I had to drive to Montgomery today. 3 hours down and three hours back. Spent all of 2+45 in the city itself. Came back and went to sleep for a couple of hours. Now I’m awake and probably won’t be able to go to sleep at a normal hour.
Today highlighted again to me-what is wrong with this country transportation wise. If there had been a decent train system running between Shopping Mall and there-like they have in Japan-I could have been to city center in 1+20. Gotten my business done and been back before 2 PM.
Instead I fought cops and cars getting around Birmingham on the way back. And-God bless ’em-Alabama actually has a decent speed limit of 70 miles an hour. Not like the homo’s in Virgina with their no radar detectors and 55 mile an hour ("55 means 55") BS. It still takes too long.
If I had been king of the world-I would have directed a "stimulus" probably a lot differently. In fact I would not have called it a stimulus at all-but a correction of spending priorities. There would have been no wild rush to get it through Congress, which is one of the problems I would probably have if I were ever in such a position. I’d want to impose my will on them and have no arguement in response.
However, what I would have done would have been to plus up spending on things that will make a difference in the long run, and serve to generate continuing jobs in the long run. That’s where the republicans never got it. Tax cuts, especially tax cuts only for the rich, don’t accomplish that.
Me? I would have increased defense spending on "stuff" like ships. I would also have poured some money into a high speed train system that would help America redefine what getting from point A to B means. And the more I live here (which hopefully won’t be any longer than next year) I would start it in the South.
Alabama would be a great test case. You could run a high speed train line from Nashville to Mobile. The cities actually line up nicely and it would split the state like a fishbone. Feeder lines come come in from east to west in each of the major cities. Feeder bus lines and decent taxt service could feed the feeder lines-or they could have decent parking. Using already proven bullet train technology, I would have been able to be whisked from Shopping Mall to Montegomery at 275 kilometers per hour.
Would it take time to build and would it be expensive-yep. However over the long haul it would dramatically change the way people look at this state.
However it will remain-like the idea of going back to the moon, mocked daily by the Saturn V rocket rising above Interstate 565- a pipe dream. People are too busy arguing about things that have never been said, and worry about whether the president of the United States is really a citizen. Or enhancing national glory for Muslims who don’t give a rat’s ass about what we want.
The money is there. It just needs to be re-directed.
But it won’t.
So I drive 6+30 hours at an abysmal speed. I’m like Sammy Haggar, I can’t do it.