Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
[quote user="petitnj"]Hopefully Congress realizes that they are getting the best rail transportation system in the world at no cost to them. [/quote] I think that Congress does realize that, but it might work against the freight railroads rather than for them.   I think part of Congress perceives the prosperity of freight railroads opportunistically as being somewhat of a golden goose.  Regulation is not just a matter adjusting the price between railroad and farmer.  It is also the government actually taking a piece of the action for their own interest in growth.  The regulations impose cost, and some of that cost pays for the governmental regulatory apparatus.   So, it is not just farmers who are motivated to regulate.  The cost of regulation will also pay for new government employees, their careers, and their retirement.  To Congress, expanding regulation is like growing a business.  So they are part of the motivation to regulate, and not just a neutral arbiter.  Indeed, Franken, Congress, and the Administration may very well be a larger part of the motivation for re-regulating the railroads than the farmers are.  Farmers can demand regulation on a continuous basis, but the likelihood of their success depends on the mood of Congress from moment to moment.  At this particular moment, I believe that the mood of government is to favor higher taxes and regulation much more so than it has been for a long time.  So, I could see the regulation pendulum swinging the other way, undoing the rail industry gains of the last thirty years.  I would not underestimate Franken’s ability to get action on this.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag