Here’s a positive sign that the tide is shifting in America toward more sustainable methods of transit. From the Chicago Tribune:
Reflecting the increasing strain of gridlocked traffic, a majority of Chicago-area residents think improving bus and train service is so important to the region that repairing and expanding expressways and toll roads should take a back seat, a Tribune/WGN poll shows.
Most suburbanites support investing more in mass transit than roads, sharing the long-held stance of a large majority of city residents, the poll found. Suburban residents also said they are driving less and taking more advantage of expanded suburban train and bus service in communities where the automobile has been king.
Drivers who said they would back spending more on mass transit cited the growing stress associated with congestion; high gasoline prices; and, to a lesser degree, the environmental and financial benefits of riding transit instead of inhaling belching emissions from cars.
The editors of the Chicago Tribune have an interesting take on why we keep electing the same leaders in Illinois:
Evidently, it’s Stockholm syndrome, the tendency of some hostages to bond with their captors. How else to explain Illinoisans’ habit of re-electing lawmakers who chronically spend and borrow billions more than taxpayers supply? The result: huge debts and unfunded obligations that will make this an unaffordable state for employers and workers to build a future.
They want us to snap out of it and clean house in the next election. And they’re running a series of editorials aimed at convincing voters to do just that. The first one — “A call to arms” — ran last Sunday, December 27. Today’s editorial is “Splurge. Borrow. Repeat.” While they’re obviously talking about state government, I think this can be applied to other levels of government as well — specifically in regards to fiscal irresponsibility:
If you enjoy the political culture as is — with the next corruption scandal never far off and with your public officials borrowing future generations into penury in order to prop up today’s treacherously uncontrolled spending — then you should support candidates who’ll protect the status quo. If, however, the failure of too many politicians to make urgently needed reforms infuriates you, then reach for a broom.
We hope you’re among the millions who are infuriated. And we hope you’ll reach for that broom.
Politicians at all levels of government are addicted to debt. The City of Peoria paid almost 11 cents of every dollar toward debt service in 2009 — a percentage that will go up in 2010 as the city cuts operational costs while simultaneously taking on more long-term debt. The next City Council election is in 2011 when all the at-large council representatives come up for reelection.
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