Comments on: After the fare hike vote, finger-pointing and funding proposals http://secondavenuesagas.com/2010/07/29/after-the-fare-hike-vote-finger-pointing-and-funding-proposals/ A New York City Subway Blog Sat, 26 May 2012 12:21:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Alon Levy http://secondavenuesagas.com/2010/07/29/after-the-fare-hike-vote-finger-pointing-and-funding-proposals/#comment-87599 Alon Levy Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:53:45 +0000 http://secondavenuesagas.com/?p=6543#comment-87599 They may be a balance, but they're not true. Cue Krugman on the shape of the Earth... They may be a balance, but they’re not true. Cue Krugman on the shape of the Earth…

]]> By: Larry Littlefield http://secondavenuesagas.com/2010/07/29/after-the-fare-hike-vote-finger-pointing-and-funding-proposals/#comment-87567 Larry Littlefield Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:52:53 +0000 http://secondavenuesagas.com/?p=6543#comment-87567 Incompetence or greed? Some got more service, updated equipment, and richer pensions. Others paid lower fares and lower taxes, or got more spending on things other than transit. The result is long run fiscal disaster. Which doesn't affect you if you have died off or moved out. If you assume some kind of decency, you blame those who benefitted. If you don't, you blame those who allowed it to happen to them. Incompetence or greed?

Some got more service, updated equipment, and richer pensions. Others paid lower fares and lower taxes, or got more spending on things other than transit.

The result is long run fiscal disaster. Which doesn’t affect you if you have died off or moved out. If you assume some kind of decency, you blame those who benefitted. If you don’t, you blame those who allowed it to happen to them.

]]> By: Marc Shepherd http://secondavenuesagas.com/2010/07/29/after-the-fare-hike-vote-finger-pointing-and-funding-proposals/#comment-87551 Marc Shepherd Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:24:14 +0000 http://secondavenuesagas.com/?p=6543#comment-87551 A better way of putting it is that legislative incompetence <em>vis à vis</em> transit has been going on so long that it isn’t “generational” at all. A better way of putting it is that legislative incompetence vis à vis transit has been going on so long that it isn’t “generational” at all.

]]> By: bob http://secondavenuesagas.com/2010/07/29/after-the-fare-hike-vote-finger-pointing-and-funding-proposals/#comment-87550 bob Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:21:39 +0000 http://secondavenuesagas.com/?p=6543#comment-87550 We're looking at a bigger issue, that there is less money for anything, and will continue to be. It's just easier and easier for those with money to go elsewhere where there is low or no taxes, and just come to visit. Remember the commuter tax? Notice how no one proposes to restore that? Companies do the same thing to avoid higher costs (especially health care costs in the US). Transportation of goods has gotten extremely cheap and tariffs are pretty much eliminated. So it's a worldwide race to the bottom. We're just seeing it first. We’re looking at a bigger issue, that there is less money for anything, and will continue to be. It’s just easier and easier for those with money to go elsewhere where there is low or no taxes, and just come to visit. Remember the commuter tax? Notice how no one proposes to restore that?

Companies do the same thing to avoid higher costs (especially health care costs in the US). Transportation of goods has gotten extremely cheap and tariffs are pretty much eliminated.

So it’s a worldwide race to the bottom. We’re just seeing it first.

]]> By: KB http://secondavenuesagas.com/2010/07/29/after-the-fare-hike-vote-finger-pointing-and-funding-proposals/#comment-87545 KB Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:55:38 +0000 http://secondavenuesagas.com/?p=6543#comment-87545 If NYC were a city-state transit would probably be better off, at least inside the boundaries. But succession won't happen any time soon. If NYC were a city-state transit would probably be better off, at least inside the boundaries. But succession won’t happen any time soon.

]]> By: Larry Littlefield http://secondavenuesagas.com/2010/07/29/after-the-fare-hike-vote-finger-pointing-and-funding-proposals/#comment-87536 Larry Littlefield Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:33:11 +0000 http://secondavenuesagas.com/?p=6543#comment-87536 They are a balance for my usual slams on older generations who have done this. The question is, when will the victims rise up and do something about it. And since most of the grabs of the past were set in stone as "contractural" (ie. debts, pensions, etc.) can anything be done while the current legal system remains in place? They are a balance for my usual slams on older generations who have done this.

The question is, when will the victims rise up and do something about it. And since most of the grabs of the past were set in stone as “contractural” (ie. debts, pensions, etc.) can anything be done while the current legal system remains in place?

]]> By: Al D http://secondavenuesagas.com/2010/07/29/after-the-fare-hike-vote-finger-pointing-and-funding-proposals/#comment-87534 Al D Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:26:59 +0000 http://secondavenuesagas.com/?p=6543#comment-87534 Why do we need a state government, anyway? Why do we need a state government, anyway?

]]> By: Marc Shepherd http://secondavenuesagas.com/2010/07/29/after-the-fare-hike-vote-finger-pointing-and-funding-proposals/#comment-87531 Marc Shepherd Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:17:11 +0000 http://secondavenuesagas.com/?p=6543#comment-87531 Legislative indifference (or downright hostility) to transit goes back many decades, and therefore, cannot be blamed on “younger generations.” And no, elections aren’t rigged. It’s just that there are too few citizens who base their vote on a candidate’s transit savvyness. Legislative indifference (or downright hostility) to transit goes back many decades, and therefore, cannot be blamed on “younger generations.” And no, elections aren’t rigged. It’s just that there are too few citizens who base their vote on a candidate’s transit savvyness.

]]> By: Adam G http://secondavenuesagas.com/2010/07/29/after-the-fare-hike-vote-finger-pointing-and-funding-proposals/#comment-87530 Adam G Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:00:37 +0000 http://secondavenuesagas.com/?p=6543#comment-87530 You can acknowledge that New York's electoral system (and in particular its ballot access law) is broken without gratuitous slams at "the younger generations", who are being hurt by all of this just as badly as you are, thank you very much. You can acknowledge that New York’s electoral system (and in particular its ballot access law) is broken without gratuitous slams at “the younger generations”, who are being hurt by all of this just as badly as you are, thank you very much.

]]> By: Larry Littlefield http://secondavenuesagas.com/2010/07/29/after-the-fare-hike-vote-finger-pointing-and-funding-proposals/#comment-87523 Larry Littlefield Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:41:35 +0000 http://secondavenuesagas.com/?p=6543#comment-87523 “The riding public is footing more and more of the bill to keep our transit system running, and all the while the services they rely on are disappearing before their very eyes,” he said. “If our elected officials in Albany think the riding public is going to stomach massive service cuts and a whopping fare hike during an election year, they’ve got another thing coming.” “Elected officials who simply point fingers are dodging their responsibility to ensure our region’s transit service remains safe, affordable, and reliable. Voters angry about the recent service cuts, especially bus riders on Long Island, should ask candidates how they plan on dealing with the MTA’s financial crisis.” People need to stop making statements like this as if they are true. In most cases, there will be no alternative candidate on the ballot in the primary, which only special interests vote in anyway, and even if there is the press will not write about what they have to say. In the general election, if people show up to vote at all, they often don't bother with the legislature. And if the do, they will be unwillng to vote for a candidate from the other major party. The question need to be confronted: are people, particularly those in younger generations, getting what they deserve due to their own sloth and indifference? Or is the electoral system so rigged that elections are a near sham, and some other kind of action is necessary? “The riding public is footing more and more of the bill to keep our transit system running, and all the while the services they rely on are disappearing before their very eyes,” he said. “If our elected officials in Albany think the riding public is going to stomach massive service cuts and a whopping fare hike during an election year, they’ve got another thing coming.”

“Elected officials who simply point fingers are dodging their responsibility to ensure our region’s transit service remains safe, affordable, and reliable. Voters angry about the recent service cuts, especially bus riders on Long Island, should ask candidates how they plan on dealing with the MTA’s financial crisis.”

People need to stop making statements like this as if they are true. In most cases, there will be no alternative candidate on the ballot in the primary, which only special interests vote in anyway, and even if there is the press will not write about what they have to say.

In the general election, if people show up to vote at all, they often don’t bother with the legislature. And if the do, they will be unwillng to vote for a candidate from the other major party.

The question need to be confronted: are people, particularly those in younger generations, getting what they deserve due to their own sloth and indifference? Or is the electoral system so rigged that elections are a near sham, and some other kind of action is necessary?

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