House GOPer Goes ‘All Aboard for Gun Rights on Amtrak’
Rep. Peter King (NY), the senior Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, has strongly criticized a Senate-approved provision that would force Amtrak to allow guns on board -- but some of King's colleagues fired back yesterday by introducing a counterpart to the Senate's proposal.
October 15, 2009
The Oversight Gap in Team Obama’s High-Speed Rail Plan
The White House's economic stimulus law included several large new spending programs, from $4 billion for broadband to $2.4 billion for electric car batteries. But nothing has aroused so much interest -- and criticism -- as the $8 billion for American high-speed rail.
October 15, 2009
Today’s Headlines
The Wall Street Journal editorial board and its, uh, actual reporters don’t see eye-to-eye on the climate issue (Grist) Not a joke: Now that the developed world is consuming less of its oil, the Saudi government wants compensation (NYT) The White House economic recovery effort is slated to release its first round of job-creation estimates … Continued
October 15, 2009
New Orleans GOPer Still Sore at Jindal For Saying No to High-Speed Rail
Louisiana Republican Rep. Anh Cao (R) recently appeared with local Democrats at a press conference urging Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) to reconsider his refusal to support a high-speed rail link between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. But it seems that Cao hasn't given up on prodding his fellow Republican.
October 14, 2009
Electrification in the Climate Bill: Thinking Bigger Than a Car
At today's Senate energy committee hearing on climate change, there was much talk about electricity -- how it could be generated under a cap-and-trade system and how prices could remain within consumers' reach even as the nation begins to put a price on carbon.
October 14, 2009
What Washington Can Do For — And Alongside — Metro Area Planners
At one point midway through yesterday's Brookings Institution forum on metropolitan planning, moderator Chris Leinberger quipped that Portland was deliberately not represented. It's not that Portland isn't a model of sustainability, he explained, but that "we all have Portland fatigue" -- that urban policy thinkers are eager to expand the models of local development beyond Oregon.
October 14, 2009
Today’s Headlines
Mark your calendar, ’cause the Senate climate bill hearings start on Oct. 27 (Politico) Some states are declining to post road signs that note when projects are being funded by federal stimulus money (NYT) Breaking down the Kerry-Graham op-ed on climate cooperation — is it really a “game-changer” or just a sign of unnecessary compromises … Continued
October 14, 2009
Six States Seek Stimulus Aid to Add Rail to Congestion-Plagued I-81
Interstate 81 stretches for 846 miles through six states -- New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee -- and serves as a crucial corridor for freight traffic. But crucial doesn't mean safe or enjoyable, and I-81 is an undisputed hotbed of traffic accidents.
October 13, 2009
Senior House GOPer: We Shouldn’t Force Amtrak to Allow Guns on Board
Rep. Peter King (NY), the House Homeland Security Committee's senior Republican, has joined panel chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) in urging congressional leaders to abandon a pending provision that would threaten Amtrak with loss of federal funds if it did not allow guns in checked baggage.
October 13, 2009
Obama Ally Breaks With White House on Timing of New Transport Bill
Sen. Dick Durbin (IL), the No. 2 Democratic leader in the upper chamber of Congress and a close ally of the president, broke with the White House yesterday and called for a new long-term transportation bill to pass by early next year -- not after the Obama administration's preferred 18-month delay.
October 13, 2009