Comments on: Obama’s Engaged With Transit More in 9 Months than Bush Did in 8 Years http://la.streetsblog.org/2009/10/07/obama%e2%80%99s-engaged-with-transit-more-in-9-months-than-bush-did-in-8-years/ Covering Los Angeles's livable streets movement Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:06:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: MDWhite http://la.streetsblog.org/2009/10/07/obama%e2%80%99s-engaged-with-transit-more-in-9-months-than-bush-did-in-8-years/comment-page-1/#comment-37471 MDWhite Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:21:58 +0000 http://la.streetsblog.org/?p=14241#comment-37471 ...and, if memory serves, didn't the non-smoking, animal-loving vegetarian Adolf Hitler build the Autobahn? Context, folks, let keep it all in context. …and, if memory serves, didn’t the non-smoking, animal-loving vegetarian Adolf Hitler build the Autobahn? Context, folks, let keep it all in context.

]]> By: MDWhite http://la.streetsblog.org/2009/10/07/obama%e2%80%99s-engaged-with-transit-more-in-9-months-than-bush-did-in-8-years/comment-page-1/#comment-37461 MDWhite Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:18:39 +0000 http://la.streetsblog.org/?p=14241#comment-37461 Wow, I'm impressed...and didn't Mussolini make the trains run on time? Wow, I’m impressed…and didn’t Mussolini make the trains run on time?

]]> By: DJB http://la.streetsblog.org/2009/10/07/obama%e2%80%99s-engaged-with-transit-more-in-9-months-than-bush-did-in-8-years/comment-page-1/#comment-37381 DJB Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:10:50 +0000 http://la.streetsblog.org/?p=14241#comment-37381 I'd like to see Streetsblog add up all of the federal subsidies for various types of transportation and land use and determine where the balance of the influence lies. Compare it by Administration if you like. I don't know the answer myself, but I suspect that it is heavily biased towards suburbia and driving alone under both Democrats and Republicans. This is true when you consider the ARRA itself, for example, which has more highway than transit money in it. It's also true when you consider the mortgage interest tax deduction, which mostly, though not completely, goes to suburban homeowners. Hell, isn't the whole $700 billion bank bailout related to suburban homeownership too? (Are bikes or pedestrians in here anywhere?) Then add up the historical legacy of past subsidies, like paying for 90% of the interstate highway system (a move Obama has praised in speeches), military initiatives for (ahem) "stability" in the Middle East, etc. I don't think hope is the right posture to take with the Obama administration on more sustainable alternatives to driving and suburbia. Hope clearly won't be enough for change. He has to be pressured to do the right thing. The scale of change that's needed to protect the environment is more radical than Obama will be inclined to make on his own. I’d like to see Streetsblog add up all of the federal subsidies for various types of transportation and land use and determine where the balance of the influence lies. Compare it by Administration if you like.

I don’t know the answer myself, but I suspect that it is heavily biased towards suburbia and driving alone under both Democrats and Republicans. This is true when you consider the ARRA itself, for example, which has more highway than transit money in it. It’s also true when you consider the mortgage interest tax deduction, which mostly, though not completely, goes to suburban homeowners. Hell, isn’t the whole $700 billion bank bailout related to suburban homeownership too? (Are bikes or pedestrians in here anywhere?)

Then add up the historical legacy of past subsidies, like paying for 90% of the interstate highway system (a move Obama has praised in speeches), military initiatives for (ahem) “stability” in the Middle East, etc.

I don’t think hope is the right posture to take with the Obama administration on more sustainable alternatives to driving and suburbia. Hope clearly won’t be enough for change. He has to be pressured to do the right thing. The scale of change that’s needed to protect the environment is more radical than Obama will be inclined to make on his own.

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