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No. I am not kidding. From the time that people first started settling into large towns and cities there has always been an interdependence between the rural food producers and the city dwellers. Without the food producers, city dwellers today would be shooting squirrels in the park, eating cats and dogs and gathering pigeon eggs from freeway underpasses. By the same token, with the manufacturing and refining that is done in the large cities, the rural folks would have no gasoline or tractors. It's a two way street.
200 years ago did the US government subsidize stagecoaches so the rural folk would have transportation?
the edits in your post make it a bit misleading -- for example, it isn't Severin Borenstein @ Cal-Berkeley who made the comments following her name, it was:
but.. no, i don't think we need these subsidies.
You're right on the snipets I took - I try to minimize how much I take from the article so the mods don't complain. I made a bad cut there.
Nevertheless, there is an argument to be made for both sides of the issue. I can see cutting down on the number of daily flights into and out of small town airports but to cut them out completely would not be fair. Same can be said for subsidizing rural hospitals. Who would want to be on a cross country road trip and not be able to get decent medical care if something goes wrong while traversing a rural area?
Just focusing on this response - fairness is mentioned. It is not good to legislate on the basis on being fair. Rights are legislated, fairness is not.
With regards to services and transportation in very rural areas, I say believe in the private sector. Let someone come in and have a small airline that can be profitable - or maybe they combine services where one section of the business is more profitable - and it helps out the airline portion which may not be as profitable. Costs may be a bit higher. Life is not fair.
The thing is that the infusion of government doesn't allow for people to think through things and be creative - because it's easier to throw money at something that is marginally effective.
It's important to remember that this route in particular is an extreme example. From what I can find, excluding Alaska, the subsidy averaged across the entire EAS system works out to about $74 per ticket.
I can see reasonable cases both for an against subsidies for the EAS, but no subsidies at all for mass transportation? So a greater dependence on foreign oil, greater dependence on cars, more and more miles of clogged highways? I'd gladly pay my taxes if they're going to mass transportation.
If I live 25 miles from work and decide to move 125 miles from work the federal government should subside the extra 100 mile cost in fuel, tires, oil, etc.
No difference,
If people want to have that airport, they need to fund it. Period.
Just focusing on this response - fairness is mentioned. It is not good to legislate on the basis on being fair. Rights are legislated, fairness is not.
With regards to services and transportation in very rural areas, I say believe in the private sector. Let someone come in and have a small airline that can be profitable - or maybe they combine services where one section of the business is more profitable - and it helps out the airline portion which may not be as profitable. Costs may be a bit higher. Life is not fair.
The thing is that the infusion of government doesn't allow for people to think through things and be creative - because it's easier to throw money at something that is marginally effective.
Not to nitpick, but rights can only be protected by law. It is privilege that is legislated. "Fairness" falls into the privilege sector and "fairness", as perceived by the House and Senate, plays a part in dang near every piece of legislation passed.
All of the small airlines that service the smaller towns and cities are private. With fuel, landing fees in the bigger airports and other costs being what they are, it is difficult, if not impossible, for them to make a profit based solely on paying passengers. In many of the small airports there is not enough in-and-out daily traffic to make it profitable on a year-to-year basis. I've already said that some cutbacks could be justified but to cut off this sector of the country--and the economy--entirely is not the right thing to do. Airports, in and of themselves, are needed for medical transport to a large center and to get fire fighters in and out. If TANF, Planned Parenthood, WIC and hundreds of other government giveaways are "fair", then help for small regional airports and airlines is also "fair". I think that cutting the ethanol subsidies and the CRPs program is worth being considered.
No. I am not kidding. From the time that people first started settling into large towns and cities there has always been an interdependence between the rural food producers and the city dwellers. Without the food producers, city dwellers today would be shooting squirrels in the park, eating cats and dogs and gathering pigeon eggs from freeway underpasses. By the same token, with the manufacturing and refining that is done in the large cities, the rural folks would have no gasoline or tractors. It's a two way street.
You can order all the food you desire on the internet and have it shipped anywhere in world..... even the city.
Hey brainiac, where does that internet food come from?? You ever try to order fresh vegetables and fruit and have it shipped. Get real.
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