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Would Americans use such trains even if they existed?
The Trains along the eastern seaboard are used quite a bit. There are those that commute from Penn / New York to Washington, D.C. There is frequent rail service from New York (and other NE destinations) to Florida.
Trans-Continental service is not so frequent though. Also, it is cheaper to fly coast to coast than take the train.
We built most of the interstate highway system from scratch. We went to the moon from scratch. We can certainly do this! One of the ways to help pay for it is to also use it for high speed freight. Another thing is to sell ad space on the trains and have TVs with news and ads on the trains. These ads would be seen by millions of people and companies would pay for them.
Maybe Amtrak or whoever would operate the lines could sell advance tickets which entitle the buyers to unlimited rides on the HS trains during the first year of operation. Let's say $100 per ticket. If 10m people bought such a ticket, Amtrak could invest a billion in the HS infrastructure.
Maybe we should share our country with the Red Chineese!!
Mar 13, 7:40 AM (ET)
By JOE McDONALD
(AP) In this Wednesday, March 3, 2010 file photo, a worker checks a CRH high-speed train at a...
Full Image
BEIJING (AP) - China plans to bid for contracts to build U.S. high-speed train lines and is stepping up exports of rail technology to Europe and Latin America, a government official said Saturday.
China has built 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers) of high-speed rail for its own train system and President Barack Obama issued a pledge in November with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, to cooperate in developing the technology.
"We are organizing relevant companies to participate in bidding for U.S. high-speed railways," Wang Zhiguo, a deputy railways minister, told a news conference.
Wang gave no details of where China's railway builders might seek contracts, but systems are planned in California, Florida and Illinois. He said state-owned Chinese companies already are building high-speed lines in Turkey and Venezuela.
If any government funds are going to be used, there should be requirements that these rail projects only hire American workers and that all the trains be built by American based companies that hire American citizens that pay a living wage.
I am sick of competing with people in China who are making $10 a month. If they want to to business with the U.S., they need to pay U.S. wages.
"Free trade" and globalization is just a way to drive down wages. We need to stop the bleeding of U.S. manufacturing jobs.
If any government funds are going to be used, there should be requirements that these rail projects only hire American workers and that all the trains be built by American based companies that hire American citizens that pay a living wage.
I am sick of competing with people in China who are making $10 a month. If they want to to business with the U.S., they need to pay U.S. wages.
"Free trade" and globalization is just a way to drive down wages. We need to stop the bleeding of U.S. manufacturing jobs.
I largely agree with you, but I find that attitude a bit hypocritical. As long as the US benefited from globalization Americans did not complain about the miserable lives of farmers around the globe whose local agriculture was and still is being destroyed by cheap, oftentimes subsidized food exports from the US and Europe. What goes around comes around...
If any government funds are going to be used, there should be requirements that these rail projects only hire American workers and that all the trains be built by American based companies that hire American citizens that pay a living wage.
...
We need to stop the bleeding of U.S. manufacturing jobs.
I agree but sadly must note that I'm reading this on a monitor, typing the response on a keyboard, and using a mouse that were all made in China...
I largely agree with you, but I find that attitude a bit hypocritical. As long as the US benefited from globalization Americans did not complain about the miserable lives of farmers around the globe whose local agriculture was and still is being destroyed by cheap, oftentimes subsidized food exports from the US and Europe. What goes around comes around...
I'm 19 so when NAFTA was passed, I didn't even know about it. Excuse for me being a bit naieve at that time.
In any case, I feel for ANYONE who has been hurt by free trade, not just Americans.
I agree but sadly must note that I'm reading this on a monitor, typing the response on a keyboard, and using a mouse that were all made in China...
It isn't your fault they were made in China.
Heck, I am on a Dell for crying out loud.
The clothes on my back were probably made in the Phillipines, Honduras, etc.
If it was my choice, we'd be making our own electronics and clothes in this country. China has enough people to where they can easily make all the electronics, cars, etc. they want/need. The same applies to the U.S. There are plenty of out of work Americans who would love to get these manufacturing jobs back so they can begin to get a paycheck and provide for their families.
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