Nathaniel Ward » Transportation

What I’m Reading — September 4th

Nathaniel Ward — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:43:51 +0000

Did Big-Government Labor Policies Cause the Depression?
Charles Kesler on How Conservatives Can Get Back on Track. "It is necessary to reground our conservatism in [America's] revolutionary [Founding] principles, but it will not be sufficient. Although conservatives cannot remedy America's problems without them, our principles need to be explained in a contemporary idiom and applied prudently to our present circumstances. That requires, for want of a more comprehensive word, statesmanship. "
Why High-Speed Rail Won’t Catch on in America. Geography, scheduling and personal preference means air travel will likely dominate in most of the country, Megan McArdle argues.
New York’s Tenured Teachers. Exploring the consequences of the city's inane union contract.

What I’m Reading — August 11th

Nathaniel Ward — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 03:07:03 +0000

What Would Harding and Coolidge Do? How the Harding-Coolidge administration cut taxes and spending and allowed the economy to recover.
Why Transit Matters. Transit allows density.
Another Silly Attack on the Constitutional Structure. This time, the Senate is vilified as "the chamber designed to thwart popular will"–which is perhaps a good thing.

What I’m Reading — July 12th

Nathaniel Ward — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:04:46 +0000

Fisking President Obama. "There is a big difference between 'most severe … since the Great Depression' and 'comparable to the Great Depression.'"
Whatever happened to the Segway?
Is Asian Supremacy Inevitable? Debunking claims about Asia overtaking America and the West.

What I’m Reading — May 23rd

Nathaniel Ward — Sat, 23 May 2009 23:52:32 +0000

Redesigning the Dollar I rather like our current designs, but these are certainly interesting takes on the greenbacks.
Subway maps to scale. An interesting comparison of worldwide transit systems.
How not to ingratiate yourself with your employer.

How Compromises Work in Congress

Nathaniel Ward — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 02:51:11 +0000

What happens when the House of Representatives and Senate pass slightly different versions of the same legislation? Any schoolkid can answer that: the House and the Senate send delegates to negotiate a compromise bill.

If only it actually worked that way. All too often, the negotiators don’t split the difference during the House-Senate conference, particularly when it comes to spending. Instead, they pick the higher spending number, increase it, and call it a compromise.

Consider the funding earmarked for intercity rail in the economic “stimulus” bill. As passed, the House bill would spend $1.1 billion on Amtrak and high-speed rail, and the Senate version $3.1 billion. When negotiating the final version of the legislation, House and Senate negotiators came together and “compromised” on $9.3 billion–a figure three times higher than the largest amount in either bill.