Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.
Besides, Wisconsin would have surrendered long before the first Russian bomber could have gotten off it's Siberian runway!
You so sure? Especially back in the day when Madison had its own nuclear arsenal? Back when it meant shooting a Genie rocket at a Russian bomber over the heads of the Canadians?
Not widely talked about, and not an official historical fact, but there was a time when Dane County Regional Airport was home to an air defense squadron, and back in the day, air defense had to be tactical nuclear because there wasn't anything else.
There was quite an extensive bomber defense at one time, integrating interceptor jets in places like Madison, Nike rockets in places like Northbrook, Illinois, defense radars, and computers like SAGE, which were much like modern desktop PC's in that you could interact with them through keyboard and video screen and didn't need punch cards, but back then a PC ran on vacuum tubes and filled most of a concrete building.
What happened to the bomber defense is that the Navy felt left out of the strategic nuclear weapon arena, and the Navy version of a long-range nuclear strike, long before the Polaris missile, was to take a single-engine propeller-driven Douglas Skyraider, hang a nuclear bomb and a long range fuel tank off the weapons pylons, and fly this off an aircraft carrier. Apparently the Navy ran war games against the Army Nike battery in South El Monte, California, and they found they could fly low enough to come in under the radar, and after that the enthusiasm for bomber defense waned, especially with the development of ballistic missiles and the loss of homeowner enthusiasm for having tactical nuclear air defense arsenals in their back yards.
If GM "killed the electric car", what am I doing standing next to an EV-1, a half a block from the WSOR tracks?
Ahem, back to Al Perlman,There was a good article in Trains years back about Al Perlman. He sounded like he was pretty rough to work for.
Ahem, back to Al Perlman,
There was a good article in Trains years back about Al Perlman. He sounded like he was pretty rough to work for.
The other visionary at the time, Mr Brosnan, seems to have been rougher to work for, based on what I've read.
Ahem, back to Al Pearlman,
There was a good article in Trains years back about Al Pearlman. He sounded like he was pretty rough to work for.
Yours In Model Railroading,
John
Littleton, CO
I'm very sceptical of anybody who preaches that they are in favor of tax reform, which usually translates to: "Close all of the tax loopholes and breaks except for those that lower MY taxes".
futuremodal wrote: Lost World wrote:Sadly, not even the most staunch conservatives (ie. republicans) these days talk of abolishing the 16th amendment--that's strictly the realm of the libertarian party, and we know how seriously they're taken. Oh how much we've regressed in forty plus years.You reminded me of a proposal former House Speaker Dennis Hasert made a few years ago, in which the IRS itself would be abolished. Probably some form of national consumption tax to replace the federal income tax, not real sure on the details. Sadly, the GOP-controlled Congress didn't followup on this enticement, and now the Dems are back in control, so whatever hope there was for real encouraging federal tax reform is gone.And how would this have affected the railroads?
Lost World wrote:Sadly, not even the most staunch conservatives (ie. republicans) these days talk of abolishing the 16th amendment--that's strictly the realm of the libertarian party, and we know how seriously they're taken. Oh how much we've regressed in forty plus years.
You reminded me of a proposal former House Speaker Dennis Hasert made a few years ago, in which the IRS itself would be abolished. Probably some form of national consumption tax to replace the federal income tax, not real sure on the details. Sadly, the GOP-controlled Congress didn't followup on this enticement, and now the Dems are back in control, so whatever hope there was for real encouraging federal tax reform is gone.
And how would this have affected the railroads?
I'm more concerned about how tax reform will affect my earning power as opposed to that of the RR's. I'm getting a little sick of having roughly 18% of my income stolen every week--and half of it going to pay for Social Security benefits for those currently enrolled. This, like so many other government entitlements, isn't managed in the manner that it was envisioned; merely patched up and barely floating like some leaking garbage scow. Kind of appropriate, actually, for as that one basketball player said years ago regarding the fate of his team, "The ship be sinkin'."
Reporter: "How low can it go?"
Answer: "Sky's the limit."
Or, to quote Hudson in the movie Aliens, "We're on an express elevator to hell, goin' down!"
jeaton wrote: The column to the left was the last part of a speech made by Eastern Airlines President Eddie Rickenbacher on April 12, 1962. Interestingly, he advocated repeal of the 16th Amendment of the US Constitution which clarified the right of the Federal Goverrnment to collect income taxes. He actually proposed this position as a means of ending the cold war between the US and the USSR as it would be left to the individual states to provide for the national defense. His position was that the USSR would then have to defeat each of the 52 states and since they could not get the US in one fell swope, they would no longer be interested in continuing the battle.
The column to the left was the last part of a speech made by Eastern Airlines President Eddie Rickenbacher on April 12, 1962. Interestingly, he advocated repeal of the 16th Amendment of the US Constitution which clarified the right of the Federal Goverrnment to collect income taxes. He actually proposed this position as a means of ending the cold war between the US and the USSR as it would be left to the individual states to provide for the national defense. His position was that the USSR would then have to defeat each of the 52 states and since they could not get the US in one fell swope, they would no longer be interested in continuing the battle.
I think the establishment of a common defense preceded the federal income tax by a few years, so the idea of abolishing the federal income tax does not necessarily correlate with a lack of military funding. We'd probably have a national sales tax on top of the usual tarriffs.
I can see it now. No federal taxes, two lane highways and 37 Class 1 railroads providing freight and passenger service to every city, town and crossroads in the country.
No, we'd still have 6 or so Class I's over current lines favoring imports over domestic rail shippers along with two lane roads, etc.
23 17 46 11
beaulieu wrote: MP173 wrote: Good reading.Interesting take on the 16th amendment! edCareful the information in the column to the left of his picture is from some one else.
MP173 wrote: Good reading.Interesting take on the 16th amendment! ed
Good reading.
Interesting take on the 16th amendment!
ed
Careful the information in the column to the left of his picture is from some one else.
"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics
MP173 wrote:Good reading.Interesting take on the 16th amendment! ed
wallyworld wrote: A talk given in 1962 is pretty heady stuff concerning what railroading would look like in the future. What surprised me was how accurate his vision was, considering these thoughts are 45 years old and approaching the half century mark. Also, considering the context of when this talk was given as the industry was going deeper into a period of upheaval...it strikes me that a few captains of railroading were also futurists.John Barringer comes to mind. Visionarys perhaps...one wonders what todays Presidents envision beyond the short shelf life of todays issues. http://www.econclubchi.org/History/Excerpts_AlfredEPerlman.pdf
A talk given in 1962 is pretty heady stuff concerning what railroading would look like in the future. What surprised me was how accurate his vision was, considering these thoughts are 45 years old and approaching the half century mark. Also, considering the context of when this talk was given as the industry was going deeper into a period of upheaval...it strikes me that a few captains of railroading were also futurists.John Barringer comes to mind. Visionarys perhaps...one wonders what todays Presidents envision beyond the short shelf life of todays issues.
http://www.econclubchi.org/History/Excerpts_AlfredEPerlman.pdf
The books THE MEN WHO LOVED TRAINS and THE WRECK OF THE PENN CENTRAL pretty much establish Perlman as the "idea man" at the Penn Central six years later, trapped between a balance-sheet-oriented lawyer (Stuart Saunders) and an aggressive CFO (David Bevan).
Thank you for the fascinating insight into this man's mind. He truly was a visionary. - a.s.
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