The Progressive Case for HB 1240
Progressives in the General Assembly will have a rare opportunity to eliminate a corporate subsidy to Xcel Energy this Monday, when the House Agriculture, Livestock, and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to take up Representative Spencer Swalm’s HB 1240. HB 1240 would eliminate the Public Utilities Commission’s authority to allow Xcel to incorporate a $20/ton […]
Updates from All Over
California Republicans are proposing to divert federal grants for the state’s high-speed rail program to improving U.S. Highway 99 instead. Highway 99 is the major route through California’s Central Valley connecting Modesto, Fresno, and Bakersfield, while Interstate 5 skips those major cities. Highway 99 is highly congested and is in relatively poor shape, and Representatives […]
Sticking It to Your Employer
Many people seem to think that high-speed rail won’t work in Florida but still makes sense in the Boston-to-Washington corridor. For example, in a commentary on Governor Scott’s decision to cancel the Florida high-speed train, Michael Barone writes in the Washington Examiner, “I have written rather extensively about the foolishness of most high-speed rail projects. […]
Threatened by Tighter Budgets, More States Challenge Teacher Union Perks
It was exactly two years ago today that President Obama flew to town to shake lots of bills off the magical money tree for Colorado public schools. Now the federal dollars (borrowed from my future) have dried up. Our new governor John Hickenlooper bore the news to the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) on Tuesday: $332 […]
Colorado SB 11-168: The health care Authority will enforce your “cooperation”
Colorado’s health care authoritarians are back with their version of single payer medicine. No, it’s a “public option. No, it’s a “health care cooperative.” If this idea is so good, then they should start their own co-op w/o government force, & let people join & fund at will.
Reaction to Florida
Ray LaHood says Florida’s loss is someone else’s gain, as he will immediately redistribute the funds to other states. More like, Florida’s gain is someone else’s loss as any other state taking on a high-speed rail project will end up spending a lot of money on that project. Meanwhile, Florida Senator Nelson (D) says he […]
Senate Republicans Ask for Review of CDPHE’s Regional Haze Plan (Bonus: Regional Haze Primer)
The Politics Colorado Blog today reports great news: “Tuesday, Senate Republicans sent a letter to Senate President Shaffer asking Legislative Council to hold a public hearing to review the changes made to the State Implementation Plan (SIP) for implementing regulations for “regional haze”… …”We think it’s important that Legislative Council hold a public hearing on […]
Liveblogging the Megabus #5
It is bumper-to-bumper traffic in the tunnel under the Hudson River, but it appears the bus will arrive on-time — 10:35 am — at Penn Station, or even a few minutes early. Scheduled at 4 hours and 20 minutes, this trip is about 95 minutes longer, but $131 less expensive, than Amtrak’s Acela.
It’s Dead Again
Florida Governor Rick Scott killed the Tampa-to-Orlando high-speed rail project, seven years after the state previously killed it once before. Scott cited three reasons for killing it: the potential for cost overruns, overly optimistic ridership projections, and the fact that, if the project turned out to be a dud and the state shut it down […]
Liveblogging the Megabus #4
Still in Maryland, not yet halfway to New York, the bus gets off the freeway — for a weigh station? Yes, we pass through the station along with the trucks. It only adds a minute or two to the journey, but . . . why? I’ve never seen buses have to stop at weigh stations […]
Liveblogging the Megabus #3
The old model bus system (such as Greyhound) would run a bus from New York to Washington, stopping at perhaps Newark, Trenton, Philadelphia, WIlmington, and Baltimore along the way. Most bus stations were downtown, so each stop required lengthy trips through traffic to and from the station. In contrast, the new model bus system (Megabus, […]
Liveblogging the Megabus #2
The I-95 corridor is supposed to be heavily congested, and it is no wonder. Here we have the most densely populated corridor in the U.S. and it is served by a freeway that is mostly just six lanes. Moreover, the lanes are distinctly narrower than freeway lanes that I am used to in the West […]
