Here's some ammunition to use against "The Great Hypocrisy"....
High-Speed Rail – No Laughing Matter
By: Bill Cawthon
September 10, 2010 07:16 PM
In any case, the argument against government support is a bit ingenuous; we don't ask airlines to build airports, we don't ask automakers to build highways but, by golly, we sure expect railroads to lay their own track and they'd better do it out of their own pockets.
Where do airports come from? Most of the airports that handle commercial passenger traffic are built and operated by government agencies or quasi-governmental agencies. Where do they get their money? According to Airports Council International (ACI), an industry group representing the operators of commercial airports in the U.S. and Canada, airports rely on four primary sources of infrastructure funding: Airport bonds (58 percent); federal AIP (Airport Improvement Program) grants (21 percent); local passenger facility charges used on a pay-as-you-go basis (11 percent); and locally generated revenues, such as revenue from concessions operations and such (10 percent). More than 60 percent of airport-issued bonds are required to be sold as tax-exempt private activity bonds (PABs) rather than governmental purpose bonds. Incidentally, ACI is lobbying to have those PABs receive the same tax considerations as government bonds to make them more attractive to investors.
So less than a quarter of the funding for infrastructure improvement comes from revenues, only slightly more than what taxpayers kick in as grants. The bulk of the rest of the money comes from bond buyers who get tax-free interest, meaning the rest of us have to cover the taxes those people would have paid had the bonds been securities from private companies. Milton Friedman would be so proud.
READ MORE AT:
http://www.modelrailroadnews.com/voices/from-the-editor/blog/high-speed-rail-no-laughing-matter/d5a8681b83.html
High-Speed Rail – No Laughing Matter
By: Bill Cawthon
September 10, 2010 07:16 PM
In any case, the argument against government support is a bit ingenuous; we don't ask airlines to build airports, we don't ask automakers to build highways but, by golly, we sure expect railroads to lay their own track and they'd better do it out of their own pockets.
Where do airports come from? Most of the airports that handle commercial passenger traffic are built and operated by government agencies or quasi-governmental agencies. Where do they get their money? According to Airports Council International (ACI), an industry group representing the operators of commercial airports in the U.S. and Canada, airports rely on four primary sources of infrastructure funding: Airport bonds (58 percent); federal AIP (Airport Improvement Program) grants (21 percent); local passenger facility charges used on a pay-as-you-go basis (11 percent); and locally generated revenues, such as revenue from concessions operations and such (10 percent). More than 60 percent of airport-issued bonds are required to be sold as tax-exempt private activity bonds (PABs) rather than governmental purpose bonds. Incidentally, ACI is lobbying to have those PABs receive the same tax considerations as government bonds to make them more attractive to investors.
So less than a quarter of the funding for infrastructure improvement comes from revenues, only slightly more than what taxpayers kick in as grants. The bulk of the rest of the money comes from bond buyers who get tax-free interest, meaning the rest of us have to cover the taxes those people would have paid had the bonds been securities from private companies. Milton Friedman would be so proud.
READ MORE AT:
http://www.modelrailroadnews.com/voices/from-the-editor/blog/high-speed-rail-no-laughing-matter/d5a8681b83.html
Ken Prendergast
Executive Director
All Aboard Ohio
12029 Clifton Blvd., Suite 505
Cleveland, OH 44107
(216) 288-4883
kenprendergast@allaboardohio.org
www.allaboardohio.org
Executive Director
All Aboard Ohio
12029 Clifton Blvd., Suite 505
Cleveland, OH 44107
(216) 288-4883
kenprendergast@allaboardohio.org
www.allaboardohio.org
