Stuff Libertarians Say !!!

Joe Biden said this.

I don't know how I missed this, but Joe Biden, using his own lips, teeth, tongue and throat, under his own free will, made the following statement a few weeks ago:

“Every single great idea that has marked the 21st century, the 20th century and the 19th century has required government vision and government incentive,” he said. “In the middle of the Civil War you had a guy named Lincoln paying people $16,000 for every 40 miles of track they laid across the continental United States. … No private enterprise would have done that for another 35 years.”

You can go here to experience a joyous rebuttal from The Cato Institute:

Early American railroads were built almost entirely with private funds. These railroads provided such superior transportation that by 1850 they had put most toll roads and canals out of business. Individual states still competed with one another for business—and may have offered various favors to the railroads serving those states…. For the most part, however, no federal and few state subsidies went to railroads in the eastern United States.

But what about other areas?

Whenever politicians interfered in the railroad business, however, corruption and inefficiency inevitably occurred.....There was no money to be made from operating a railroad through a desolate wasteland, yet the federal government rewarded railroad contractors with big subsidies: a thirty-year loan at below market interest rates; twenty sections (12,800 acres) of government-owned land for every mile of track; and an additional subsidy of $48,000 for every mile of track laid in mountainous regions.

Thomas Durant, Oakes Ames, and other officers of the Union Pacific Railroad, which went a thousand miles west from Council Bluffs, Iowa, started the Credit Mobilier company in 1867 and retained it to do the construction. Credit Mobilier distributed to shareholders profits estimated at between $7 million and $23 million, depleting the Union Pacific’s resources. In an effort to stop congressional investigations, the officers bribed Speaker of the House James G. Blaine and other congressmen with Credit Mobilier stock. Seldom modest about their thievery, congressmen voted themselves a 50 percent pay raise. The Union Pacific Railroad fell deep into debt, without enough revenue from passengers or shippers, and went bankrupt in 1893.

Here's a Cato transportation timeline entry on all you need to know about the Credit Mobilier scandal:

1872:  The New York Sun exposes the Credit Mobilier scandal, perhaps the largest business subsidy scandal of the 19th century.8 Credit Mobilier is a construction company financially controlled by the leaders of the Union Pacific Railroad that makes huge profits at taxpayer expense. Congressman Oakes Ames (R-MA), who is an agent of Credit Mobilier and part-owner, distributes shares of the firm's stock to members of Congress at a discounted value. In return, those members treat Credit Mobilier favorably in a variety of ways, such as by voting to appropriate funds for the firm. The scandal illustrates the corruption that usually results when the government intervenes in the economy and subsidizes businesses.

If that's not enough, George Will opens a great column with Biden's quote.  In this case, its about our next transportation-subsidy-scandal-waiting-to-happen....The Chevy Volt. 
You might think that you've never purchased a Chevy Volt.  But you have.  Yes, you have. 

The federal government, although waist-deep in red ink, offers another bribe: Any purchaser can get a tax credit of up to 50 percent of the cost (up to $2,000) of an extra-powerful (240-volt) charger. California, although so strapped it recently issued IOUs to vendors, offers a $5,000 cash rebate for which Volt buyers are not eligible but purchasers of Nissan's electric Leaf are. Go figure.

In April, in a television commercial and a Wall Street Journal column headlined "The GM Bailout: Paid Back in Full," GM's then-CEO Ed Whitacre said "we have repaid our government loan, in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule." Rubbish.

GM, which has received almost $50 billion in government subventions, repaid a $6.7 billion loan using other federal funds, a TARP-funded escrow account. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) called this a "TARP money shuffle." A commentator compared it to "paying off your Visa credit card with your MasterCard."

Meretricious accounting and deceptive marketing are inevitable when government and its misnamed "private sector" accomplices foist state capitalism on an appalled country. But those who thought the ethanol debacle defined outer limits of government foolishness pertaining to automobiles were, alas, mistaken.

And finally, Reason magazine jumps on the dogpile with this:

What was the "government vision and government incentive" that produced the assembly line?Motion-picturefilm?  Airconditioning? The electric guitar?

How about the personalcomputer? The mobile phone? Non-violentresistance?  Aspirin?

Though Biden is generally not to be taken seriously, the government-centrism of his comments are an accurate reflection of his boss, and part of the reason why next Tuesday is going to be an awkward day
of work at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

As it turns out, last Tuesday was an awkward day of work at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  Unfortunately, Democrats were replaced by Republicans.  Republicans who favor many of the same economic interventions but for different industries. 
Bummer. 

Oh well.  Joe Biden really did make that statement.  No eggs were thrown and no one laughed because it went largely unreported and unanalyzed in The Mainstream Media. 
Go here to read about The Mainstream Media's quest for a journalism subsidy. 

Joe Biden - A Real Man Of Genius

A belated review of the 9-12 rally and protest, from Liberty Magazine

The December issue of Liberty magazine had a short piece by Martin Morse Wooster, an Amtrak traveller who happened to be in The Town Of The Cow on September 12 last year. 
I know, I know.  I'll get it out of the way now.... 
What the hell is a libertarian contributor to Liberty magazine doing on Amtrak, when there are so many less expensive, less harmful, less wasteful and less offensive forms of transport available?  Lordy have mercy, he could've brought starving orphans in from Haiti and paid them to pull him around on a rickshaw, and it would've seemed downright egalitarian as compared to freakin' Amtrak.  Hit that link to see where I'm coming from. 
Oh well.  I've had to express contrition for allowing vendors to take me to Cowboy games at the Debt Star.  I've expressed remorse for benefitting from farm subsidies in my wayward youth.  A few times I've even shipped freight on a union-operated LTL carrier.  We all have skeletons in our closets, and all of our Sepulchres could benefit from Whitening.  I trust that Martin Morse Wooster will eventually have a Tiger Woods-style press conference to explain what he was doing on that vile train. 

Here goes:

Big tent — I’ve recently returned from an 11-day train vacation. One thing you learn when on long-distance trains is that whenever Amtrak changes crews, it’s time to get out and look around, in the hope of finding better (or at least different) food than Amtrak offers. So when I had an hour’s layover in Fort Worth, I decided to head for some tents nearby. They looked like a farmer’s market, and I’m always happy to support local farmers.

What I found was the Fort Worth 9/12 demonstration.

There’s been a good deal of press about tea parties, 9/12 rallies, and the like. I’m sure there are “fringy” people at some of these events, but it wouldn’t surprise me if journalists found the three weirdest people at a demonstration and used their remarks to paint a portrait of a frothing right-wing mob.

I didn’t see a mob in Fort Worth. The crowd, which was in the thousands, was civil. I didn’t see any banners comparing President Obama to Hitler or calling for killing anybody. There were many banners mocking the president, but the last I heard, questioning authority wasn’t yet a crime.

Most of the 9/12 people would say they were angry, and I talked to a woman who was proud to be “the angriest person in Stumptown, Texas.” But it’s important to note the difference between anger and rage. I didn’t see any red-faced screamers, or anyone who was about to pop a blood vessel. Most of the people I talked to were having a good time, marching in the rain on a muggy Saturday afternoon.

I didn’t take a count, but it appeared that the protesters were about equally opposed to the healthcare plan, the stimulus, and high taxes and big government in general. Some of the marchers had concerns that seemed a little eccentric to me (I wished I could find out the concerns of the gentleman whose banner read “No Cass Sunstein”), but I agreed with nearly everything the protesters said.

There were booths for several Republican candidates for the Texas state legislature as well as one Libertarian Party booth. But no one was marching to support a political party. All were against specific administration programs and big government in general.
(If you blow up the pic above, there is a Debra Medina sign on the right.  One other thing about that pic.  You can only see one protester's face, and he's in the botom right hand corner.  Note to Keith Olbermann: He ain't white.) 
As I left for the train, the marchers went to hear a speech by Fox News Channel commentator Andrew Napolitano. If his interview in Reason is typical of his thinking, Judge Napolitano seems like a sensible person. I’m sure he gave the marchers good advice.

I’m not a pundit, so I don’t know whether the 9/12 movement will amount to anything. But what I saw in Fort Worth is that there’s a lot of anger against the Obama administration’s relentless efforts to bloat the government. Most of that anger is justified. Administration strategists — and their allies in the press — who dismiss this anger or pre-tend that it doesn’t exist may find themselves looking for work in January 2013. — Martin Morse Wooster

That's the way I saw it.  A lot of concerned people voicing their discontent.  The problems still haven't been dealt with, and these are the only people offering serious objecting to the looting going on in Washington. 
And for those of you who participated....can you imagine being a writer for liberty-oriented periodicals, getting off a train to stretch your legs and find something to eat, and then walking into the middle of that protest?  It must have seemed surreal. 
Good essay from Mr. Wooster.  I've been waiting a long time for it to appear in the Liberty Online edition so I wouldn't have to re-type the whole thing. 
Here's a video they made to promote the event.  That's my friend Adrian Murray, giving them hell at the end. 

Don't your customers need a Yugo ??

For my Serbian friend Igor :

Here's a 1988 sales video extolling the mighty and numerous selling points of the Yugo, such as the 1.1-liter engine that roared with 54 horsepower at 5,000 rpm, the 19.5-second quarter-mile time "ensuring safe access to major highways," and "no expensive computer chips to diagnose or replace.

Yes, the Yugo. It can do the quarter in 19.5 seconds. I think Secretariat could do the quarter in 19.5 seconds. Ah, the glories of Socialist auto manufacturing ! !



A fresh coat of Whitening to Autoblog for resurrecting this one.

NO AID OR COMFORT TO THE ENEMY, NO WAY !

I'm probably as patriotic as the next person.
I think that we in the U.S. probably have the best system of government, as long as we don't convert it into a feed trough for friends of our upper level government employees.
I stand up for the National Anthem, and sing loudly.
I learned a long time ago that declaring perpetual allegiance to a concept is a bad idea. Anyone wanting you to stand up and recite a pledge is probably manipulating you. That's why I don't like the idea of a "pledge" of allegiance to a flag, or any other kind of loyalty oath.
Our national monuments are better than anyone else's national monuments.
I appreciate veterans.

Then there's this:

This is a trailer owned be Central Transport, a "Less Than Truckload" freight company. All of their trailers have the same flag and slogan on the back door.

(One other thing I believe in, and this comes from being a Boy Scout....if you're going to put the flag on something, you're supposed to keep it clean. And if you're going to fly the flag, and the flag gets tattered, you're supposed to take it down and burn it. If the right-wingers ever get their way, the driver of this truck will be prosecuted for flag desecration. Freakin' filthy. )

Now let's get to the point. I need for someone to explain this slogan to me, using little bitty words that I can understand.

"Support Our Troops Whenever We Go...."
Are the people at Central Transport encouraging us to support our troops whenever we go to war? Whenever the CT trucks are rolling? Whenever we go....potty?
This is vague, and needs clarification.

"No Aid of Comfort To the Enemy - No Way!"
That first sentence was a masterpiece of clarity compared to this one.
Are Central Transport drivers occasionally asked to attend housewarming fundraisers for Osama bin Laden? Are the CT freight terminals surrounded by Al-qaeda operatives who want to come inside for coffee and donuts? Do ABF, Estes, SAIA, and YRC sometimes try to make a fast buck by shipping nukes into Afghanistan? And Central Transport doesn't want any part of it?

I'm just wondering.

A note to Tyna with SAIA, mostly about the YRC Worldwide discount

One of our sales reps sent me a link to this WSJ article today:

As YRC Struggles, Rivals Stalk Clients

BY ALEX ROTH
YRC Worldwide Inc., one of the nation's biggest trucking companies, has been struggling in recent months as the recession has sapped demand for freight services. Now, in an industry known for its hardball tactics, YRC's competitors are piling on, trying to pick off its clients by telling them the company's weakness could put their shipments at risk.

The competitors are indeed piling on. I have to kick sales reps off the steps just to get in the office each morning.

YRC is the largest player in so-called less-than-truckload shipping, in which goods from several customers are consolidated on trucks and delivered through a nationwide series of distribution centers. The company, which operates the Yellow and Roadway trucking lines, has a 20% share of ...

And that's where the WSJ "preview" of the article ends, except for paid WSJ subscribers. Unless, of course, you have sense enough to use an internet search engine. You plug all of that last sentence into Google, and you can find where an outfit called Cargonews Asia has already scraped it (without attribution). Here's some more:

....has a 20% share of the $51 billion-a-year business. Though it says it can weather the economic storm, YRC's financial situation has become increasingly dire, amid losses stemming in part from what analysts say are underperforming acquisitions and problems integrating its national route networks. Last week it reported a 35 percent drop in second-quarter freight tonnage, a steeper decline than those of many rivals.

YRC's competitors can smell blood in the water. This is a huge opportunity for them. They take me to lunch, and at some point they give me the look that Baptist preachers used to have when they asked "If you were to die today, where would you spend eternity?" But instead, they ask "What are you going to do if YRC goes under?" "Are you going to have a lot of freight stuck on their docks?" "How have YRC's service levels been?"

Roadway had little or no debt when Yellow Freight bought them out a few years ago. Both were (and still are) union companies. The problems with integrating their national networks aren't an exaggeration, and neither are the issues with underperforming acquisitions. (Do a bit o'Googling on USF Bestway.) I haven't even mentioned the Teamsters Union, have I ?

If YRC goes under, that will leave ABF as the only union LTL carrier. I never thought I would see this day. (Do another bit o'Googling, and you'll also see that their competitors aren't shy about advertising that they have non-union drivers. I wonder why.) Despite my anti-union bias, I hope YRC can find a way to survive.

Here's some other stuff from further down the article:

SAIA, of Johns Creek, Georgia, sent some YRC customers a letter offering prices "equal to a 12 percent discount off the current pricing the [customer] currently has in place with any carrier" in the YRC group. A Saia official said the company wasn't necessarily singling out YRC customers and also offers rate cuts to customers of other competitors.

Note to Tyna with SAIA.....I haven't gotten that letter yet, and I'm looking forward to getting one. We need to talk. If ANYBODY gets another 12%, WE get another 12%.

Cash For Clunkers - Name That Economic Fallacy !

This is from John Stossel's ABC News blog. (The essay, not the picture.)

I've never seen this guy on TV since I don't watch much that isn't Tivo'd, but I'm a fan of his editorials, books, and website. It's sort of like being a fan of Winston Churchill's paintings, or Billy Bob Thornton's music. Here's Stossel on the Cash for Clunkers program:

Because sometimes, one billion isn’t enough.
The Obama Administration’s “Cash for Clunkers” program offers to buy used cars for $3,500 -$4,500 with taxpayer money. The government then destroys the “inefficient” used car. Not surprisingly, a lot of people want to sell their junk cars to the government. So many, in fact, that the $1 billion program has already run out of money.
Now it appears that Congress will ask not just for another billion, but another TWO billion. Look how generous Congress is with your money!

The idea is that by destroying used cars, people will buy new cars, which creates jobs. But this commits the “broken window fallacy”. That $3 billion taken from taxpayers to, essentially, destroy used cars now cannot be put towards college, or a new home, or new clothes, or anything else. Some used cars are no longer available for poor consumers to buy. If the “new car” market is helped by “Cash for Clunkers”, every other market is hurt because that $3 billion cannot be spent on anything else.

Here's Stossel's concise explanation of the Broken Windows fallacy, from an earlier post:

Economists call this the "broken window fallacy." In the 19th century, French economist Frederic Bastiat illustrated it with the story of a boy who breaks a shop window. At first the townspeople lament the loss, but then someone points out that the shopkeeper will have to spend money to replace the window. What the window maker earns, he will soon spend elsewhere. As that money circulates through town, new prosperity will bloom.
The fallacy, of course, lies in the fact that if the window had not been broken, the shopkeeper would have "replaced his worn-out shoes … or added another book to his library." The town gains nothing from the broken window.
This logic is lost on the stimulus promoters. I'm surprised they don't suggest that we prevent recessions by breaking lots of windows.

This is similar to the forklift program we took advantage of at my employer, Jukt Micronics. The government gave us a huge rebate in exchange for trading in our old planet-warming forklifts for new ones that also warm the planet, but not as quickly. That was their logic, anyway.

Which finally gets me to my point. We're dealing with a group of Chicago machine politicians who are looting The Treasury and giving the money to their contributors - in this case, the UAW and the Big 3 auto makers. They use the wholesome, environmentally-friendly bullshit to convince The Sheeple that this isn't a scam.

But isn't it an article of faith in the Mommy Party that we need fewer cars on the road and more use of public transportation?

Instead of the Broken Windows fallacy, that would make it a case of Anarchic Hand Syndrome.

Or perhaps Craniofacial Duplication.

And what if the money to repair the Broken Windows doesn't exist, and has to be printed on the spot? Instead of the Broken Windows fallacy, isn't this the Monopoly Money fallacy?

Anyway, I know something is wrong here, but what is it?

The Broken Windows Fallacy?

Anarchic Hand Syndrome?

Craniofacial Duplication?

or The Monopoly Money Fallacy?

Sometimes things are so wrong, one explanation can't cover it.

The Libertarian Party Of Texas And Toll Roads

From my new friend Robert Butler, the Executive Director of the Texas Libertarian Party:

Libertarians Put the Brakes on Toll Road Transportation Bill

Twitter and Facebook Play a Role

AUSTIN, TEXAS - July 2, 2009 - The Texas Legislature left a controversial new toll road bill pending in committee today and Libertarians are claiming a major victory in stopping a billion dollar scheme to use taxes and pension funds to pay for private monopolies and foreign management of Texas toll roads.

I don't have a problem with foreign management of anything. The best factories in China sometimes have Taiwanese management. I recently had to go to the Tarrant County Department Of Motor Vehicles, and that place could've been better managed with 1970's Soviet-influenced Bulgarian Bureaucrats. Sheesh. Someone remind me to do a post about the DOMV Chair Nazi.

But if outsiders can do the job for less, bring 'em on. Unless, of course, there's a monopoly.

Oh, wait....there's a monopoly.

Libertarians worked together with TURF, Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom, and Texans for Accountable Government (TAG), to stop what some have dubbed the largest tax increase in Texas history.

Robert is new to us, and is still learning our ways and our habits. The largest tax increase in Texas history hasn't been formally legislated. It's coming in the form of printing money to pay government expenses, and will show up in your neighborhood soon. But I'm quibbling here.

I like those TURF and TAG acronyms. Someone should start a group called "Never Open -Super Highways In Texas".

On Wednesday morning, Libertarians from across the state converged at the Texas Capitol, emailed, and called their state representatives to demand that public-private partnerships funded with Texas tax dollars and pension funds be stopped.

According to many Fundamentalist, Foot-Washing, Snake-Handling, Speaking-In-Tongues Libertarians, toll roads are a fundamentally good thing. It's when Austin takes your money and gives it to Company X for the development of toll roads that toll roads become a problem. If they are such a good idea, let Company X use their own money.

"We used our extensive email lists, Twitter, and Facebook accounts to activate thousands of freedom-loving Texans," said LPT Executive Director Robert Butler. "Our people called, emailed, and personally visited every member of the House and Senate. Our press conference and grassroots effort had a major impact in potentially killing this bill. We have to continue our public awareness campaign until the special session officially ends."

"Credit goes to the work of our staff and volunteers for discovering the ugly details behind this legislation," said Libertarian State Chair Patrick Dixon. "For an organization with just over $100k in revenue, we certainly do have an impact on policy."

A word about Patrick Dixon: Patrick is probably the most efficient human in the state of Texas. Watching him run a meeting is a delight (for the first three hours, anyway). I'd like to see Patrick and Kathy Madeja do a Parliamentary Procedure steel cage deathmatch smackdown.

And speaking of organizations with just over $100K in revenue....if you're worried about the way Owebama is spending money, but can't quite find a way to get behind the Republicans? Send us some money. We need it. There aren't a lot of us, but we make a lot of noise.

"Toll roads cost up to twice as much to build as non-tolled expressways," said LPT Executive Director Robert Butler. "The toll roads aren't a free market privatization plan. You're granting monopoly rights to private operators. The bonds backing these toll roads have clauses that prevent competition and are guaranteed with tax dollars."

To hell with anything that prevents competition, and that's an official position statement.

In 2005, the State of Texas entered a 50-year agreement with a Spanish company named Cintra to develop the Trans-Texas Corridor, a 4,000-mile network up to 1,200 feet wide to carry parallel links of tollways, rails, and utility lines. Cintra's parent company, Grupo Ferrovial, S.A, was a major collaborator with Spanish dictator Francisco Franco and depends upon its political connections to secure toll road contracts around the world.

Does the state of Texas already own this land? Nope. Texas would have had to take it via Eminent Domain. Not good. Property rights are something that distinguish the U.S. from governments like, well, Francisco Franco's.

In 2007, by a combined vote of 169-5, the Texas Legislature passed a moratorium on private toll contracts, called comprehensive development agreements (or CDAs) that privatize and sell Texas highways to the highest bidder. That moratorium ends August 31, 2009, and CDAs, except for approximately a dozen projects that were exempted, sunset with it. CDAs are the primary financial vehicle used to construct the Trans Texas Corridor.

Will Texas taxpayers get a check in the mail if a highway is ever sold? Will we get to set a "minimum bid"?

"I want to cut taxes and spending," declared Libertarian activist Wes Benedict. "They have refused to approve low-cost road improvements claiming they don't have the funds, then propose rail and toll roads which cost up to ten times more than buses and non-tolled roads per passenger mile of added capacity. Light rail and toll roads cost too much and do too little."
"We Libertarians and our friends at TURF and TAG have shown that an educated voter can change the course of legislation." noted Butler. "This bill will be a litmus test in the 2010 elections, we'll make sure of that.

And let's hope the people at TURF and TAG don't forget their allies at "Never Open Super Highways In Texas".

For Liberty,

Robert Butler
Executive Director
Libertarian Party of Texas
http://lptexas.org/

P.S. - Robert, I do this kind of thing a lot. You'll get used to it. Great job, sir ! ! !

The Weekly Radley and Congressman Eric Massa and two fuel cell cars and two SUV's

Let's start with someone calling himself HydroKevin, at the Hydrogen Cars Now website, who has blessed us with this heartwarming story.

Eric Massa, a new Congressman from upstate New York is driving a Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell vehicle today from his home in Corning to Washington DC for the swearing-in ceremony. The Democratic Congressman is making the 282-mile trip to promote the creation of green energy jobs in the 29th district where the Equinox FCV is currently being produced (Honeoye Falls).
According to Massa, “Taking this GM electric fuel cell car to Washington reflects all that I will stand for as your representative - creating good jobs in western New York, breaking our addiction to foreign oil, taking meaningful steps toward addressing global warming, and getting our economy back on the road to success. I look forward to being sworn into office on Tuesday so we can get to work.”
Massa is a former Republican who decided to turn Democrat because of his opposition to the Iraq War. On Capitol Hill, Congressman Massa is also interested in gaining a position on the House Transportation Committee. (emphasis mine)
So far the journey is going well for the Congressman interested in promoting green energy. At least he learn a lesson from the Big 3 Automaker CEO’s and didn’t take a private corporate jet to Washington to talk about alternative fuels at the swearing-in ceremony.

But Radley Balko gave us this addition to the story in the latest issue of Reason magazine. Keep the giggles to yourself, please:

"The problem was that the distance between those two points is 280 miles, and the car's range tops out at 250.
So Massa drove one fuel cell car to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and had an SUV tow a second fuel cell car behind him. He then switched cars and continued to the nation's capital while the SUV towed the first car back to Corning. Once Massa arrived in Washington, D.C., in the second fuel cell car, a second SUV towed that car back to Corning.
In other words: To make a point about conservation and energy efficienty, Massa made the equivalent of three trips from Corning to D.C., two of them involving an SUV."

HydroKevin, please take note.....The point of the Green movement is to acquire Green government subsidies for your business. Nothing more. Please stop acting like it is for real. Please. It bothers those of us who know better.



And I think those of us in the freight, shipping, and logistics industry should do whatever is necessary to get Eric Massa onto that House Transportation Committee. With thinking like that, business will boom. Fuel cell vehicle backhauls, anyone?

pic of the green dollars from here (worth reading, BTW)

Trucks In The Left Lane

I work in the freight and shipping bidness, and one of the recurring gripes that I hear from drivers has to do with the signs shown above.
The left lanes of Fort Worth's Interstate-30 were closed off to "trucks" a couple of years ago. This was supposedly done to improve traffic flow.

But, as one of my mentors recently told me, "if you ain't got the data, the chatter don't matter".
Words to live by.

Does this restriction make a demonstrable difference?

According to a study presented in (ahem) College Station, TX.... completed at a cost of $960,000.00..... and this doesn't include the cost of the signs or their installation....traffic has averaged a 1/2 mile per hour improvement.

Interstate 20 and Interstate 30 both got the signs and restrictions, and the data from both highways is lumped together as one number in the presentation.

Why? I'm betting that one of the highways had a meaningful improvement in speed, and the other one stayed the same or even declined.

But lets look at the methodology for a moment. The study compares what they call Phase 1 (August) to a similar time period in Phase 4 (January/February). Can anyone else in the trucking business (I don't want to be the spoiler) let us know how much difference there is in freight volume between August and January/February?

We're not comparing apples to apples, or even apples to coconuts. It might not even be apples to alligators. It's huge.

And a 1/2 mile per hour improvement? (Unless I'm mistaken, the decimals are rounded upward from here to here.) I think we're looking at static, white noise, and dissimilar time periods. These numbers aren't significant enough, in my opinion, to show us anything outside the margin of error.

Who is more likely to hop onto an interstate highway for just a few miles? The guy in a two-door compact, or the long-haul trucker? The left lane should be for those who are just passing through. Those going from exit to exit for a few miles should be in the right lanes. And they don't need 18-wheelers in their way.

Photo from Flikr

What NAFTA Superhighway???

The Nation (a fascinating Old Leftie magazine), Lou Dobbs, and The John Birch Society all oppose the proposed NAFTA superhighway.


With a Trifecta like that all in opposition, it's GOT to be a great idea.
Have none of these jackasses ever ready any history? Do they not know that trade is the greatest builders of a nation? Amsterdam? Great Britain? Hong Freakin' Kong? Aren't they aware huge swaths of Africa remain impoverished, partially because of a lack of good deep water ports?

Nobody has ever protected themselves to prosperity. No, that's not true. Small numbers of people are trying to protect their prosperity at the expense of the larger group.

Imagine if you could only trade with relatives.
Or just people on your block.
Then imagine that there's an idiotic demogogue, like the ones above, who is warning you about the evils of mixin' and minglin' with them dern folks on the next block who do thangs different, and tellin' stories of Mexican truck drivers out of their minds on Mexican drugs.

Imagine if you could only trade with nearby states in the U.S.
Imagine that it's pre-1982, and there are idiotic shipping regulations that keep carriers from going across state lines.
I could go on forever.
Do people buy into this guy because he's on TV ? Is that it?
But there has to be a large contingent of Lou Dobbs viewers out there who finished grade school and who can read without their lips moving.
Does anyone know anyone Lou Dobbs loyalists that they can introduce me to?

I want to meet one, and study its habits.

Because you know what I really love about this? (there is no NAFTA superhighway ! read the Nation article !)

I'll be busy for a few days....

Hello Everyone,

I won't be posting much through Saturday night.

I work in shipping, and we're going into a busy time.


These are not pictures of my current work situation, but they are excellent metaphors and will stand in nicely.


Be grateful that you aren't me.