I think you’ll find that those are the original Amtrak runs, not the Michigan-funded trains. The Blue Water doesn’t stop, and the Pere Marquette, which used to stop at Hammond-Whiting, no longer does. And lack of state support from Indiana was precisely the reason that I heard for this.
It’s not that were are under taxed my friend, the idea of cutting taxes while increasing spending is the same as if you were to go into work, ask your boss to cut your salary and then going on a shopping spree with you credit card. I never said we should increase taxes. Spend up to what you what you take in. If you want to spend more than what you make, you get to figure out where to get more money.
As for the Federal Government’s responsibility to protect us from foriegn enemies, no one is going to disbute that. I agree with you. Perhaps I should have been more clear in my last posting, my point was the defending of our nation in Iraq was done with little oversight into corruption and unethically business practices. In my opinion, defending our country could have come more cheaply if there was more oversight when it came to handing out military contracts. What’s wrong with that?
Also I do not appreciate your backhanded comment suggesting that because my view point on this subject is liberal that it automatically places me in the “wacky liberal Barbara Striesand” mind of thinking. Just for the record, I don’t need her opinion to generate my own thoughts. So I would appreciate it if you would not throw in any more unproductive, backhanded remarks into the conversation.
Even though I’m consider myself a liberal, I am not a fan of her music. I don’t get her appeal, but that’s just me. [:)]
I wouldn’t paint the state of Indiana as anti rail. They just want to get their money’s worth. Many percieve (whether they’re right or not is another topic) those trains as mainly benefitting the state of Michigan and don’t feel it necessary to fund another state’s transportation. The South Shore has the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (ie state funding) to help with the short fall at the farebox. INDOT is currently studying a proposal for commuter rail radiating from Indianapolis. Again, if there is concensus that it is beneficial, it will happen.
For those of us along the South Shore who remember, it took the threat of a total discontinuance of passenger service by South Shore before the Indiana General Assembly even created NICTD. South Shore had petitioned the ICC for authority to discontinue all passenger service and (separately) to abandon its trackage rights over the IC. After hearings were held, the ICC ordered a one-year continuance of passenger service with a hint that it might look more favorably at any discontinuance petition in the future if the State of Indiana took no substantive action concerning the passenger service.
I can count, too. And read. And as you explain your calculations, you still are manipulating figures – even sillier now – to count the 55,000 round trips or 111,000 boardings all as casino-related to suit your agenda.
BTW, the $30 per round trip fare is an estimate, and not from Amtrak or other credible source. It came from a spokesman for a QC rail passenger coalition. From its tilt, this is an AP story that originated in the Quad Cities and is thusly biased.
Here’s the original report prepared by Amtrak for IDOT:
Note while two possible routes are suggested and mapped, the one through Joliet and beyond on the old Rock Island would need the St. Charles Air Line to remain intact. It would be far more expensive since most of the RI stations on the route are now privately owned and the main would need more upgrading. The station in Peru-LaSalle is now a lawnmower repair shop.
While CN says it will cease freight OPs on the ST. Charles Air Line after it acquires EJ&E, hizzoner Richie Daley wants to remove it to make his developer buddies happy. Amtrak trains using the old IC line through Champaign to New Orleans currently use the Air Line as well.
Poppa,
I simply responded to the atricle as written. The first four lines are all casino related and state that the casion operators are looking to use the train to draw gamblers from Chicago. The train project is a waste of resources. To the extent it subisdizes Chicago gamblers or Iowa casino operators just compounds the error of public policy.
Mac
Again, Mac, ya gotta read for meaning before gifting us with your rants.
The AP story is nothing more than a local (Quad Cities) spin on the announcement of Amtrak’s study done at the Illinois Dept. of Transportation’s request. To generate the local story angle, the reporter sought out Quad Cities business spokespeople for their reaction to the announcement and used that in his lede. That’s all the story is. Nothing more.
Neither Amtrak nor IDOT is doing any of this on behalf of the casinos. Go back and read it again, and read the report itself.
The story is datelined “Chicago” because AP does not have a Quad Cities bureau per se. Just a few reporters, some of whom may be stringers.
Merrily:
Explain how the cutting of taxes decreased tax revenue please. Generally speaking, and specifically in this decade the tax revenues have increased with a tax cut.
Spending, I agree with. Way out of control. Why should Washington, Indianapolis, or local goverment spend more and more of my money? Do they really think they can do a better job of spending than me? I sure dont think so.
Look at it this way, the largest tax increase in history is almost certain to occur next year. So, that means I will have to lower my standard of living…while government spending increases.
Doesnt make sense, does it.
ed
I would bet that the casinos, like most other “private ecomomic development” has already had substantial public subisidy, er “investment.” It seems most new development requires new public infrastructure while also demanding some kind of tax abatement. The hope being that local community will benefit, and the subsidy, er “investment” will be repaid over time. Kind of like, “we lose a dollar on every carload, but make it up with volume.”
I keep forgetting that only Amtrak is subsidized. Any public monies spent, outside of those collected in user fees/taxes, for the benefit of private companies is an investment.
Jeff
May I see your source/reference to this information? I would like to educate myself and see where this information came from.
In terms of getting the best “bang” for your buck, well obviously an individual can spend the time and resources to determine that because it doesn’t cost you do so. At the same time, individuals and businesses are less likely to spend money their own money to build roads, maintain parks, pay for the police, pay the court system or the military, etc. Hence, government taxes its citizans and businesses to pay for things in which most people wouldn’t dream of writing a check for. Imagine being ask to fund a new highway in some far corner of the state you live in. If you don’t plan on using it, then I don’t think you would hand a check over to fund its construction. While I agree a government may not spend money efficiently, they do provide the funding of things individuals and businesses wouldn’t pay for, especially big ticket items.
Unfortunately you may have to lower your stand of living regardless of any increase or decrease in taxes. The constant borrowing of money has placed the Federal Government in a position where not only do we have
Leave it to the AP to find an angle to this study that has never been mentioned in the Quad Cities. The Quad Cities is home to the Corporate Headquarters of John Deere and houses a large military installation, the Rock Island Arsenal. We have a little body of water known as the Mississippi, which a lot of Chicago area people seem to like to fish in, boat in and just look at. Maybe it’s possible that some of these people, with a passenger rail link, would consider a second home on this little body of water in an area where the views are spectacular and the prices and taxes reasonable. No one involved in this effort has ever mentioned Amtrak as a way of attracting gamblers. We do business in Chicago and the burbs. We like to visit Chicago and the burbs. We have relatives in Chicago and the burbs, students of Western Illinois University, Augustana College, Palmer and St. Ambrose go home to Chicago and the burbs, and we’re tired of driving to Galesburg, or in my case, Princeton to catch the train. As for the schedule, it takes me an hour to drive east on I-80 to Princeton and the train ride to Union Station has varied from an hour and a half to two hours making a total of two and one-half to three hours from QC’s to Union Station. There’s no reason a train on an upgraded track can’t make it in the same amount of time. Yes, there are three gaming boats in the QC’s, but there’s also an amazing art museum (The Figge), several John Deere Visitor’s Centers (all impressive), a Tournament Player’s Club golf course (TPC at Deere Run), non-gaming excursion riverboats, river taxis, no traffic jams, reasonably priced hotels - some on the little body of water, and a great recreational trail system running along the little body of water.
Here’s the original news release from Amtrak that the Quad Cities AP writer regionalized for the wire. Conclusion-jumpers should note casinos are only casually included in a general description of Quad Cities attractions. News Release |
|---|
National Railroad Passenger Corporation 60 Massachusetts Avenue NE Washington, DC 20002 www.amtrak.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ATK-08-001 Contacts: Marc Magliari, Amtrak (312) 880-5390 Mike Claffey, Illinois DOT (312) 814-3957 Joe Shoemaker, Senator Durbin’s Office (202) 224-7028 Tim Schlittner, Congressman Hare’s Office (202) 225-5905 January 7, 2008 |
| Amtrak Releases Feasibility Study of State-Supported Rail Service to Illinois Quad Cities Host Railroad Negotiations and Funding are Needed to Advance the Plan |
CHICAGO - Amtrak has completed a report requested by the Illinois Department of Transportation (Ill. DOT) that evaluates possible passenger train routes between Illinois Quad Cities (Moline-Rock Island) and Chicago. This “Feasibility Report on Proposed Amtrak Service, Quad Cities-Chicago” is also in response to a January 2007 town meeting in Rock Island, hosted by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who was joined by Amtrak and Ill. DOT representatives, labor officials and leaders from Illinois and Iowa. In the report, the approximate cost of upgrading the railroad infrastructure to accommodate passenger train speeds is $14-to-23 million, over the shortest, fastest and least costly of the potential routes. Not included in this figure are any capital expenses for railcars and locomotives, nor the local costs of providing stations. - Down |
Depends on which side of the aisle you listen to. The mainstream media doesn’t print things like this because it bucks its agenda. But I’ll offer this:
Tax rate reductions increase tax revenues. This truth has been proved at both state and federal levels, including by President Bush’s 2003 tax cuts on income, capital gains and dividends. Those reductions have raised federal tax receipts by $785 billion, the largest four-year revenue increase in U.S. history. In fiscal 2007, which ended last month, the government took in 6.7% more tax revenues than in 2006.
These increases in tax revenue have substantially reduced the federal budget deficits. In 2004 the deficit was $413 billion, or 3.5% of gross domestic product. It narrowed to $318 billion in 2005, $248 billion in 2006 and $163 billion in 2007. That last figure is just 1.2% of GDP, which is half of the average of the past 50 years.
Lower tax rates have be so successful in spurring growth that the percentage of federal income taxes paid by the very wealthy has increased. According to the Treasury Department, the top 1% of income tax filers paid just 19% of income taxes in 1980 (when the top tax rate was 70%), and 36% in 2003, the year the Bush tax cuts took effect (when the top rate became 35%). The top 5% of income taxpayers went from 37% of taxes paid to 56%, and the top 10% from 49% to 68% of taxes paid. And the amount of taxes paid by those earning more than $1 million a year rose to $236 billion in 2005 from $132 billion in 2003, a 78%
[quote user=“Steam Is King”]
Depends on which side of the aisle you listen to. The mainstream media doesn’t print things like this because it bucks its agenda. But I’ll offer this:
Tax rate reductions increase tax revenues. This truth has been proved at both state and federal levels, including by President Bush’s 2003 tax cuts on income, capital gains and dividends. Those reductions have raised federal tax receipts by $785 billion, the largest four-year revenue increase in U.S. history. In fiscal 2007, which ended last month, the government took in 6.7% more tax revenues than in 2006.
These increases in tax revenue have substantially reduced the federal budget deficits. In 2004 the deficit was $413 billion, or 3.5% of gross domestic product. It narrowed to $318 billion in 2005, $248 billion in 2006 and $163 billion in 2007. That last figure is just 1.2% of GDP, which is half of the average of the past 50 years.
Lower tax rates have be so successful in spurring growth that the percentage of federal income taxes paid by the very wealthy has increased. According to the Treasury Department, the top 1% of income tax filers paid just 19% of income taxes in 1980 (when the top tax rate was 70%), and 36% in 2003, the year the Bush tax cuts took effect (when the top rate became 35%). The top 5% of income taxpayers went from 37% of taxes paid to 56%, and the top 10% from 49% to 68% of taxes paid. And the amount of taxes paid by those earning more than $1 million a year rose to $236 billion in 2005 from
Anti-choice public policy may encourage people to visit Quad Cities casinos.
The nanny crowd in Springfield has outlawed smoking in all public places, not just public owned buildings. This has hit bars and casinos. You can still smoke on Iowa’s gambling barges.
If you have visited a gambling den, you can not help but notice the blue haze. Have you ever seen a lady with blue hair on oxygen smoking a cigarette? Try a casino. I guess if you are willing to risk your wealth, why not your health.
Butterworth tours used to charter a car from the Quad Cities on the end of Rock Island passenger trains near the end of their existence. Would casino owners be willing to charter a smoker, or is that illegal as well?
There are ancedotal reports from the river cities saying the smoking ban is driving gamblers from Rock Island’s gambling barge to the other two across the creek.
It would be ironic if the State of Illinois ends up subsidizing rail passenger service based in part on riders wishing to avoid said state’s restricitons on individual choice. The State of Iowa of would love to take away the gambling skim at no cost to themselves.
This has been blogged over and over in local papers. Many Iowans are crossing the river to gamble in a smoke free enviroment. I don’t know if exemption would be made for private rail car. If AMTRAK is operating it, then NO.