Next City, the nonprofit organization that produced this recent Super Bowl commercial parody, and other transit advocates claim that trains, buses, and even trolleys provide practical ways for people to travel between home and work, and places like church and the store. They say transit is affordable and helps the …
We knew President Obama would be late in submitting his fiscal year 2014 budget proposal. White House press secretary Jay Carney largely dismissed yesterday’s legal deadline, arguing for “substance over deadlines” when it comes to evaluating the President’s budget. Translation: There’s nothing to see here. However, Obama’s budget request is …
Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Ray LaHood is moving on. In an e-mail to DOT employees announcing his plans to leave, LaHood highlighted what he considers to be “remarkable accomplishments” during his four years leading the agency: We helped jumpstart the economy and put our fellow Americans back to work …
Bad ideas never seem to die. But the proposal to create a national infrastructure bank to federally fund transportation and infrastructure projects with taxpayer dollars is one such idea that President Obama and lawmakers in the 113th Congress should put to rest. A recent Politico article noted that the departure …
President Obama hinted toward at least one aspect of his second-term agenda during yesterday’s inaugural address: more transportation “investment.” No surprise there. Obama’s past budget requests, State of the Union speeches, and the American Jobs Act of 2011 plan have all been peppered with calls for increased federal spending on …
In response to President Obama’s press conference last week, House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D–MD) claimed, “Clearly we need additional [spending] cuts. But…revenues have not been resolved.” Wait a minute. Revenues have not been resolved? My, how quickly one’s memory can fade. Lest we forget the fiscal cliff deal, hastily …
While many Americans resolve to make 2013 the year they really do slim down, exercise more, and spend less, Congress could afford to commit to a few such resolutions of its own. Call them budget resolutions—something Congress hasn’t had in a while. Here are five suggestions: Cut spending. The federal …
Transportation agencies and programs including the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Amtrak, and other transit stand to benefit handsomely from the Senate’s $60.4 billion Hurricane Sandy spending bill, which it will consider this week. Though cast as disaster relief, much of the bill’s spending would not reach …
“We make some tough spending cuts on things that we don’t need; and then we ask the wealthiest Americans to pay a slightly higher tax rate. And that’s a principle I won’t compromise on.” At yesterday’s fiscal cliff campaign stop in Redford, Michigan, President Obama delivered these remarks and hammered …
