to do is hold the value of the tax stable so that TXDOT can actually build some roads and taxpayers won't get drowned paying more than $1.00 per mile in toll taxes.

As for allowing the locals to decide their tax rate, these folks are scared to death that their anti-tax screeds are finally beginning to smell like the bullshit from which they are made. Most people aren't anti-tax, they just don't want their money wasted. Like it is on 39%'s slush fund which, it should be noted, is supported by these folks and is pulling taxpayer money away from far more necessary objectives. Now, you have to ask yourselves, why these folks all have their panties in a twist over a minor increase in the gas tax which won't even restore it to the spending power it had in the 1990's and not upset at all about 39%'s slush fund which has done dickall to create jobs in this state.

I'm sick of so-called public policy groups that fall over themselves to screw tax payers and try to hide their agendas (and those of their masters) behind a facade of caring about the people of this State who, year after year, get screwed by the bad ideas they shill for. And I'm sure as hell not going to listen to an asshat like Peggy Venable who has never even had a real job to speak of, at least not one in private enterprise. All I could find about her was that she's spent most of her life working in government in positions that were, wait for it, funded by taxpayers. The same government she says is too big and intrusive. I wonder if it was when she was a part of it.

Finally, EOW reminded me of this post about the gas tax vs. toll taxes. I also wanted to point to some of the pieces we've done on TXDOT's funding gap projection (the difference between money available for infrastructure vs. the needed project costs). As this debate has gone on, year after seemingly endless year, no one seems to be having the discussion regarding the politicization of TXDOT by 39% and their outright lies about their funding needs. I thought sunset would finally provide that opportunity but no one stepped up to have that discussion. So infrastructure, the most important issue in our state right now and the foundation of our economy, is taking a back seat to voter ID and the other petty, stupid and childish issues that folks like Peggy Venable are dumb enough to think are important.

Posted by mcblogger at 10:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 15, 2009

Asshole Pedestrians With Carts

In honor of Bike Back To Your Office While Suffering From Shitty Food day, the rest of us here at McBlogger Enterprises would like to commemorate this day with a new series- Asshole Pedestrians with Carts. Specifically homeless pedestrians. Angry ones.

While others might have to suffer through a few more excruciatingly long seconds to take a right hand turn by driving on the shoulder illegally where the bicyclists are trying to stay out of the way and letting the rest of the traffic tool by at 70mph... and others have to suffer from drivers using those asshat bluetooth devices... some of us have to suffer from attacks by homeless pedestrians who ram their motherfucking carts into our bicycles on the sidewalk.

Like tonight, somewhere around 5th and San Jacinto when a homeless, dare we say, strung out woman did not like the fact that we were idling on the sidewalk corner FOLLOWING THE LAW TO WAIT FOR THE LIGHT TO CHANGE.

Quote: "Why are you trying to buy candy in the ghetto? Sitting all high and mighty on your bike, I'll motherfucking run you over Big Chief!"

And then proceeded to RAM MY BIKE with her wild eyes and cart. WTF??? Ghetto? Candy? BIG CHIEF??

God DAMMIT asshole pedestrians with their carts. Next time I'm gonna run them over.

Posted by spamburgler at 09:16 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Douchebags in Cars!

In recognition of National Bike to Work Day, we here at McBlogger Enterprises are proud to unveil our latest feature, Douchebag in Cars, or DICs. This feature will highlight those special drivers who have conspired to make our world a shittier place, from fucking up our planet with greenhouse gas and smog emissions, to contributing to the epidemic of obesity that causes 80% of our population to be totally unfuckable, and to causing us to get involved in $3 trillion wars over oil. Oh yeah, and there's that torture thing.

Today's specimen is a special type of douchebag (in car), the gelled dude with a bluetooth headset. Versatile, this creature is able to reach heights of douchiness in all environments, but in a car he is especially dangerous. Jetting down the street at 80 mph with the top down and a hooker's mouth on his cock, this DIC is oblivious to the toddler on a trike he ran over 3 blocks ago. His only concern is that onlookers realize that he is kind of a big deal. Experts recommend that if you should encounter a gelled dude with a bluetooth headset, he can be neutralized only with heavy doses of Huey Lewis and the News.

Don't forget to join us for next week's DIC, Compensating Redneck in Monster Pick-up Truck!

Posted by The Mean Green at 04:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 13, 2009

CSHB 9, HJR 9 or whatever we're calling it at this point

CSHB 9, the gas tax bill everyone is excited about (here's the DMN and FWST coverage) isn't all it's cracked up to be...

First off, the bill diverts money from the gas tax to rail with little or no oversight. Will the projects pull traffic off our congested roads? Who knows. Obviously, no one will have a problem with building rail that increases net capacity on our roads. However, there's nothing here to make sure that happens, clearing the way for RMA vanity projects, funded by the gas tax, which do little to alleviate congestion.

Section 222.073 is where the fun really begins... it puts the extra money raised with the local option gas tax into the Texas Infrastructure bank and some private banks, to maximize 'private participation' and leverage public money. Which is a back door way of saying 'fund public-private partnerships' or private toll roads. With gas tax revenue. Which is REALLY awesome.

All this if voters in the counties that make up the MPO vote for as much as a 10 cent increase in the gas tax. Oh, and individual counties can opt out if their voters don't approve, which creates a lovely swiss cheese overlay for increased gas taxes funding projects even in deadbeat counties.

Wrapped up in all this is a constitutional amendment to index the statewide gas tax which people have been asking for FOREVER. Now, there is a cap maxing out at 5% per year and no higher than 3 cents per biennium, which isn't terrible. However, the focus on the PPI vs. actual construction costs could create problems as construction costs tend to be more volatile than PPI.

Now, there is something interesting in all that Sen. Carona's office (and the Senator himself) are busy telling every reporter in earshot that there is a prohibition in this legislation that keeps gas tax money from funding PPP's and toll roads. Of course, to this point, no one has been able to find that language in the bill.

However, the crap about the infrastructure bank was hella easy to find. Oh, and we still have a problem with Carona's bank in that it's a really, really stupid idea. Again, no one in the Senate has any idea how much trouble the folks who will be running this 'bank' can get into. AIG and Lehman didn't either and now they're both broke.

Are we sure we want to give a very few the power to bankrupt the entire State of Texas? Of course not... so why is the Texas Senate, and more specifically Senators Carona, Nichols and Ogden, so hell bent on doing just that?

Posted by mcblogger at 03:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 12, 2009

Take a moment to save your roads

SB 220 is trapped in the House Transportation Committee... which is exactly where it needs to die. This is the bill that, no joke, makes is EASIER for TXDOT to convert existing highways into toll roads. Please, take a moment to send this message

Please leave SB 220 in committee. The House just voted for the RIGHT wording, Leibowitz's HB 13 amendment that was successfully attached to the TxDOT Sunset Bill, HB 300. NO to SB 220. Yes to the Leibowitz amendment in HB 300 becoming law.

To these email addresses...

craig.chickATspeaker.state.tx.us and house_thcATtexasturf.org

We have a long way to go until the end of the session to throw a wrench into the privatization of our roads and this is just one more step.

Posted by mcblogger at 11:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Getting it exactly wrong...

WOW. I didn't think anything could top HB 3588 from the 2003 session but HB 300 not only tops it, it exceeds it. We have a lot to cover here including the people on whom you should assign the blame. These folks really need a lot of shame and ridicule heaped upon them. Especially that twerpy Rep. Phillips from Sherman who looks like a junior version of fatass Sen. Carona.

Rep. Isett and Phillips, with Trans Chair Pickett's blessing, snuck in an amendment to the TXDOT Sunset bill that would extend PPP's well into 2015. Further it would make it easier for TXDOT to privatize our roads, even though there is no way a private entity can run the road cheaper than the State of Texas. Of course, one has to wonder why the hell, if privatization is sooo awesome, we didn't just privatize TXDOT entirely and fire everyone at the Agency? Why leave them intact? Such questions, of course, never get asked because they lead to uncomfortable answers. So do questions about what really is the best way of funding transportation in this state... private or public taxes. The answer is always public taxes. From one of Burka's pieces...

I received an e-mail from a person who is very familiar with TxDOT’s problems, political and practical. The e-mail made the following points:

1. Aside from the Trans-Texas Corridor issue, the frustration members feel toward TxDOT is that the agency doesn’t deliver the projects they want.

2. Both chambers passed budgets that don’t meet TxDOT’s current obligations. The agency says that money for new construction will run out by 2012.

3. Both chambers have passed bills to increase diversions from gas tax revenue.

4. Although TxDOT officials have stated repeatedly that gas tax revenue is declining, the Legislature has done nothing (except authorize bonds, which means borrowing money) to seek new revenue.

The stalemate on this is political. The way to break it is to raise motor fuels taxes, issue bonds based on the revenue, and index the tax to inflation, with a cap on the increase. The governor could break the impasse by coming out for a gasoline tax increase. He’s not going to do it. The governor and the agency continue to press for comprehensive development agreements for toll roads as the funding solution. The Legislature and the public hate the idea of privatizing highways. They are not going to give in to the pressure for more toll roads, especially if it means privatization. This leads to the final point in the e-mail:

5. At this rate, it doesn’t matter what they do in Sunset, without the money to fund the system, it really doesn’t matter.

The bill to increase the size of the Trans Commission to 15 elected representatives is actually a good one despite what Burka and the DMN think. In reality, the cause of all this are the appointed commissioners who serve only one master, Governor Perry. They've spent almost a decade working hard to convince the Lege that privatization is the only way we can fund roads. It's worked so well they've even managed to convince a few Democrats like Rep. Pickett and Sen. Watson. Pickett I can understand because from all reports he's so desperate for infrastructure in El Paso he'll blow anyone to get it. I guess we now know that 'anyone' includes lobbyists for privatization interests and leadership at TXDOT. Sen. Watson just wants to be able to write in the Watson Wire that he's doing something (anything!) to alleviate traffic, even if it is going to stick us with a hefty tab for the next 50 years. Needless to say, the appointed commission has been a disaster.

Also, changing the commission over to three from the Governor and one each from the Speaker and the Lt. Gov doesn't do much in so far as giving people a focus for transportation issues. Rep. Leibowitz's plan does that and creates a far more responsive agency which isn't saying much considering what we have now which is basically a legalized version of the mob.

Burka did nail it on the final bill though...

I overlooked one other significant change to the bill (and no doubt there are others). Amendment 134 extended the authority for Comprehensive Development Agreements — that is, privatized roads. The authority was extended to 2015. This was done in spite of representations that the bill would not deal with methods of financing roads. This was a breach of faith with the overwhelming majority of members who have concerns about TxDOT. The Senate should substitute the original Sunset bill for the House bill and start over.

Now the focus shifts to the Senate where a bunch of bills are coming up...including the awesome one to turn TXDOT into a combo of Lehman and AIG. The bills are SB 220, 404, 1350 and 1669. Every one of them should be defeated but probably won't because the D's in the Senate are overwhelmed by Sen. Nichols' limited intellect and Sen. Carona's fatness. Which says a lot about them. Of course, it says far more about the Republicans in the Senate, a massive collection of cowards and ego maniacs (and egomaniacal cowards). Speaking of, where's Dan Patrick? For someone up everyone's ass on his insipid little radio show, you'd think he'd be railing against the fact that if all this passes Texans are going to get a far larger tax bill than that which would accompany an indexed gas tax. And that's without even counting the sure to materialize losses from the enhancements written by the Transportation Revolving Fund.

The ultimate in foolishness are the idiots in the Lege who have convinced themselves that privatization is the only way. And to this group of uncritical thinkers, my thanks. With your ignorance and my GS stock, I'll be able to retire right about the time things really go off the rails here in Texas and move to a state where the electeds are a little less clueless.

Posted by mcblogger at 08:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 07, 2009

ACTION ALERT - STOP TRANS PRIVATIZATION

HB 300 is up today in the House. Please call the Capitol switchboard at 512-463-4630, ask for your State Representative and ask them to vote against Rep. Menendez's amendment to reauthorize CDA's and Public Private Partnerships!

This amendment will continue to allow TXDOT to privatize our infrastructure to the tune of billions for private developers and a MUCH higher tax burden on all Texans. PLEASE, take three minutes and as your Rep to vote against this amendment.

Posted by mcblogger at 12:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 06, 2009

Using Lehman as a blueprint for TXDOT

I think it's a super good idea to give the State the ability to create their own investment bank. With all the good people out of work as a result of the financial meltdown most of them played a part in causing, we're sure to get some top notch talent, like the folks from AIG Financial Products Group in London who overwrote their capacity by something like trillions of dollars.

As you could probably tell, I'm a little disturbed about the craptastic Transportation Bank that Senators Carona, Ogden and Nichols are creaming themselves over. I get like that when people, we'll call them SENATORS, think they're being clever but are, in reality, making some really stupid decisions. If some of the worlds best run and managed (as laughable as that may be) insurance and financial companies got themselves into trouble with credit enhancements. Which leads me to ask what makes the Texas Senate think that this Transportation Revolving Fund is going to be different? It is, after all, going to be doing the exact same thing as an investment bank. The only difference is it'll be taxpayer money at risk. The other important difference is that, much like the SBOE, it'll be run by incompetent appointees instead of incompetent privately hired bankers.

How can I be sure they'll be incompetent? Well, 39% will be making the appointments... and he wouldn't know a good investment banker from a used car salesman.

Just let that, for a moment, sink in. This is a taxpayer funded bank that, in some cases, will have access to funding from the state run pension plans. See, if they can't get private investors interested, they can just pull money from the pensions. And, of course, taxpayers will ultimately be on the hook when this does, inevitably, fail.

Sorry, it's not that I don't have a sense of optimism about this proposal. I think it could work in a perfect world, one in which the law of unintended consequences doesn't exist. However, our Senators are like children playing with nukes. Seriously, and this isn't to be mean but, EVERY SINGLE STATE SENATOR IS MASSIVELY OUT OF THEIR DEPTH ON THIS. And no, that's not at all an unfair criticism.

I'm not calling you stupid, just ill informed and incapable of even understanding just how far off the rails this thing could go in a relatively short period of time.

You really want to get a look at how badly this could all go? Take a look at this NYT piece on Lehman Bros. When they couldn't sell anymore they started using their own money, just like the revolving fund. And when things went south because they weren't pricing things properly, the entire company got pulled down. That's what will happen here and Lehman was relatively good about not writing enhancements on the debt they sold. Orange County, CA is another case that could readily be duplicated by this revolving fund. Only with us, if we include pension money, we could be looking at hundreds of billions in losses.

The most ridiculous thing about all this is that it's a bandaid on the real problem... it's covering it over and hoping it will go away without fixing it. EOW has piece up about Rep. Pickett's desire to change over the local option tax/toll plan and make it at the MPO level which would keep WilCo from having a lower gas tax than Travis Co. This is better that the local option but it's still only a stop-gap measure for the real solution, indexing the state gas tax.

It would be great if we could get past political orthodoxy and ideological purity (taxes are not, as some of you think, always bad or confiscatory... tolls are a tax and you love those). It would also be great if y'all were more interested in your constituents than your campaign contributors. But neither is possible, so the issue will never get resolved as you people maneuver and manipulate to try and find still more esoteric solutions.

Posted by mcblogger at 02:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 01, 2009

Transportation infrastructure costs drop...

In December, 2007 I posted this questioning TXDOT's statement that infrastructure construction costs had increased by 25%. In a YEAR. From the Comptroller's office (via EOW) comes word that, OMG, TXDOT overestimated the costs. As it turns out, projects are coming in about 20% cheaper...

Bids for new construction are running about 20 percent cheaper than the state’s estimates.

One reason is that state engineers use a 12-month rolling average of costs in their estimates. The projects being bid today were designed months ago.

The pre-recession estimates don’t fully reflect the cheaper prices for gasoline, asphalt and labor that appear in the latest bids.

Still, Barton said, “It’s a buyer’s market.”

REALLY? No one thought that maybe, just maybe, with oil not at $150/bbl that asphalt, which is made from oil, would be cheaper? That it would be cheaper because the raw material it is made from (oil) is cheaper and that there would also be more of it since there was now no economic benefit to putting the asphalt in a coker to crack out what little gasoline you could now that gas is $2/gal?

Concrete and steel are also cheaper... that's because China isn't rebuilding Beijing for the 2008 Olympics anymore.

Question... did you guys ever even consider holding inventory, especially as volatile as commodity prices are, and dollar cost averaging?!?!?

Posted by mcblogger at 10:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 10, 2009

Congestion pricing nonsense

I've been reading up a bit on congestion pricing of roadway capacity, the holy grail for not only raising additional capital for infrastructure but for cutting traffic on our overburdened roadways. Chris Bradford over at Austin Contrarian has done some great work explaining the models and the assumed results.

I just don't think I'm buying it. For one thing, there's this post about capacity actually creating congestion... note in the piece that time, population growth, etc. are irrelevant. The gist is that without a well developed limited access roadway (tollway, freeway, expressway) network and surface streets capable of moving the traffic rapidly off the system, additional capacity on one road will necessarily create additional congestion on another road. Here's the Austin based example...

For example, TxDOT is pushing ahead with plans to increase the capacity of 290 from Manor west to 183 by making it a limited access toll road. But the increased traffic flow on 290 will push thousands of more cars onto congested 183, where, once there, they really have no option. What's worse, the "improvement" will feed thousands more cars into already hypercongested I35. It's quite likely that the extra congestion on the much busier I35 and 183 will swamp any time savings on 290.

Uhm... not so much. The people who will use this route are already, you know, using it. There isn't a massive number of people clamoring for this improvement that aren't already using 290 (even the finance geeks said the traffic projections on this tollway were ass). Further, the reality of 35 and 183 is that traffic is going to continue to increase on these roads. It's going to get much worse as growth accelerates and therein lies the bigger issue. Texas has set it's taxes so low that immigrants (domestic and international) DO NOT pay for the increased burden they place on our infrastructure.

What I'D like to see discussed is the overall impact of congestion on people and on the infrastructure that isn't tolled, like surface roads. We already see a large spike in traffic on Balcones, Expo, Lamar, etc. because congestion is so bad on Mopac and 35. What will happen when we start congestion pricing on certain lanes of these roads? How much of the traffic going to be in the neighborhoods?

There is a local, real world proof for congestion pricing... 130. Once the 45SW connector between 130 and 35 near Creedmoor is complete, we will have a complete bypass to 35 through Austin metro. If we're really curious about all this, we should start keeping track of through traffic counts from 6-10 am and from 3-7pm from Georgetown through Onion Creek, then compare those numbers to post 45SW opening numbers.

If 130 takes more than 5% of the traffic off the road, I'll be impressed. But I want to see data. I had the idea, not too long ago, of making 130 free during rush hour to pull through traffic off 35. While it would not have completely alleviated the congestion, it would have gone a long way toward making it manageable. But that's not going to happen because 130 has already been sold off.

The other post from Chris that caught my eye was this one regarding congestion tolls on the last free bridges connecting Manhattan. Specifically...

Let's look at the free bridges into Manhattan. They are perpetually congested. Pricing them properly would eliminate the congestion (most of the time). As O'Toole very well knows, this is the economically efficient solution.

But congestion pricing does more than relieve congestion. Congestion pricing tells us when a road needs more capacity. Additional capacity costs money, and drivers are willing to pay only so much for it. That "so much" is exactly equal to the price they are willing to pay to avoid congestion. When the revenue collected by congestion pricing is low -- too low to finance new capacity -- we know we have enough capacity. Drivers aren't willing to pay for more, so building it would be wasteful.

On the other hand, If a properly priced road starts generating "too much" revenue -- enough to cover the cost of expanding capacity -- then it's time to figure out how to add the capacity users are willing to pay for.

It's the initial point I have a problem with... congestion pricing will eliminate congestion but not traffic which will find alternate routes. Manhattan's a bad point since your only other way onto the island in a car is via tolled bridge or tunnel. Still, you're not eliminating traffic, you're merely inconveniencing drivers by making them wait until the pricing declines or by forcing them to an alternate route. But it's not magic, traffic doesn't just disappear.

Here in Austin, that means a lot of angry people driving through neighborhoods on surface streets.

The debate on this needs to shift from 'cool' mechanisms and thought exercises to a realization that we all need to make some sacrifices to modernize our infrastructure. That's the best and most cost efficient way. It's going to be a combination of roads and rail. It's going to be expensive but it's something we can afford, especially if we want to continue economic expansion well into the 21st century.

And how about this... let's work on improving our connector, feeder and surface road capacity. Getting people on and off the limited access roads will go a long way to relieving a lot more congestion than additional tolled capacity. As ANYONE who has been heading to NW via 35 and the connector to 183 can tell you, that thing was NOT built for the demand being placed on it. Then there's the two lane connector from MoPac to 183 north which shrinks down to one lane.

Seriously, our biggest problem is bad fucking roadway design. Let's get that fixed, see what the problem is like then and at that time we can be open to pricing for congestion. Until then, it's all a meaningless intellectual exercise.

Posted by mcblogger at 02:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 09, 2009

SB 220 - Senate D's galatic fuck up.

To start with, I should be honest. SB 220, or as it's been more aptly named by a number of folks, THE TAXPAYER SUBSIDIZED CONVERSION OF PUBLIC ROADS TO TOLL ROADS BILL, passed the Senate with a vote of all 31 Senators last Wednesday. Not a single Democrat or Republican stood in opposition. Which really makes them all 39%'s bitch. Or Cintra-Zachry/Bluebonnet's, depending on who exactly is lubing them up.

Our own Senator Watson, whom I've tried to give the benefit of the doubt, voted FOR this piece of legislation which allows TXDOT to very easily turn existing, taxpayer funded, public roads into a toll roads. It does nothing to fix the long term funding hole in Texas for infrastructure. It does make it infinitely easier to convert an existing highway into a toll road. Why would Senator Watson do such a thing? My guess would be it's because we need roads and rather than standing up for our long term interests, he's caving to the shallow desires of toll interests and the short sighted Greater Austin Chamber crowd dying to get the roads built as tollways now. Sounds great until you realize you can't just get out of this a few years later... this is one horrendous marriage we're going to be trapped in.

I've given Senator Watson almost two weeks to just TELL US WHY he voted for the bill. He failed to respond, probably because he was working on another craptastic edition of his hokey 'what's up' email, the Watson Wire. Either that or he was thinking of taking another gutsy stand on giving poor kids insurance, which is really gutsy here in Austin where we give the homeless health insurance. Or, maybe he was just grandstanding on the budget. Speaking of, here's my favorite part...

"It's just kicking the can down the road without making the structural changes we need to in the budget," said Watson.

Yeah, no foolin' you, is there Kirk? Shame you couldn't pick up on how much 220 was doing, functionally, the same goddamn thing and soaking Texas taxpayers in the process.

There's an old saying that Democrats are their own worst enemies. It's true as hell in this case as they are alienating the very voters they need to be swinging towards us. Good job, Senate D's! What, you really thought no one would notice? Or did you just buy Sen. Nichols sales pitch hook, line and sinker?

The worst part is that you denied us an issue with which to browbeat Republicans in 2010. Now, you'll try to cover your ass by whining about bipartisanship and getting something done to help alleviate infrastructure problems. But it's all bullshit and you're a bunch of weak goddamn sisters who've done far too little research.

Actually, that may be going a bit too far. We'll still beat the R's with it, but some of y'all are going to get hit as well. It's called collateral damage. And if you don't get hit with SB 220, you will sure as hell get hit with SB 17.

You folks are supposed to be SMARTER than the Republicans. ACT LIKE IT.

Posted by mcblogger at 09:52 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

April 03, 2009

Gunning for TXDOT

Ben Wear has the run down on some proposals regarding TXDOT and it's governing body, the appointed members of the Texas Transportation Commission. They range from horrible (eliminating the five members of the TTC and replacing with one appointed Commissioner) to pretty good, electing one statewide Commissioner to what, in my opinion, is the best... an body made up of 14 elected regional commissioners and one elected statewide.

If go with the last option, Lege, can we please eliminate the MPO/RMA boards and just let the elected official make decisions?

I'm currently giving 3:1 that nothing will get done. Any takers?

Posted by mcblogger at 01:53 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

April 02, 2009

Tolls : A time to act

Terri Hall over at TURF sent out an action alert earlier today. Take a moment to contact your Senator and ask them to oppose SB 404 and SB 17. Here's some background in case you needed additional information...

Posted by mcblogger at 02:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 23, 2009

Shorter Ben Wear : Nichols column

Sen. Nichols supported tolling before he was elected. He still supports tolling now. Sen. Nichols likes to dress fancy and he likes to privatize roads. He's written some new legislation that will make privatization less of a gang rape of Texas taxpayers and more of a date rape. With rohypnol.

Seriously, Ben, did it ever occur to you to ask Nichols why he has such a laser like focus on making a shitty deal smell just less shitty, rather than admitting the error and killing the shitty deal? Is it a built in ideological bias or just stupidity?

Oh, and just FYI for all you financial geniuses on the R side (and a few pro-PPP D's)... the State can sell bonds more cheaply than your good friends at Macquarie and Cintra. Which means their cost of capital is higher than ours. Now, given that indisputable fact, where exactly is the cost efficiency that the private partners will realize to offset their higher capital costs?

This really is retarded. PPP is a waste of time searching for a transportation magic bullet. Y'all need to sac up and fix the problem rather than trying to make a bad situation slightly better.

Posted by mcblogger at 10:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 04, 2009

Transportation : Let the voters decide

Sen. Carona unveils a bill to allow metros to vote up their gas tax or toll the hell out of themselves...

With statewide gas taxes stagnant and the public wary of tollways, urban areas in Texas could vote to levy local taxes and fees to build road and rail projects under legislation filed Monday .

State Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas , the Senate's transportation committee chief, unveiled the bill and a companion constitutional amendment proposal backed by eight legislators from both parties and a phalanx of Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex officials. Calls Monday did not turn up any staunch opposition to the concept from the governor or business groups often resistant to tax proposals.

EOW calls it a half measure. Normally, I'd agree but in this case, not so much. While we need infrastructure improvements all over the state, the need is most acute in the metros. However, if this is left to counties and not the RMA's, then you have a situation where Dallas County will vote yes and Collin County will vote no. Something has to be done to make sure this is regional. If that doesn't happen, this isgoing to be pretty damn worthless.

That aside, this is the only way we'll make real progress without ultra-regressive toll taxes. If this is done on a statewide vote basis, the rural areas will crush the measure because they aren't even close to the pain that we in the cities feel. Not to mention that our good friends on the nutter right have spent 30 years telling people all taxes are bad, even though on a inflation basis without the state doing ANYTHING, their gas taxes have gone down in terms of purchasing power.

I'd rather see an index bill that would fix the problem for good and take politics out of transportation planning. I have little hope for that kind of common sense. I mean, TXDOT is playing games with stimulus money, apparently unaware of just how close they are skating into the thin ice.

One last point... this from the Statesman article was rather irritating...

Various studies over the past five years have put the state's transportation funding shortfall at anywhere from $44 billion to more than $300 billion . Much of that was for highways. And now urban areas, including Austin, increasingly are pushing for rail projects.

OVER FIFTY YEARS and the low estimate is the far more accurate one. That $300 bn, if memory serves, is that damn estimate for the total buildout of everything and the full TTC. And the TTI busted it like a pinata long ago. So, STATESMAN reporters, why the hell do you continue to use it?

Texas has immediate, intermediate and long term needs which our state can meet with a little leadership. This is the first practical step toward a workable solution I've seen. It'll have to do until some miracle day when we can take politics out of the equation.

Posted by mcblogger at 09:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 03, 2009

Transportation : No, TXDOT. You're still doing it wrong.

While Texas didn't get quite as much Stabilization money as I would have liked, it did get some and of that a portion is earmarked for transportation. And how has TXDOT decided to use almost a BILLION DOLLARS of that money? On toll projects.

The toll roads — including the Grand Parkway in Harris County — are among 21 major projects up for a vote at next week’s meeting of the Texas Transportation Commission in Austin. The commission had planned to vote on the list this week but delayed its consideration a week after at least one state legislator complained the money was being spent without enough input.

The delay has given opponents an opportunity to organize a lobbying effort aimed at persuading state leaders to withhold stimulus money from toll road projects.

“It’s a total rip-off,” said Terri Hall, director of Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom, a nonprofit opposed to toll roads. “That’s not how the money is supposed to be used.”

TxDOT leaders and transportation planners defend the projects, saying all of them, including the toll roads, are important to their regions and offer tangible economic and mobility benefits.

“I think it’s unfortunate that the discussion about these funds has eclipsed the broader discussion about the state’s transportation needs,” TxDOT spokesman Chris Lippincott said.

Before we rip in to the horrendously inept Chris Lippincott, let's focus on one thing... this money is from the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT to be used for transportation projects that will help stimulate the economy. While building any road will do this, the tolls on the new road will have the effect of being an economic deflater in the future as it fails to alleviate surface road congestion and pulls money out of the local economy. In other words, it's like curing a head cold by cutting off the foot.

The money has been created by the issuance of almost one trillion dollars in new federal debt. Which we, as taxpayers, will have to pay back well into the future. Which means we'll be paying toll taxes AND income taxes ont he same goddamn money.

THAT, Chris, is what has me and a whole lot of others pretty upset. I'm sorry if you think our quite legitimate anger over this is 'unfortunate' but it's not distracting from our transportation needs. WE'RE ALL COGNIZANT OF OUR NEEDS BECAUSE WE'RE THE ONES SITTING IN THE TRAFFIC.

What we need to be talking about is a funding mechanism and since TXDOT lacks the authority to tax, they should stay the hell out of the debate. Completely. It's not their place. If Deidre or Chris want to advocate for tolls, let them do it and make no mention of the fact that they work for TXDOT. It's a conflict of interest and it's, frankly, surprising the AG hasn't already launched an investigation of TXDOT regarding misappropriation of public funds.

Finally, I'd just like to say THANK YOU to Representatives Dunnam and Coleman!

Texas Department of Transportation officials had a rough day before Jim Dunnam’s select committee on the stimulus package. Dunnam and Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, were particularly exasperated with TxDOT officials Amadeo Saenz and John Barton — Coleman repeatedly used air quotes to mock “managed lanes,” or lanes in which tolls and can go up and down. The TxDOT officials also told the panel that of the $1.2 billion worth of projects up for approval this week, $841 million are “toll-related.” Dunnam also questioned why the department didn’t take more account of whether areas are economically distressed, saying that if Texas followed federal law, it was by accident.

As a side note, would someone PLEASE explain to me why the Texas Department of Transportation needs a PR flack?

Posted by mcblogger at 09:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 06, 2009

Transportation : Cintra In Tarrant Co; High speed rail?

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January 15, 2009

Tollway traffic down in Centex

Oh, Jesus H. Christ, Ben. This is a short term blip based on a temporary recession. This was the funny part

Aside from any financial troubles existing roads might experience, does this tepid revenue mean that toll authorities in Austin might have trouble securing loans for the five other roads approved last year?

"I don't think so," said Michael Walton , who holds the Ernest H. Cockrell chair in engineering at the University of Texas and is a transportation consultant. "I don't believe it's a significant long-term problem because we're in the early stages of development on those roads. As they become more of the economic fabric, then utilization will continue to grow."

We ALL acknowledge we need roads and people are using the tollways. Granted not as much as the rosy projections may have led investors in the bonds to believe, but they are using them and that will increase over time. BECAUSE THEY ARE THE ONLY OPTION. The IB's LOVE these deals and they aren't going away any time soon, even if they have to be put on the backburner for a while due to the credit contraction. After all, where else can Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley get a government guaranteed high yield return? Certainly not in Treasuries.

What Ben missed, again, was the central issue : How do we pay for the infrastructure we need? The argument has ALWAYS been about funding our infrastructure. Do we want tolls that soak a relative few or gas taxes that are affordable by many and more evenly distribute the cost of infrastructure to ALL beneficiaries of improved infrastructure?

Some will tell you that it's unfair for the people in the central city to pay for infrastructure for rich suburbanites. You'll have to forgive them for not knowing that the average home sales prices in suburban counties are usually lower than those in the cities and that people live out there because it's what they can afford. Some of them, just FYI, don't even come into the city, while those in the city frequently drive out there (I'm one of them). Others will bitch and moan about congestion pricing as if it's some kind of panacea that will make traffic go away. Which it won't. It certainly hasn't improved the 405 in OC which, despite all the bullshit flying around in Austin, is still clogged like a fat guy's arteries.

Frankly, I'm sick of the fucking debate and ready to let you poor people sit in goddamn traffic while I enjoy the Lexus lane. It's clear to me you're too goddamn stupid to get that you're voting against your own self-interest. It's also obvious that a lot of Democrats are in love with public private partnerships that are really more about government backstopping the losses of private investors who, in effect, put nothing at risk. Some of you electeds are so dazzled by the bankers from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley that you're oblivious to the fact that these folks, though they did better than the people at Bear Stearns and Lehman, are only around because of the Government. They aren't wizards or geniuses. In fact, many of them were about two weeks from being bankrupt and unemployed.

Posted by mcblogger at 08:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 12, 2009

Tolls : Senator Carona responds...

Well, we got an answer to our question from Steven Polunsky, Committee Director for the Texas Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security. It should be noted, Mr. Polunsky took time out of his Friday night to write this ( I got it while enjoying Andi Smith's FABULOUS show at Cap City). Needless to say, we're taking it seriously...

Senator Carona believes there is a great need for improved mobility to address congestion and the attendant air quality problems, traffic safety issues, and connectivity between cities. He is working on legislation, some of which he is starting to file, to support transit, passenger and freight rail, and alternative fuels. On roads, his first priority is to stop diversion of transportation revenues to non-transportation uses. Second, fix TxDOT. One piece of that involves moving some functions out of the agency such as vehicle title and registration, vehicle dealer regulation, automobile burglary and theft prevention, and possibly others, so that oversight of road finance, planning, design, and construction can be increased and focused. Third, issue the full amount of debt approved by the voters, and find an optimal use of bonds and debt. Fourth, make better use of existing revenue sources by indexing the motor fuels tax to nullify the effects of inflation and consider raising it.

Oh, Steven, you had us at hello. Everything in this paragraph is perfect. Indexing the gas tax will require Carona to reach deep down and it's gonna be hard to garner support. Mostly because there are very few in the House and Senate brave enough to do this, own it and go back to their constituents and tell them the truth, that increased transportation taxes are an investment in the future.

What is the potential for passage of all of these? Better than any session before, but still mixed. That being the case, Senator Carona believes it would be foolhardy to eliminate options for providing mobility, because we may find ourselves in June with existing revenues maxed out and no other options. That leaves the options that Senator Carona finds less desirable, tolls and public-private partnerships. The bill to extend the CDA sunset date keeps that option on the table, it's a January bill. The Legislature has a range of options available, from striking the ability to have CDAs altogether to improving the CDA law by addressing contractual provisions such as buyback clauses. Senator Carona believes you can't have that debate in a vacuum, it needs to happen in the context of passing legislation into law that makes the best options possible.

And here's where things go off the rails because it's clear that he's boxing himself in. First, let's differentiate between tolls and PPPs. They don't go hand in hand. While we may not like tolls, we're also not adamantly against them. Our problem with tolling is that so many roads are going to be tolled and the demographic sweep is so broad that it becomes a de facto mileage tax that will end up disproportionately effecting the poor. Further, while it may not have been TXDOT's primary motive, it seemed like they were looking for a permanent source of funding independent of elected officials. Finally, the tolls being designed won't go away. Most Texans have no problem with financing a road with tolls that will eventually disappear. What has been proposed so far doesn't fit that model.

Still, even with these drawbacks and addressing the issue of tolls that eventually go away, tolls can be a good solution in certain situations if they are run by the state.

What we are adamantly opposed to is privatization of infrastructure. There are a number of reasons...

1) Transportation infrastructure is a public trust. The roads we all pay for with our income, sales and gas taxes (not to mention tolls) are for the use of us all, in good condition and bad.
2) Our economy is dependent on low cost infrastructure. The idea that privatizing roads will somehow liberate more money is ridiculous since it only creates an additional burden on taxpayers by adding another tax, this one levied by a private corporation which may or may not have absolutely no economic risk in the transaction. There is absolutely no way, all things being equal, that a private company can run a road any cheaper than the state because the state doesn't need to make a profit.
3) Private tolling, legalized extortion. In many areas, where the proposed private toll road will be the only reasonable limited access road, the choice is either pay or sit at light after light for miles on end. That's not a choice.
4) The lease terms presently in effect and those that are proposed involve terms that make these functional transfer of ownership, especially in terms of renewals. That's just completely unreasonable.
5) Most of the PPP contracts carry loss provisions that serve as a loss backstop for the private investors creating a win-win situation for them and a loss for taxpayers. Basically, if actual traffic fails to meet projections, the state agrees to make up the difference to the private company who owns the concession. If private companies want the profit, they need to take the risk as well.

There's no such thing as a free lunch and Texans, better than any other folks in the nation, understand that. What hasn't been explained to them is that significant improvements need to be made or the traffic they're dealing with now is about to get a lot worse. Trust me, it won't be tough for them to understand.

In reality, indexing the gas tax will take care of the problem if we continue on the path we're on. Privatization is a rather pathetic attempt by elected officials to pass on the burden of raising money for transportation infrastructure. It's just not an option to that makes sense, no matter how bad traffic gets, because it ends up costing us far too much down the line.

Posted by mcblogger at 02:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 09, 2009

Sen. Carona votes TOLL?

It's funny how well we remember the halcyon days of the 2007 session when the Lege passed 792, the TTC/Toll moratorium that really wasn't a moratorium. We told people then it wasn't a moratorium. What we didn't know until later was that the Stall's of Corridor Watch and Linda Curtis of Independent Texans were the folks behind the scenes who sold so many out. And they're good friend? Sen. John Carona.

Now, we're still being nice (well, maybe not so much to the Stall's and Linda Curtis, three of the dumbest, most politically inept people in the universe) so we're going to give the Senator from North Dallas the benefit of the doubt on this.

Oh, what the hell? Why not just call Sen. Carona the next Ric Williamson. He and his buddy Deirdre have decided that time is getting short and the money spigot from the privatization companies is about to dry up.

What I can't, for the life of me, understand is why the FUCK you would extend these contracts if they're so harmful? I'm a smart guy, why not just explain it, Senator? I mean, the guys over at EOW are hella smart and THEY don't get it either.

So explain it. While we're still being nice. And no, John, the Stall's can't help you. Not anymore.

Posted by mcblogger at 03:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 08, 2009

Shocking Toll Developments!

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January 07, 2009

Innovative Connections In Dookie

TXDOT has killed the TTC. No longer will the massive project building new roads and tolling existing roads be called TTC. It will now be known as Innovative Connectivity in Texas. I don't know about y'all but that sounds more like a seamless WiFi system than rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure but that's that they want to do. Call it ICT.

Which is just as easy an acronym to hate on because, in aggregate, what people hated about this was the privatization of infrastructure and the funding mechanism. And, of course, the abusive use of eminent domain.

EOW, Vince, Kuff and Todd at BOR all have their takes, but they're united in thinking this is more a name change, less a strategy change.

Now the focus shifts over to the Lege. Everyone wants a piece of TXDOT and it's time, frankly, to divvy it up. Sen. Carona (lookit! We're being nice!) has also said that he's focused on indexing the gas tax. What's being left unsaid is the termination of the public private partnerships which have been used as a euphemism for road privatization. Now, the politicos won't admit it but the meltdown in the financial markets have really been a drag on issuing toll revenue bonds because

1) No one wants to buy anything right now, other than Treasuries.
2) Toll revenue bonds perform like subprime mortgage credits.
3) To reinforce point 2, IF YOU INVEST MONEY IN TOLL PRIVATIZATION BONDS, YOU WILL LOSE MONEY.

Of course, this is just for the privatized stuff. While I have a massive problem with the unfairness of tolling, my overriding issue has always been privatization with no risk being born by the free market and taxpayers left on the hook indefinitely. Regular tolling may not be fair for the working poor but neither is the sales tax. And, frankly, the vast majority of you deserve what you get. You either didn't vote or voted for Republicans. Just so you know my motives really are pure, I make a lot of money. I can afford to drive on these roads all day.

Regardless, I want the door completely closed on public private partnerships. They aren't innovative, they don't magically create money and they are basically only a way to take money from taxpayers and give them to friends of the Governor. What we need is fiscal responsibility and rational decision making. And no mas with the political hacks running transportation, right Deidre?

Oh, before I forget, in case you were wondering soon I will be posting about that Legislative Study Bullshit on Transportation Financing. Trust me, it won't be pretty.

Posted by mcblogger at 08:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 12, 2008

Get. Out. Of. My. Way.

As someone who is constantly stymied by slower drivers who tie up the left lane because they are:

1) Going the speed limit and that's perfectly fine for everyone. I like to call these people the Community Cops. I hope they all get eyeball headaches every afternoon. At 3:00.

2) People going 5 miles over the limit who think they are being dangerous while trying to pass someone.

3) People going 10 miles over the limit who think they are badass. These are usually college or high school kids in their giant trucks or SUVs who have no concept of other people. This group also includes hicks whose egos simply can not take the defeat of being passed on the freeway.

and finally...

4) People who get into the left lane then drive at exactly the same speed as the people in the right lane. These people I hate with the heat of a thousand suns.

Imagine my happiness when I found that in Washington and other states they are now fining people who drive too slow in the left lane. Or linger there.

Until the Lege can pass something similar, I'll be buying this.

Posted by mcblogger at 10:47 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

December 03, 2008

I'd just like to take a moment to say thanks!

I'd just like to take a moment to say thank you to our wonderful Republican Governor, Republican Lt. Governor and Republican controlled Legislature for their hard work making it exceedingly difficult to get around this state. In fact, your fiscal irresponsibility and failed leadership have given us what I enjoyed Sunday afternoon... a two hundred mile traffic jam.

In case you were wondering, that works out to moving at 33 MPH on a freeway with a speed limit of 70 MPH. However, the only reason the average is so high is that for the limited amount of time there were three lanes, I was able to drive 90 or faster if people moved the hell out of my way. Much of the journey was at 10 miles an hour or less.

So, yeah, I just wanted to say thanks for putting your ideology and retarded ideas first while making the needs of your constituents a very distant second.

Posted by mcblogger at 09:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 02, 2008

Way to go, CAMPO!

It takes HUEVOS, ginormous brass huevos, to break a promise to constituents. Which is exactly what you did yesterday.

Transportation officials decided to create a financial marriage between two toll roads Monday, a move that could allow the U.S. 290 East tollway project to break ground sometime next year.

The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization board voted 15-3 to create a tollway system made up of the existing, and profitable, 183-A toll road in Cedar Park and U.S. 290 East, which based on projections will not have sufficient revenue to persuade investors to lend more than a half billion dollars to build it. The existing tollway, which opened in March 2007 and is making a profit of about $5 million a year, will in effect act as a co-signer for the new project.

The U.S. 290 East project would cost $623.5 million, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority says. It involves expanding 6.2 miles of the existing four-lane, divided highway between U.S. 183 in Northeast Austin and Parmer Lane just west of Manor. It would have six toll lanes and six free-to-drive frontage road lanes alongside.

Some CAMPO members objected to the financial partnership Monday, saying it violates the