Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
Tom statements: [quote]QUOTE: First, if they bought a line to rebuild, they'd have to buy it from a railroad.[/quote] Sure, if a railroad still owned an abandoned ROW, but most have also given up on the property as well as the line. What they would do is to do what the original railroad did, basically having the governmetn issue an eminent domain decree, then buy up the ROW from the "reverted" property owners, even if one of those "reverts" is the real estate arm of the original railroad company. [quote]QUOTE: Lobbying and frivolous lawsuits cost money for the originator of the lawsuit or lobbying. There can't be a large public support for the new line, or the politicos being lobbyed will need some REAL payoff to bury the new line[/quote] The Class I's have deeper pockets than most venture capitalists for such actions. Just show a display of legal resistance, and investors will drift elsewhere. [quote]QUOTE: And I hate to try to bring you into the 21st century, but the big boom days of the railroads was over a long time ago.[/quote] And here all this time we thought "today's railroads" were the hot item on Wall Street. So which is it, then or now? [quote]QUOTE: And those "Sucker American Taxpayers" aren't going to put up with a big investment in a rail line where one already exists. Especially after enduring the cuts in Medicare, Drug Programs, and Social Security, to name a few. And hearing "established railroad spokespeople speak in terms of an expectation of private investment paying for new railroad construction" is the main thing keeping the railroads from expanding capacity any faster. The railroad profits are paying the bill for the upgrades. [/quote] The American taxpayers don't have a direct say in expenditures, only an indirect say via their elected representatives. That's why organized lobbying beats one man one vote hands down. And there are no "cuts" in your social welfare programs as you state, rather a reduction in the trending rate of increases. And railroad profits are not being reinvested in those areas where those profits originated for the most part, otherwise all of Montana would have been triple tracked by now. [quote]QUOTE: Yes, we've noticed that you mentioned "incentives" before. Every time you've left out one important point: what supposed "incentives" could the government offer private investors to put up the money to finance this building or rebuilding? And how much more will it cost the railroads?[/quote] Gee, didn't you read the DM&E press releases regarding the 2.5 billion loan guarantee? Ever heard of land grants? Maintenance tax credits? Transportation user fees? That last one would be apt, start taxing the fuel railroads use and create a trust fund for new open access railroads! [quote]QUOTE: You've made so many statements that leave nothing but questions[/quote] Well, you can see that it walks like a duck, etc, yet in your mind you have no idea what it could possibly be, because unless the duck actually walked up to you, grabbed you by the collar, looked you square in the eye, and yelled right into your face "I AM A DUCK!" you still couldn't fathom that the duck was actually a duck. And even after all that, there would be this nagging little voice in your head saying "Was that really a duck, or was the 'duck' lying to me about what it really is?" Trying to explain things to Tom is like............... [IMG]http://www.deephousepage.com/smilies/deadhorse.gif[/IMG]
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