As America faces its worst run of job losses since the Great Depression with no end in sight, one thing should be clear. Our federal government is being run by a coalition of the financial sector, lobbyists for entrenched interests and a disciplined Republican opposition of dubious loyalty. Barack Obama is not only very close to being a failed president, he could be on track to be a one-termer if the GOP snags an opponent such as Gen. David Petraeus or even a rehabbed Mitt Romney. (The Nobel will only hurt Obama without substantive achievements for average Americans).
Perhaps the problem is centered on Obama and the cowardly Democrats in Congress (Memo to Blue Dogs: You'll lose anyway, so do the right thing and maybe you can pull a Harry Truman; oh, wait, Truman wasn't getting millions from the moneyed interests and hoping to get a job with them after politics). Could Hillary have done better? Or is this just the latest evidence of a quiet coup and no individual can change America's trajectory to self-immolation. Read Jeff Sharlet's The Family and David Wessel's In Fed We Trust (and throw in Maggie Mahar's Money Driven Medicine) and you begin to see the financialized theocracy we have become. One facing unsustainability on every front, including in a military whose quiet evangelization by the Christian right should raise alarms never before heard in America (were it covered by the media).
As for unemployment, the best Washington can do is become aroused over a tax credit for job creation. This won't work -- it's not tied to real demand. And it will lower tax revenues, adding to the deficit. It's a stunning sign of America's enervation and institutional corruption that President Obama is not rolling out a crash program to modernize our rail system. It could be done now. It would create huge numbers of jobs, not only for construction but also for operating and maintenance. Real jobs that would last. And an infrastructure whose benefits would repay the Treasury many times over.
It should consist of these elements:
1. Public-private partnerships to expand capacity on the nation's freight railroads, including electrifying many lines.
2. Expanding existing Amtrak service to provide frequent, convenient service that has been so successful in a few corridors nationally, including in California and the Northwest.
3. Building -- not studying -- high-speed rail.
In addition to jobs, this new network would help on climate change by getting trucks off the road; on productivity in easing congestion (on roads and airports) and enhancing logistic efficiency; on environmental damage by lessening emissions and encouraging development along the lines, rather than in car-dependent exurbia, and in manufacturing. Even though America lost most of its train-building capabilities in the 1970s and 1980s, it could insist that world leaders such as Siemens build cars and locomotives hereas we recreated our own rail manufacturing infrastructure.
This is not unproven or pie-in-the-sky as much of alternative energy and "green tech." It uses existing, proven technology and would be national in its benefits. It would be suited to a nation dominated by dense urban areas and facing a high-cost energy future, as well as a present where our oil dependency has led us into costly military quagmires. Rail could be done now. Unfortunately, the lobby for high-speed rail is negligible compared to the gigantic and wealthy interests that would perpetuate a 1965 transportation system. The anti-rail krackpots in the GOP, The Party that Wrecked America, will add the screaming. John McCain has tried for years to kill Amtrak and is still at work, as well as trying to eliminate dozens of transit projects.
The world is not waiting for us. Britain is building high-speed rail. Continental Europe, the world leader, is adding more lines. China is in a crash program to create a major system. India and Saudi Arabia are moving ahead, too. Russia is now the world's leader in electrification (a distinction held by America in the mid-20th century).
What are we doing? What are we building? The only New Deal I see is for the financial system and health insurers.
A former teacher of mine sent along an email that's been going around. It is a series of compare-and-contrast photos of Hiroshima and Detroit. In 1945, of course, the Japanese city was leveled by an atomic bomb. Detroit was a capital of American productive might and also the civilization that such wealth -- including spread to the workers -- could create. The magnificent Michigan Central Station was one example. Today, Hiroshima has been rebuilt into a glittering metropolis (with lots of rail options). Detroit is a wasteland that looks as if it has been bombed. The railroad terminal is a ruin.
"Conservatives" actually cheered when Chicago lost the Olympics. (Think about that). The loss was probably inevitable in a world of rising new powers. This was created by Pax Americana, a world of rising living standards, trade and largely at peace, presided over by a healthy, powerful and benign United States. That, at least, was the goals of presidents from FDR through George H.W. Bush. But somewhere along the way (circa 1981), the America that built the most advanced infrastructure in the world and the greatest middle class (circa 1950) began to be dismantled.
Without a major course change, many more Detroits await us. And don't think it's just a "race thing" or that the great unraveling of the republic won't affect your property values.
According to a recent article in the non-paper, "Japan opened its first bullet-train line in the 1960s, followed by France about 15 years later. Until 2004, China had the smallest system, but today boasts the largest one, with more high-speed track than Europe. It also features the fastest trains in the world and is investing $300 billion to add 16,000 miles by 2020."
By contrast, "No true high-speed system exists in the United States" (defined by the U.S. government as "an intercity system on which trains routinely travel faster than 125 mph. Such systems are designed for business travelers and tourists making trips of 200 to 500 miles").
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/10/08/20091008fastrail1008.html
Posted by: Emil Pulsifer | October 09, 2009 at 11:40 AM
Mr. Talton wrote:
"...Read Jeff Sharlet's The Family and David Wessel's In Fed We Trust (and throw in Maggie Mahar's Money Driven Medicine) and you begin to see the financialized theocracy we have become. One facing unsustainability on every front, including in a military whose quiet evangelization by the Christian right should raise alarms never before heard in America (were it covered by the media)."
This is the second time recently that Mr. Talton has alluded to the possibility of sedition if not treason from within the government.
Does anyone know, offhand, who might replace National Security Advisor James L. Jones if he were to die in an accident, either officially or in terms of influence, especially in matters of domestic policy? And does John O. Brennan (George J. Tenet's good buddy, and currently Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism) fit into the general scheme of things? My view where sedition is concerned is, always be suspicious of the guy sitting in the middle of the State security spiderweb...
http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/John_O._Brennan
Posted by: Emil Pulsifer | October 10, 2009 at 12:53 PM