Refuse the Juice

Public Roads - A Not So Public History and Future

The liberals are always quick to point out that the we have public roads and that it is the "government's greatest achievement."  Since I'm in the road business and they basically feed me or starve me, I've become a little educated on the topic.  The public highway system and the local systems of roads are far from being products of government's ingenious ingenuity and foresight.  Here's why.

Eisenhower was first inspired to create a system of highways by his inclusion in a convoy across America on the PRIVATELY BUILT Lincoln Highway.  He was in the Army and the Army was trying to prove a point about getting across the continent.  The Lincoln Highway carried goods along a road made for what it could handle - light commercial traffic.  People didn't go for drives for the hell of it back then.  Vehicles had purposes that didn't include screwing around on a Sunday afternoon back in the old days.  This was the year 1919, mind you.

Meanwhile the private railroad industry was the biggest money maker of them all and the best way to travel anywhere whether you were a a piece of coal or the President of the United States.  Our first national transportation system had not a single finger print from the government. It was an achievement of private industry alone. 

Eisenhower was somewhat influenced by the German's autobahn system, but it was not the sole catalyst for his dream of an inter-state system.  His experience with the autobahn only reinforced the military man's need to have a system other than railroads to move his troops around the country.

World War II had pretty much shown the railroad to be an obsolete method of moving troops and equipment during war time.  Unlike cars and trucks, trains need a rail to move.  If anything happens to that rail, it takes a long time to repair it.  An entire army could be stopped dead in its tracks by one well place piece of dynamite.  Eisenhower wasn't about to let this happen to his army once he became commander-in-chief.

Now we all know that the president has to go to congress to get these things done.  Initially congress didn't want to spend the money.  The ask was for $25 billion dollars.  That was a lot of money back then and still is today. 

Congress also had another problem - they really didn't know how they were going to legally tell states they had to do this.  After all, if Texas refused to comply, Louisiana and New Mexico would be screwed. So they needed to make sure everyone complied. That's when they figured out that the real opportunity lay within the ability to tax the users of these roads.  The term "interstate commerce" was tossed on the table along with a copy of the constitution with Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 underlined with pretty little stars scribbled next to it (commerce clause).  Of course the "Necessary and Proper Clause" was placed nicely in the pile just in case there was any question as to if they really had the power to pull this off.  Long story short they ended up finding not only the authority to do what they did, but it allowed them a new way to squeeze local and state governments into doing what the federal government wanted them to do.  Just look at seat-belt and open container laws.

Congress had long been taxing the railroad because of the nature of their business.  Being able to tax the users of yet another transportation system only seemed natural.  The fact that they could tax every single good that moved from state to state gave them all big smiles as they wrote the rules for the bill.

This is where things got a little tough for them.  After passing the bill and putting it out there for execution, they ran into a problem.  No one in the government knew how to design a road, much less a nationwide system of roads.  The only roads that existed in 1956 that resembled highways were private endeavors that were tolled.  This also had them asking another question - would anyone use their new roads if they were used to using the existing ones?  Oops... Now they had to find a way to steal the existing roads from the existing owners in order to incorporate them into their system.  While they were at it, they demanded to know who designed these privately owned roads.

Of course, it was the private engineering industry that came to the rescue.  Our system wasn't designed by some bureaucrat in a dark office in Washington.  The system was designed by the private sector.  The land was stolen using the great minds of private real estate attorneys.

The roads were then built by the private sector as well.  The government would have had to triple in size overnight to be able to construct the massive system of highways. The private sector was more than ready for the task.

After the roads were built the states started complaining almost immediately.  Maintenance was proving to be a function of their duty they couldn't plan for, carry out or pay for.  The federal government increased taxes and the state government hired private engineers and contractors to put them on a maintenance schedule and provide crews to carry out the maintenance.  The government became a middle man between the users who paid the taxes and the private companies that actually ran the highway system.

The entire program has run at a deficit from day one.  The federal government has dumped more and more of the burden of funding on the states while increasing their take of the taxes at the federal level.  The states have in turn had to start collecting new taxes to maintain the roads.  And in the past 20 years the states have started putting the burden on the counties and the counties down to the cities!  It's as if nobody wants the dying baby. 

This bring us to a movement that is growing in all 50 states.  Every state in the union has some faction of legislators who want to sell the interstate highway system and the rest of the roads to private business.  Their argument is that our road system is almost entirely reliant on private input for survival.  The paper pushers who work for the state are simply passing out money to the private entities who maintain and build or highway system. Well, they also impede progress.  The reason projects take years to build is because the government can't get off of its ass (more on that later). 

The rise of private toll-roads and their success has everybody wondering - "can they do better?"  The answer is yes.  The answer lies within the private sector.  Privately owned roads have shown to be way ahead of the curve when expansion is need unlike roads owned by the government that are reliant on a plethora of government bureaucrats fighting over the money for improvements.  They are simply more convenient and cost the taxpayer less.

The only reason the highway system has limped along so far is because the private sector has propped it up.  Using it as an example of how the government does something well is laughable for those of us who know better.

And our federal highway system is in no way  "socialistic."  To say so is to have no idea what socialism is. 

The creation of a passenger rail system from Chihuahua to Denver is another guaranteed government failure to be subsidized by the private individual and the private industry.  Citing the national highway system as the model for this rail line is like citing Michael Vick's record with dogs as a model for all pet owners.

Want to talk about the Hoover damn next?  How about the difference between federal regulated and federal run?  The FDA? I've got all the answers to your liberal propaganda.

Don't bring your mindless liberal bullshit talking point sand revisionist history in here, you'll get your hand slapped every single time.

Mass Transit... Well It's Going to be Transit At Least

I was at city council yesterday and just happened to witness the passing of a resolution that would steer us toward a passenger train system that would begin in Chihuahua and end in Denver.  The excitement was almost overwhelming... If you consider the meek mayor and city council of Juarez slowly clapping and fretting their return later that day to the murder capital of the world. 

The furthest thing from their mind was a train to Denver - they're more worried about a stairway to heaven.  That was lame.  I know.  I'll stop.

Here's the deal as I see it.  If there was a public need to take a 10 hour train ride to Denver twice a day, somebody in the private business world would have already jumped into that market.

In fact, if the trains hauling freight from here to Denver thought that moving people on those lines would be more profitable, they'd have made the change years ago.  Obviously they know what the rest of us already know - there are better options.

Our local government is either very nostalgic or they've been watching "Field of Dreams" during their executive sessions on Tuesdays. 

Back in the day people traveled this continent on trains.  It's a fond and romantic memory for millions of Americans.  Bringing back rail travel would be just like visiting Yankee Stadium again for a man who grew up in the Bronx, but found himself living away for many years.  The cold hard facts about rail are hard to swallow for these people.  Just like the fact that Yankee Stadium had to be retired or remodeled as such that it would be unrecognizable to anyone who used to watch games there. 

The only reason people took trains everywhere in the past is because planes were very expensive to fly on and believe it or not, cars weren't something each household had two of.  It was the only option for many and a trip for New York to Los Angeles was grueling at best.

A return to the past will not be good for our future given that flights are cheap and cars are plentiful.  Nobody is going to spend days locked on a train if they don't have to be.

Of course, our local government could be under the impression that "if you build it, they will come."  Government is often like that.  It's a social engineering experiment that yields poor results every single time it's tried. 

At no point have I ever heard people clamoring in the streets for rail service to Denver or Albuquerque.  I can only guess that our local government feels that if they build a train system to Denver, people will develop a need to take a 10 hour ride to Denver for about the price of a one way plane ticket to the same place (two hour flight).  In the business world we call this "idiocy," and for those in the business world "idiocy" always causes "bankruptcy."  It rhymes so you won't forget how they are correlated.

The "build it and they will come" model used by the government has never worked and will never work.  A simple poll of the population would show this.  The poll would have to be honest, though.  You won't find many people signing on for what the plan truly provides.

Traveling to Denver would be an eight to ten hour endeavor, if not more.  Remember, the train will have to stop for nearly an hour in each city.  Four cities means four extra hours.  Not to mention that anybody getting on a train that may end up in Mexico is subject to a check with the customs folks.  You know how that goes.

A current example of the city providing something where there was no need, was the buses to Las Cruces and back.  They received a report that as many as 20,000 people commuted from each city to the other city during work days.  Somehow they got the idea that these 20,000 people were just dying to get on a bus that travels five to ten miles under the speed limit each morning and afternoon to be dropped off nowhere near where they might work causing them to take yet another bus to their final destination.  And let's not forget that they will have to repeat the process each evening when they return home. 

So how has that bus line worked out?  I heard Mike Rooney on the radio just the other day quoting the statistics and it was under 100 passengers a day.  The project is more than likely running at nearly a 100 percent loss.  If you figure each rider pays them a total of $6 a day and you multiply that by the number of passengers (100) and you get $600 dollars.  I'm pretty sure that it costs more than $600 a day to pay the drivers alone.  Taxpayers are picking up nearly the entire cost of the project.  A project that serves .0001 percent of the population.

Can you imagine the cost to taxpayers when the government finds out that nobody wants to take a slow train to Denver? 

Just look at the regular bus service around town where the price the riders pay does not come near paying for the system.  Taxpayers have to subsidize the system.  I find this a necessary evil on the local level, however.  Most of the people riding the bus use if for work.  I'm not that thrilled at the thought of subsidizing people's vacations to Denver or Albuquerque, though.

Part of you are going to be saying, "but it's going to be high-speed rail and the trains will travel very fast!" Wrong.  This program is going to involve existing tracks that carry trains at about 60 MPH on the straight track.  High speed rail requires high speed rail.  The bottom dollar price for any new rail is $1 million a mile.  High speed rail is 1.5 times more expensive and the banked track needed for turns runs at nearly three times that of normal rail and requires a tremendous amount of maintenance.

As for obtaining the funds for any new rail in the future, you have to look at the geographic reality of rail from Denver to Mexico through El Paso.  Even the federal government is going to shudder at the idea of $1 million a mile track all the way to Denver.  That's $713 million bucks and we're not talking about connecting two financial centers like Chicago and New York or two destination centers like Atlanta and Miami.  We'd have to get in a long line for funds like that and we'll be put in line where our "need" fits in.  That will be somewhere behind a Portland to Seattle route.

Please remember that our politicians will dazzle with you claims that all of this would be "so neat" and that "your lives will be changed."  They're wrong.  They'll also claim that the current bus system from El Paso to Las Cruces is a smashing success.  After all, their measure of success isn't whether or not a lot of people ride the bus, but the mere fact that the buses make the trips back and forth without breaking down.  Many of the politicians claim their programs are success merely because they tricked someone into allowing them to exist at all.

Don't be fooled folks.  We can't afford to run empty trains to Denver everyday just so some politicians can pat themselves on the back.

(sorry if this is full of errors - will edit later, but in a hurry right now.)

Finding the Motive

My second biggest fan, Jaime Abeytia (Lionstar) has his latest edition of his "The Lion's Den" is out on Newspaper Tree.  You can find it HERE.

I'm going to help you dissect what's being written by Jaime and the goals associated with his efforts.

The first part of his opinion piece is a little update on the Rep. Marquez campaign fundraiser that was, or wasn't, an actual fundraiser.  It's not clear to him, or us, what she was doing with Bob Hoy and friends.

You must remember that Jaime declared a week or two ago that Norma Chavez was not going to get involved in Rep. Marquez's race next year.  We know that's a lie.  We know that Chavez is actively working to defeat Marquez and Jaime's latest submission is a part of that plan.

Jaime doesn't reveal his source in this case.  He does not tell us who told him that in attendance were "several business and Republican big shots."  We're not even sure who these people actually are because Jaime only identifies Dee Margo by name.

He quickly drops the "business" adjective to describe the attendees and just flat out starts calling them "republicans."  I'm not sure how he checked each person's registration at the function, but he seems sure that they were in fact republicans.

It would have nice to have had some names other than Margo's to verify that this was in fact a meeting of republicans that Marquez was attending.  Maybe just one or two other names so that we could verify that she was in fact fraternizing with people who dare not be a part of the El Paso status quo.

I have a feeling that Jaime's  mission here was to help Norma label Marquez a turncoat by building up an innocent meeting with business interests to hear their side of the issues.  Most people would shake this off as a normal attempt to listen to an interest group about their issues.  I write "normal" because unlike other folks running for re-election, Marquez does not have to offer free beer and food to get attention. 

Jaime wants to help Norma associate Marquez with republicans and Dee Margo so that they can use that as a theme in the primary.  It's all a part of their plan.  It will be effective.  Class envy is a blood sport in El Paso.

I know for a fact that the business (republicans) players in this town have met with several other reps in similar functions, but Jaime has yet to report that.  Makes me wonder why this certain meeting merited coverage while the others haven't.  (Where was he at the ethics summit?)

Of course, this wouldn't be the first time we've heard the scuttlebutt through Jaime from Norma.  A month ago I was tricked into believing that Rep. Marquez had watched over the savage beating of Carlos Aguilar - Marquez's rumored opponent.  Norma was telling the same story at the same time.   Turns out that every single person named in the event has denied that anything happened.  Every single person says that it didn't happen, but Norma and Jaime got at least me to bite on the juicy rumor and spread the word incorrectly that Rep. marquez was a bar brawler.  Mission accomplished for them and again they accomplished their mission by tying Marquez to some mystery republicans in an opinion piece that is widely read.  You have to give credit to NPT because they checked it out and found it out to be untrue before printing it. I learned a valuable lesson that day.

As for Jaime's latest story... It's vague enough to be used against Marquez.  The association of the words "Dee Margo," "Republican" and "Marisa Marquez" has been burned into the mind of the readers already.  Mission accomplished for Jaime and Norma.

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In the same piece he goes to bat for his buddy Rep. Acosta.

If you just read through the whole story once you can summarize it pretty easily.

Some people who may, or may not be, leading the area's neighborhood association have not filed a recall effort against Rep. Acosta. 

Yes, you read that right.

Jaime did a piece on something that isn't happening and may not happen. 

At any one moment in this city, the builders are circulating plans to recall Rep. Byrd.  I get the emails daily.  However, rumors aren't news, nor should they be passed along via legitimate media outlets like Newspaper Tree.  I've never seen them let that kind of material on their site before.  However, it's not my place to tell them what to run.  Their old political gossip guy, Owen White, always had verifiable information.

Leave the wild ass rumors to the bloggers - we're expected to do that kind of writing.

So why would Jaime even write about this?  Well, I know for a fact that Jaime has a close personal relationship with Acosta. He admitted to me that he rifled through her medicine cabinet back when Lozano was claiming she didn't live in the district.  He admonished me via email because I had found information that showed her using conflicting addresses for utilities and other public records.  He told me that he was close to her and that he knew she lived in the house because he had been there many times.  He's not exactly an impartial jury when it comes to his buddy Acosta, is he?

(I didn't use the information against her because I understand that there is a special needs person involved and that there might be a connection there that makes it all work out in her favor.  I wasn't about to go after that angle after she had already won - no need to put any pressure on her innocent family.)

Jaime's article is a warning to the neighborhood association to back off.  Publicizing their rumored move before they do is a great way to kill their momentum... which in this case there seems to be none. 

Recall petitions are never effective and hardly news. Especially when the petition does not exist. Besides, in that district she would have no opponent other than Lozano again.  It's not like things will get better anytime soon for them.

Jaime used his normal MO when he related that Acosta had won every precinct in her district by 70 percent.  Where and why has Jaime used this format before?

If you said "Norma Chavez," pat yourself on the back and leave work five minutes early today!

His tactic of showing that Norma is unbeatable by quoting her total victory over that Reyes chick a few years back was cooked up by Norma herself.  Warding off potential challengers is very important for both Chavez and Acosta who have both suffered severe attacks on their credibility and ethical aptitude recently. 

Because the political astute in town read Newspaper Tree and make their moves based on information gathered there, Jaime and friends puff themselves up like a cat about ot fight in order to scare off competition.  He's in a great place to help friends. 

Jaime has never made mention of any of the "progressives" crushing of their opponents and went as far as venturing a guess that Rep. Ortega was in real trouble of losing his seat.  He could never really explain why Ortega was in trouble. 

Wouldn't he be more transparent if reported Beto's and Susie's shredding of opponents in the past?  Is Susie not the "people's rep" after her last couple of decisive victories?

He's not advocating for them and hasn't be asked to do so.  So don't expect to hear much about them.

I think he should call his future pieces "Things that haven't happened and  those who are not doing those things... yet."

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My disclaimer

I was the first one in the media to out Marquez as someone positioned to support Craddick.  She had a lot of business support.  It's been no secret that she was supported by business.  Had she had the opportunity to vote for Craddick, she would have had to.  Consequently, had he been named speaker again the Tiguas would be gambling and the Texas Tech Medical center would be getting it's third building. 

As for the neighborhood associations - they are jack-booted thugs who have zero respect for private property rights.  They should be required to follow the lobbying regulations that business entities are forced to follow when dealing with the city.  They are ruining the business environment in El Paso.

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As for why I wrote this today.... It's important people understand the motivation behind these such published opinion pieces.  You need to know when you are being subject to propaganda.  This isn't like a radio host who tells you that he or she is a conservative or a liberal before they skew their message on way or the other. 

This is someone who has divulged nothing of his motives, but writes opinion pieces for mass consumption.  As a consumer of local his media, it's important that you know why he writes what he writes.  You may mistake him for "fair balanced," otherwise.

Sergio Lewis Finds My Blog - Uses Faulty Logic

I was not diligent in checking up on my blog this weekend. In fact, I tried to consume as little media as possible seeing as how my wife and I have been very busy lately and haven't had "us time."  I love to blog and what not, but my wife is the most important person in my life (and you thought it was Norma Chavez!) and I have to make sure I spend quality time focusing on the apologies needed for all the crap I pulled the previous week.

When I finally looked at the comments on the blog this morning I found that School Board Member Sergio Lewis had posted a response to something I wrote a while back.  You may know that Lewis plans on running for county commissioner next year. 

His comment was in response to my pledge to help defeat him in his run for county commissioner.  He voted with the entire rest of the school board to deny a Marine permission to wear his uniform to his graduation ceremony. 

So this is what he wrote:

Currently my son is with the 10th Mountain infantry Division and is stationed at Fort Drum,NY. He recently completed his Airborne Training at Fort Benning, and was originally ordered to hook up w/the 101st Screaming Eagles Air Assault Division, but his orders were changed for him to join the 10th Mountain Division. My wife and I just read your statements and I was compelled to write a response to your inaccuracies. My father, Brothers, friends, and the many individuals who have served that are dear and close to us, the various friends and brothers of friends who have died while serving in the armed forces defending this country too. I truly wish I had seen this blog sooner so that I could have responded and shared with you the diservice you imply on my son who is currently being deployed to Iraq in October, and to my family. I support our Armed forces and I love this country... Sergio Lewis.

Hmm... There's a lot going on here that has nothing to do with the issue - denying a soldier permission to wear his uniform at a graduation ceremony.

I can say that my father, grandfathers, uncles, cousins and friends have served this country dating back to the late 1800's, but it does nothing to cover MY ACTIONS.

Knowing someone in the military, or even being related to them in realm of being their father or mother does not cover YOUR ACTIONS.  Mr. Lewis does not realize that his son, nor his other family members or friends voted to deny a MARINE permission to wear his uniform at his respective graduation. 

Mr. Lewis can not defend his action by stating his relationships to others.  His decision stands alone from the very brave people who he knows and is related to.  His son is an example of the best of what this country has to offer.  However, his son did not vote to deny a MARINE permission to wear his uniform at his respective graduation ceremony. 

Mr. Lewis' response smells of the rebuttal of someone who claims to have "lots of black friends" after they have made statements deemed racist by their audience.  Knowing your victims does not absolve you of their persecution. 

I am completely and indebted to the service of our fighting men and women of this country.  I would not lead the free and safe life I have today without their sacrifice.  If they want to wear their uniform to their high school graduation, they have earned the right do so.  Anybody who dismisses this, dismisses their sacrifice.

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Let's use your argument for a second.  I'm an asshole because I called into question your love of our service members.  You relate that your family and friends have served and you are proud of them.  Calling your judgment into question, is to call you unsupportive of your own son, you would argue. 

Okay.

So what did you think when the school Board President, David Dodge, compared military service to graduation from "clown school?"  How did that make you feel?  Your fellow board member compared your son's brave enlistment into the United State Army to graduating from clown school. 

I did not comment on your son's service.  However, your fellow board member did.  Your anger should be reserved for that person.

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If you want me to shut up about this, you can make it happen.  Put an item on the school board agenda stating that members of the military may wear their uniforms to high school graduations and other formal school events.

Do that and we'll be square.

Don't do that and I remind anyone I can how you voted on the original issue every chance I get. 

Some may not care, but others will. 

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Just another note on your run for county commissioner.

You're pretty cozy with Strelzin and I have a suspicion that you helped him get a job that allegedly pays him more than $100,000 a year to say nice things about the superintendent and the board on the radio.... I mean attend pep rallies (I really don't know which is actually worse - they are both worthy of an investigation by the state). 

You need to promise voters you won't be hiring Strelzin to "pump up" county employees/say nice things about you on the radio. 

As a matter of fact, you need to pledge to treat the employees of the county much better than your board and the EPISD administration has treated TEACHERS. 

(get ready for Strelzin's threat to sue me, yet again.  Mr. Lewis and Strelzin should hire the same attorney and see if they can get a discount!)