...high speed rail while we're becoming a third world country when it comes to transportation thanks to Republicans who only open their wallets when it comes to spending on wars.

I do not recall seeing "High Speed Rail" in the constitution, let alone, horse trail.

I'm not sure what to make of your high speed rail and the constitution comment. It makes no sense to me. However to move on the your point that actually made sense, is the cost associated with train travel.  In some markets, it's absolutely cheaper to fly, especially major routes. I think if HSR is to work, if would have to be regionally based and affordable to the public.

Want to build high speed trains?

"""I'm not sure what to make of your high speed rail and the constitution comment. It makes no sense to me"""

Along with the envirochondriacs have an obsession with trains. They hate private cars because the auto represents individual freedom. They want to build a train from Orlando to Miami now. So I would drive to the airport, pay for parking, schlep my bags to a train and wait for the train to leave. Then when I get to Miami I carry my bags off the train,go to the rental car counter or shuttle to the counter, wait in line, and drive a car to m destination.
Or I could get in my car and drive myself.

I live in LA. Would never take a bus, because they are too unreliable. Will take the train if it's connecting two points I'm traveling too, because they are reliable, but 99% of the time I drive. Took the bullet train in Japan. Loved it! Was glad I didn't have to drive or deal with the hassle of getting on a plane. Easy reservation. Easy boarding and departure and runs on time. Just made a trip to Vegas. Thought about flying but didn't want the hassle of getting to and from the airport and dealing with the security and boarding. Took me seven hours to drive back. I much rather had taken a bullet train if one were available. If one were available, I'd go to Vegas several times a year rather than once every four or five years.

Matt it is political.  

Running on someone Else's schedule sucks; plain and simple. I'd sooner see a massive movement toward "clean diesel" cars which are 30% better in fuel mileage than gasoline, and/or battery electrics costing us approximately $5.00 for every 200+miles. (Hybrids are STUPID! Twice the complexity and maintenance costs)  

It's not Obama that can't. It's the obstructionist Republican Party that places their politics ahead of the needs of the nation.  For the first time in several years, we've had a pragmatist in the white house, someone that was actually willing to work with republicans.  What happened, the Republican Party made obstructionism central to their strategy to regain the senate hand the presidency.nth every Sam republicans that shutdown the government, the very same republicans that threatened to have our nation default on our debt by refusing to raise the debt ceiling, the very same republicans that would still have us in war in the Middle East.

Just start a war with the US. Look at Germany and Japan post WWII. If the Korean War had been allowed to end the way it should have ended, the North would look like the South now. Too bad Obama and Maliki fucked up Iraq's sweet deal.

We are in the top 10 of the richest countries of the world. If the 1% wanted the Bullet Train, we'd have the bullet train, but they really don't cotton to the idea of rubbing elbows with the riff-raft!  

"If there is a need for HS trains, the private sector will come in and build it. The reason they don't is b/c there isn't any profit in it."

We were arguing about Harley's "Live wire"on the "moto-sport" blog site the other day. The Nay Sayers were grousing about its "limited range", I was commending the tradition steeped HD Company for stepping into a truly UN-traditional motorcycle platform with IMO a very sexy looking 'electric' Cruiser.  "Mission Motorcycles" has a brilliant battery electric 'Superbike'. 163 horsepower with 133 foot/pounds of torque from 0 to 6400 RPM. No gear box or clutch. No messy oil changes, air filters, valve adjustments, spark plugs, mufflers etc etc. Its only negatives are its current principle price, and its limited 80 to 130 mile range.   https://www.mission-motorcycles.com

The Mouse That Roared.

Life would be pleasant and easier

Remember the battery issues with early cell phones.

I wish Harley Davidson every success with their new offering, and I fully support the effort. Even as an "evil oil man", For the record I think there is a huge market in many metropolitan areas for battery operated transportation, and as a matter of fact I have investigated getting into the business in areas that I believe scream for this technology, places like San Jose Costa Rica, Bogota, Medellin, and Cali Colombia which are all located in high mountain valleys where gasoline is so expensive it amounts to 10-20% of many household budgets, and where people rarely drive more that 10-20 miles at a time.

The problem of course is that batteries, and their manufacture and disposal create a whole new set of problems in themselves, but I believe if the technology is valid, the market will find a way.

No, not the one on his head, I meant his point about leaving it to the private sector to decide whether to build high speed trains. From the DC metro system to the California train to nowhere, they make no economic sense at all.  

I wish some of the motorheads on the moto-sport blog site I visit were as open to the technology. They moan about the absence of the 'roar' from an internal combustion engine under load. I welcome the absence of that "drone" as your motoring on the freeway, the unending cacophony of metal against metal moving parts at a stop light, and the sonic early warning of your approach to every revenue happy traffic cop.

The biggest improvement realized in cell phone life came from the change from the analog network to digital networks. In addition to requiring more power to transmit in FM, the Analog phones were quite "dumb". Newer digital phones use less power to transmit, reduce their transmit power dynamically to the minimum level needed to maintain a connection and are smarter about using less power during "idling". All of the electronics uses less power as well.

I have to confess, growing up with bikes, I like the throaty roar of a Hog, but in a city of millions, the noise and stink of millions of them greatly diminishes the quality of life.

IMO, when the manufacturers make a product that the public likes, the market will take care of itself. I will continue to maintain however that batteries themselves will cause a brand new set of problems, I personally think that nat gas may be a better fix for this country, but electric has it's place, and as you may remember a few years back I was looking into getting distribution rights into a line of electric bikes made in China, that I was going to distribute in Latin America. I still think the idea has merit, I was just hooked up with the wrong manufacturer.

For that pesky rubber tire