Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Perry's Biggest Failure: Trans-Texas Corridor

I was very hesitant to post this here because so many of the Rightspeak community refuse to ever read anything from Frum Forum. But this is a very in depth, well written and informative article about Perry's biggest, and worst, idea: the Trans-Texas Corridor.

Here are some enlightening excerpts. But I would highly recommend that you read all of the original article.

The project actually required minimal public funding from the state, relying on federal grants as well as bonds that were issued in expectation of future revenues from tolls.

But opposition rallied against the TTC for other reasons. It was revealed that a large portion of the corridor would be planned by a Spain-based company called Sintra, and some people objected to the foreign involvement. Others were repulsed at the prospect that their land could be seized for the project – and given the scope of the project, a large number of individuals were potential stakeholders.

“It was basically going to be a superhighway, that a foreign company was going to build, that was going to require the state to seize some of that land, some of which have been ranches that have been around for generations,” said Mackowiak.

Still others opposed the privatization of the highway system. “I contend that Texas is rich enough to build its own highways,” Republican State Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, a legislator known for her outspoken opposition to the proposal of her own party’s governor, told FrumForum, adding, “I’m from a rural area, and the amount of land that [the TTC] was going to take from us was incredible.”

...

it does seem hypocritical that a governor who once mused about secession would be so open to federal grant money. “He is like a lot of conservative governors, who criticize and rail against the federal government when they are actually on the federal gravy train, and happy to ride it… Perry had a whole office – the Texas Office of State-Federal Relations – that tries to grab federal grant money,” notes Chris Edwards, director of Tax Policy Studies at the Cato Institute. In fact, the TTC plans for funding included lists for federal grants that could have been used to construct the corridor.

...

The TTC would have been a fifty-year build-out of a 4,000 mile superhighway system, with routes for cars, separate lanes for trucking, space for freight rail, and still more room for high-speed passenger rail. And if this were not enough, the TTC also included utility corridors for electric lines, transmission lines and pipelines that would have run parallel to the roads. All told, the superhighway would be up to 1,200 feet wide, and every mile of highway would require well over two hundred acres of land...the noise from the highway would render areas up to a mile away uninhabitable...



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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dan, thanks for the article. This was enlightening. It really calls into question Perry's leadership and management skills.

-Martha

Pablo said...

The FrumForum is the reason why I still call myself a Republican. Thanks for posting this.

And the articles there are always well written and researched.

Anonymous said...

Marhta and Pablo, you're welcome. There are some great articles at Frum Forum from time to time. Not that I agree with all of them, but they are well thought out and well researched.

DanL

Anonymous said...

I like Frum. He often hits it on the head, even though we might not like the hammer.
Ellie

Anonymous said...

The article was great, you got your facts right on this debacle. Some in the GOP and many Independents don't like Perry here in Texas. Now that he is in the race, the nation will get to see his sorry record vetted. He is a corporate shill, backed by the bible thumping religious fanatics and tea bagging wacko's. He may win the nomination by playing to this radical base, but he cannot win in a national election, too much baggage. It appears the only chance the GOP has is Romney.Some Dem's, a lot of Independents and moderate Republicans will vote for Romney. The Independents will run from tea baggers as they move further right, especially after their negative stand on the debt ceiling. The public is fed up with the no compromise, my way or the highway crowd. Perry looks good in a leather jacket out in west Texas doing photo opts, do we need another Marlboro Man?