Why deal with a transit crisis when Fox News beckons?
Emily Rasinski | Post-Dispatch
A narrow beam of light seemed to break through the Missouri Legislature’s dismal session earlier this month.
House Speaker Ron Richard came to the phone to tell us how he and his fellow Republican representatives understood the pain experienced by thousands of St. Louisans who depend on public transportation. He expressed sympathy about the massive reduction in service as a result of the major budget shortfall at Metro and pledged to do his part to help see St. Louis through the crisis.
He, along with House Budget Committee Chairman Allen Icet, R-Wildwood, had just introduced legislation that would direct $20 million in federal economic stabilization funds to Metro. The funds would be a temporary fix, enabling the agency to restore routes to regional employment centers. It would buy time for St. Louis County voters to reconsider a half-cent sales tax increase to fortify Metro funding.
He said he recognized how the economic well-being of Missouri depended on stability in all parts of the state, and how the future of his hometown, Joplin, was tied to the prosperity of St. Louis. He expressed confidence that the $20 million in emergency aid would pass the House.
Ten days later, Mr. Richard wouldn’t come to the phone. He had just stripped the Metro funding out of the bill. According to news reports, he was pursuing a new plan — one that his caucus would try to jam through without a public hearing or input — that would take the federal aid and use it to reduce the state income tax rate from 6 percent to 5.5 percent.
There’s some doubt that federal rules would permit the state to use stimulus funds to reduce taxes. No evidence was offered suggesting a few bucks extra each week in Missourians’ paycheck would stimulate the economy. Leaders in the state Senate were highly skeptical the plan would survive if it reached them.
We wanted to ask Mr. Richard about these issues, but his communications director said his schedule was full, that the speaker could not free even 10 minutes to explain the political about-face to St. Louisans struggling to get to and from work.
Indeed, the speaker was booked. He was readying himself to appear on Fox News. It was a devil’s bargain.
Mr. Richard and his caucus decided to throw stranded commuters under the bus. In exchange, they received 15 minutes of fame — playing to the tea-party protest crowd with empty talk about an idle plan.
Meanwhile, St. Louis still has a transit crisis. On Wednesday, the House debated the budget bill (HB 22). Once again, rank-and-file Republican members expressed genuine interest in St. Louis’ transit troubles. Business leaders have jumped in with strong support.
A floor amendment by Rep. Rachel Storch, D-St. Louis, that could restore $12 million of the emergency funding to Metro was permitted to go forward — and passed. That’s not enough to have a broad impact on transit services. But it keeps alive the possibility that, with action in the Senate, the $20 million appropriation could be revived.
There’s still time, in other words, for state lawmakers and Gov. Jay Nixon to do their jobs — so that working people in St. Louis can get to theirs.
Sometimes you’ve got to do what the boss says. If the boss says, “We gotta get out there and protest the…well…ummm…He’s a socialist, doncha know?”
Rush, Glenn, and Sean’s pipes are very clean.
Stop playing to the transit crisis crowd with empty talk about a corrupt, incompetent agency set on soaking more money from fed up taxpayers. It’s not my job to get you to yours. Deal with it.
You guys (St. Louis at large) got your damned stadium! Maybe you should sell it to fund Metro’s efforts to buy their hardware back from the banks or at least Metro could try to limp along until the banks boot them off as mere squatters. I have zero sympathy for the looting ways that delivered this mess to the dependents of public transport.
The only way Metro or any other publically funded, critically needed services will get any help from Missouri’s Republican legislators is if their wealthy constituents can make big profits from it. It’s nice of the Post to point it out but it’s no surprise. The GOP completed becoming the party of the wealthy back when Reagan was president and only got worse since then. Dwight D. Eisenhower must be rolling over in his grave.
I’ve never seen a tax or a give away this paper did not support. My question to the board is… When will you ever say taxes are now high enough. Add up all the taxes we pay and it’s what? 50%? maybe more? So when we get up to 60% or 70% taxes when you add Federal income Tax, State income Tax, Personal Property Tax, Sales Tax, license fees, Gasoline and on and on. When “Tax Free Day” comes in October will you then maybe MAYBE consider we’re paying too much in taxes. I’ll be waiting to hear the answer because when President Obama 6 Trillion Doallr budget hits we’ll probably be there.
Don’t depend on the government to live your life…that’s the lesson that should be taken from this. If you need a ride somewhere, work hard to buy a car. It’s not easy, but it’s better than being dependent upon the Democrat Party to get you what you need.
Ten days later, Mr. Richard wouldn’t come to the phone. He had just stripped the Metro funding out of the bill. According to news reports, he was pursuing a new plan — one that his caucus would try to jam through without a public hearing or input — that would take the federal aid and use it to reduce the state income tax rate from 6 percent to 5.5 percent
Operating in secret, lying, deception, and sensationalism … nothing new about these characteristics. Just who do you think he get these characteristic from? What is more shocking is that people are so foolish that they actually vote for these people in their district. I don’t blame the politicians in cases such as these, these are the strips that they wear and there is nothing secret about that, it is the people who vote them into office who are truly the foolish ones.
The very behavior displayed here is the same one that has been witnesses over and over and it will only bring disaster upon this State as will become more visible as time pass and these same attitudes and behaviors is what has brought disaster upon this country. This State and this country cannot rid ourselves of them fast enough.
Now we have people (Republicans) of this strip jumping ship into the Democratic Party and it is a big mistake to embrace OPPORTUNISTS because there jump has nothing to do with a changed heart. It is time to kick them to the curb as the saying goes in the next elections to come.
And “Safer than St. Louis” above hit it on the head concerning their deceptive schemes to mask their deceptions with their empty talk about a corrupt, incompetent agency set on soaking more money from fed up taxpayers. Their ALL destructive mind set is just as he/she states “It’s not my job to get you to yours. Deal with it”.
Metrolink should never have been built. Missouri taxpayers at large should not be forced to support an ill-conceived system.
Editorial Board,
You state “No evidence was offered suggesting a few bucks extra each week in Missourians’ paycheck would stimulate the economy.” This is patently false. If the average person gets to keep more of the money they earn — even an extra few dollars a week — they will spend it on what they most need or want rather than something that they don’t (metro). In this way money is allocated to those areas that are most in demand and our collective scarce resources are most advantageously utilized.
If you let government decide where to put money it is more poorly allocated and we are worse off. You have fallen into the fallacy that having one large thing that you can see is better than having many smaller things that are not readily visible. I would like to suggest two short tracts for each member of the board to read (as well as any bloggers):
Econmics in One Lesson, Henry Hazlitt
http://jim.com/econ/contents.html
That Which is Seen and That Which is Not Seen: The Unintended Consequences of Government Spending, Frederic Bastiat
http://www.econlib.org/library/Bastiat/basEss1.html#Chapter%201
Both are available at the links above free of charge. If the editors read them, hopefully we can do away with these arguments that government spending can bring any real wealth to us as a whole.
> Operating in secret, lying, deception, and sensationalism …
> nothing new about these characteristics. Just who do you
> think he get these characteristic from?
I’m not sure, D. Walker. Could have been from Congressman William Jefferson of Louisiana. Or perhaps it was from Dan Rostenkowski. Or maybe even Richard Nixon. Do you have some special insight you’d like to share with us?