“Because if your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down their throats.”
Take electrified rail, for instance. Here’s a sad report from Dean Baker of The American Prospect, one of the best reporters going today:
I was shocked to discover in a conversation with a congressional staffer that rebuilding the country’s train system is a topic that is strictly verboten on Capitol Hill. I was reminded of this when I read that a French train had set a new speed record of 357 miles per hour. Trains are far more fuel efficient than planes. Even at much slower speeds than this new French train, service across the Northeast and between the Midwest and Northeast can be very time competitive with air travel, after factoring in travel times to and from airports and security searches. It is remarkable that politicians don’t even have trains on their radar screens.
And, if you haven’t seen the video of what an electrified train can do, check this out.
