What Is “Middle Class”?
This week’s Rolling Stone has an article on the “sharp, sudden decline of America’s middle class.” The only problem is that few if any of the people discussed in the article are in the middle class; instead, they are working class. As the Antiplanner has noted elsewhere, Americans often pretend to ignore the line between […]
More Evidence That Portland Is Nuts
TriMet, Portland’s transit agency, has made the largest cuts in its history, including reductions in bus service, fare increases, and elimination of free rail rides in downtown Portland (the free bus rides were eliminated last year). Meanwhile, it is using nearly $10 million of money supposedly dedicated to the Milwaukie light-rail line to remodel its […]
Clinically Dead
California’s high-speed rail project seems to be dead. At least, that’s the conclusion of a Washington DC writer commenting on a report that Governor Brown has given up on the idea of exempting high-speed rail from environmental reviews. Without that exemption, the writer thinks, the state will never be able to build the line. However, […]
Back in the Air Again
Tonight, the Antiplanner will speak in Camarillo, California (some 40 miles west of Burbank) about smart growth and high-speed rail. If you are in Ventura County, I hope to see you there. This short trip will be a relief after a rather grueling schedule last week (which included a trip to New York City on […]
“Environmental Justice” Is Neither
When Congress created the New Starts fund for new rail transit projects in 1991, it required that the grants be awarded to projects that were “cost effective.” This same requirement was applied to the small starts fund, for transit projects costing less than $250 million, which Congress created in 2003. The Obama administration, however, is […]
97%, 5.5%, What’s the Diff?
Walking through Portland airport recently, the Antiplanner noticed a sign from the Oregon Lottery claiming that 97 cents of every dollar paid for lottery tickets was “returned to Oregon.” As the Lottery’s web site says, “97 cents of every dollar played comes back to Oregon . . . money that goes to jobs, schools, parks […]
Antiques or Obsolete?
Someone made a little poster designed to convey the value of high-speed rail. I made a couple of modifications that I think improve it quite a bit.
Back in the Air Again
The Antiplanner will present American Nightmare in Colorado Springs, Denver, and Bellevue this week. Tonight (Tuesday) at 5:30 pm, I’ll be at Liberty First in the Dublin House, 1850 Dominion Way, in Colorado Springs. On Wednesday, I’ll speak at the Independence Institute‘s new office, 727 E. 16th, in Denver, at 5:30 pm. If you are […]
Life Intrudes
Vivian Jones was born in eastern North Dakota in 1926. Known to her friends as Red for her brightly colored hair, she was the life of every party and a cheerleader in high school and at the University of North Dakota, where she received a degree in Social Work. She went on to the University […]
Back in the Air Again
The Antiplanner is flying to DC today to participate in a couple of forums. First, at noon on Wednesday, the Antiplanner will join Ryan Avent, Adam Gordon, and Matthew Yglesias in a discussion of The Death and Life of Affordable Housing. If you are in DC, the deadline for signing up for this event is […]
Touring the States at Taxpayer Expense
Secretary of Immobility Ray LaHood, who has announced that he plans to leave office at the end of this year even if Obama is re-elected, is spending his last few months in office taking a tour of the United States. He has recently been to Hawaii (and Guam), and he plans to soon visit Idaho, […]
No More Taxes for Art
Oregon has a 1 percent for art law requiring that one percent of all state construction funds be spent on art works. But that’s not enough for greedy Oregon artists, so they have proposed that Portland impose a $35 tax on every non-poverty-stricken resident over the age of 17 in the city that would be […]
