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A History Of Wrecking Things

Most everyone has heard or read about the tragic wreck that happened on the Washington, D.C., area Metro Transit Red Line earlier this week. Let me say straight up that I'm not trying to make light of this event but it does provide a vivid example of how government runs things.

National Transportation Safety Board officials said the system failed to heed a 2006 warning to upgrade or eliminate its oldest train cars, including the lead car of the train that slammed into another train Monday, killing nine people. Despite NTSB concerns that the 30-year-old cars couldn't withstand a crash, the officials said the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority didn't act. --from the Wall Street Journal article here

Public transportation, light rail in particular, is being promoted by some groups and politicians as an answer to traffic headaches in many metropolitan areas. However, reality met with the law of unintended consequences earlier this week. The dangers lurking in these outdated, overused cars in use by the DC Metro Transit were well known by the authorities. So why wasn't action taken to help prevent a disaster like the one on Monday? A glaring, disturbing pattern, year after year, is a primary culprit. The pattern of insufficient funding for the upkeep of the Metro Transit cars. In other words, caring for the rail system was RATIONED because public funding was routinely cut. We are told it will cost, for example, 300 million dollars to build a light rail system but extreme environmentalists and politicians often forget about those pesky little things called maintenance, operating expenses, and depreciation. Why should they care? Unlike in the business world, Congress will just raise taxes or ask the Federal Reserve to print more money if it turns out to be an ill-conceived plan. The Light Rail Myth 
 

One could also consider the congressional oversight of the mortgage and financial markets another train wreck that resulted in the market meltdown of the past couple of years. The federal government demanded that banks and lending institutions make bad loans even though many had warned again and again that a financial markets and housing crash would ensue. A Completely Preventable Crisis

I suggest that the Metro Transit tragedy is also a preview of what ObamaCare would be like. As the population continues to increase, and the incentives for innovation are obliterated by a national or socialized health care system, funding will be a perpetual concern for politicians. Which line will get the needed maintenance? Why spend needed money on repairing older models (senior citizens) or defective cars (people)? Rationing of care will become urgent as ObamaCare slides into an unsustainable bottomless pit of despair. Kiss Your Access Goodbye

Unfortunately, Monday's tragedy was not the first nor will it be the last disaster coming down the line from Washington, D.C. How many more train wrecks, literally and figuratively, must we endure before realizing that public funding of industry will always, uh, jump the tracks?
 
**Originally posted on my companion blog MrWebsmith's Reports
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Forget About Aisle 7 - Clean Up On Pennsylvania Avenue!

Happens every day somewhere in this great land. A parent positions the shopping cart too close to a shelf full of spaghetti sauce filled glass jars. A child reaches out and, you guessed it, havoc ensues on Aisle 7 at the supermarket. The normal course of action is to paige the college kid working there every afternoon, you know, mop and bucket dude - on the double! Unfortunately this is not your ordinary supermarket. You will find no canned veggies, no produce area brimming with bright colors, no frozen foods section. Even though it's the largest supermarket ever built the only item in stock here is pork. Thousands upon thousands of packages, all shapes and sizes, all of it pork!

 
Over 400 employees work in this enterprise. A few of them do their jobs to the best of their abilities, keeping in mind that the owners have trusted them with the place. Today, January 28, 2009, late in the afternoon, 244 workers decided everything in the store belonged to them! Imagine going to the grocery store, being met at the door by an employee who announced a new store policy: All customers must now pay for your purchases at the door, we will take your list of items, debate about the nutritional value of them, and eventually deliver said groceries to your place of residence. Would you continue to shop at that store?
 
 
Now picture this - you are not the customer, you are the owner, and have just been told that as soon as your employees feel like it they will let you into the store! We the people of this more perfect union ARE THE OWNERS of the House of Representatives and were just told to buzz off by individuals who are employed by us, to work for us and not against us. It's time for the memo to go out to all employees. By the way, 244 of you will be called into the manager's office for a review - yes, we need to talk.
 
 
If your name is on the "YEAS" list here:  http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll046.xml#N then you have an appointment with management to discuss your poor peformance. Furthermore, if any employee persists in such insubordination your employment will be terminated.
 
 
Would the head cashier (Speaker of the House, in more professional terms), Ms. Nancy Pelosi begin the process of cleaning out your desk and locker. After your meeting with the owners in 2010 you will no longer be allowed on the premises. 243 additional meetings, with similar outcomes will be conducted in the near future. We the people (the owners) are already taking applications for dependable, responsible individuals to fill your positions.
 
 
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