Trump administration kills NY/NJ tunnel project

Chris0nllyn

Chris0nllyn

Well-Known Member
The president officially scrapped his predecessor's proposal to have the federal government underwrite half the cost of a multibillion-dollar Amtrak tunnel connecting New Jersey to Penn Station, the busiest transit hub in the U.S.
Click to expand...

"Your letter also references a nonexistent '50-50' agreement between USDOT, New York and New Jersey. There is no such agreement," wrote FTA Deputy Administrator K. Jane Williams. "We consider it unhelpful to reference a nonexistent 'agreement' rather than directly address the responsibility for funding a local project where nine out of 10 passengers are local transit riders."
Click to expand...

The official also highlighted such multibillion-dollar projects now underway as the Honolulu Light Rail and the Maryland Purple Line, for which federal loans made up only a small proportion of the capital investment.

Those projects, however, do not serve regions as integral to the U.S. economy as the Hudson River tunnel. Nor do they serve more than one state. And the $9.5 billion Honolulu undertaking, which as of August had received $800 million of a $1.5 billion federal funding package, has run into serious problemsm including a nearly $3 billion deficit. Experts question the benefit it would have for Honolulu, let alone the nation, should Hawaii manage to finish it.

Maryland's $2.4 billion Purple Line, for which a $900 million federal grant was approved, is a state project and much smaller than Gateway, which could end up costing 10 times as much. The Maryland project also received an $875 million federal loanm.
Click to expand...
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/articl...rump-administration-kills-gateway-tunnel-deal

:yahoo:

Great move.
 
Gilligan

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
Sorry Chucky....actions have consequences.

Now he can lobby to have some parts of that build incorporated in to the upcoming infrastructure legislation, if there ever is any.
 
vraiblonde

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Trump didn't "kill" it. NY and NJ can still have their tunnel - it's just they have to pay for it. Why should some rancher out in Montana or some teacher in Mississippi have to pay for a commuter tunnel that only benefits a handful of people in NY and NJ?
 
glhs837

glhs837

Power with Control
"whaaaa, it serves two states!!!!"

Well then Skippy, you have two states that can pitch in.

"whaaaaa, it's an area that has a huge economic impact"

Well then Skippy, all that economic action should provide the tax revenue to pay for it. If you spend it on other crap, too bad.
 
awpitt

awpitt

Main Streeter
It seems like NJ and NY wanted to change the proposal, late in the game, so that their part of the funding would be covered by federal loans instead of NJ and NY having to come up with the cash on there own.
 
vraiblonde

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
awpitt said:
It seems like NJ and NY wanted to change the proposal, late in the game, so that their part of the funding would be covered by federal loans instead of NJ and NY having to come up with the cash on there own.
Click to expand...

Typical liberals, wanting everyone else to pay for their chit.
 
awpitt

awpitt

Main Streeter
vraiblonde said:
Typical liberals, wanting everyone else to pay for their chit.
Click to expand...

Well, in this case, they weren't exactly wanting the feds to pay for the whole thing. They wanted the feds to loan then their portion of the costs and they would pay it back. The problem I saw, in the article, is that the states brought the loans up late in the game which is why I don't blame the Trump administration for pulling out.
 
vraiblonde

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
awpitt said:
Well, in this case, they weren't exactly wanting the feds to pay for the whole thing. They wanted the feds to loan then their portion of the costs and they would pay it back. The problem I saw, in the article, is that the states brought the loans up late in the game which is why I don't blame the Trump administration for pulling out.
Click to expand...

The way they tax their residents, they should have all the money in the world for their projects. There's no reason for them to be sticking their hand out.
 
Chris0nllyn

Chris0nllyn

Well-Known Member
vraiblonde said:
The way they tax their residents, they should have all the money in the world for their projects. There's no reason for them to be sticking their hand out.
Click to expand...

Federal loans for large capital improvement plans aren't uncommon.

MD taxes the #### out of its residents but still asks Uncle Sam for money for things like roads, brdges, rails, wastewater plants, etc.

In a perfect world, govt. would be efficient and treat their tax money as one would treat their own bank account. In a perfect world...
 
vraiblonde

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Chris0nllyn said:
MD taxes the #### out of its residents but still asks Uncle Sam for money for things like roads, brdges, rails, wastewater plants, etc.
Click to expand...

That's because MD is a liberal state as well and doesn't know how to live within its means.
 
This_person

This_person

Well-Known Member
vraiblonde said:
Trump didn't "kill" it. NY and NJ can still have their tunnel - it's just they have to pay for it. Why should some rancher out in Montana or some teacher in Mississippi have to pay for a commuter tunnel that only benefits a handful of people in NY and NJ?
Click to expand...

There is no good reason for anyone with a high school diploma that should not understand this.
 
Chris0nllyn

Chris0nllyn

Well-Known Member
vraiblonde said:
That's because MD is a liberal state as well and doesn't know how to live within its means.
Click to expand...

I agree MD doesn't live within its means, but point to a state that you think does and I'll point you to an instance they asked Uncle Sam for money. It happens all the time.
 
awpitt

awpitt

Main Streeter
vraiblonde said:
The way they tax their residents, they should have all the money in the world for their projects. There's no reason for them to be sticking their hand out.
Click to expand...

I can understand that. So, I'm guessing that you're not a proponent of the infrastructure plan that's going to be coming up in the Congress?
 
Merlin99

Merlin99

Visualize whirled peas
PREMO Member
Wasn't Elon Musk going to be doing all of the tunnel boring for the world now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top