Transportation

"Dallas scores big in TIGER grants; Feds will fund street cars." – Dallas Morning News headline

What Dallas actually gets is a boondoggle much beloved by, according to the Texas Public Policy Foundation, "Pork lovers, auto haters, and nostalgia buffs."

Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce the Affordable Gas Price Act. This legislation reduces gas prices by reforming government policies that artificially inflate the price of gas. While the price of gas has not yet reached the record levels of last year, over the last two months the average price of gas has risen approximately 16%. In some areas, the price of gas is approaching $3.00 per gallon. There is thus a real possibility that the American people while soon by once again hard hit by skyrocketing gas prices.

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Ron Paul is urging his colleagues in congress to cosponsor his legislation HR 1768 the Energy Efficient and Environmentally Friendly Automobile Tax Credit Act.

This legislation would help Americans spend less on gas and reduce pollution by providing a tax credit of up to $2,000 when they sell or trade in a car and obtain a vehicle that has at least 20% higher average fuel economy than their previous vehicle. It also creates a federal tax deduction for any state or local taxes paid on the purchase or the more fuel-efficient automobile, and makes interest on loans to purchase the more fuel-efficient vehicle tax deductible.

        While Rick Perry is bringing national ridicule (again) on Texas with  
his foolishness on secession, the bum still wants to grab Texans'  
land for a project 99% of us oppose -- the Trans-Texas Corridor.

        What can we do?  Help get the eminent domain reform bills out of  
committee!  We need to hammer the Committee offices (don't be mean,  
but be firm) now and next week!!

The people who run Detroit may not be the brightest bulbs in the harbor, but the automobile industry is hardly going to be better run with congress taking it over.

Congressman Ron Paul is an original cosponsor of legislation introduced July 31st that would ensure that a traveler entering the United States would be subject to searches of their data and digital equipment only if a border agent has a reasonable suspicion to believe the traveler is or is about to be engaged in criminal activity.

In an August 1, 2008 front page story, the Washington Post exposed the ease with which the government can search and/or seize a traveler’s laptop, blackberry, or other electronic device. A border agent can require any individual to provide access to private or other sensitive data with no cause. They can require the owner to surrender their password for encrypted data as well.

AUSTIN – Brushing aside the Republican Party of Texas's arguments, Travis County District Judge Margaret Cooper ruled today that Bill Dingus is eligible to run for State Representative against Speaker Tom Craddick.

I am pleased to report that last week we received notice that the Texas Department of Transportation will recommend the I-69 Project be developed using existing highway facilities instead of the proposed massive new Trans Texas Corridor/NAFTA Superhighway. According to the Texas Transportation Commissioner, consideration is no longer being given to new corridors and other proposals for a new highway footprint for this project. A major looming threat to property rights and national sovereignty is removed with this encouraging announcement.

Public outcry was cited as the main reason for this decision. I was very impressed to learn that the TxDOT received nearly 28,000 public comments on this matter, and that some 12,000 Texans attended the 47 public hearings held earlier this year. They could not ignore this tsunami of strong public opinion against the proposed plans. I was especially proud of how informed my constituents became on the subject, and how eloquently and respectfully they spoke and conducted themselves, considering how upsetting the plans were for our communities in Texas .

In the ever-evolving war against airline passengers, the Transportation Security Administration continues to develop new weapons of mass dysfunction. Travelers have long been harassed with x-ray machines, metal-detecting wands and inscrutable verbal vetting like "Did someone put something in your luggage when you weren't looking?" Then in 2006 the TSA began quietly testing two new anti-personnel weapons. One is sort of an automated lie detector, a booth that interrogates suspects with damning questions ("Did someone put something in your luggage when you weren't looking?") while software analyzes feedback from biometric sensors busily monitoring blood pressure, pulse rate and nervous tics.

In the ever-evolving war against airline passengers, the Transportation Security Administration continues to develop new weapons of mass dysfunction. Travelers have long been harassed with x-ray machines, metal-detecting wands and inscrutable verbal vetting like "Did someone put something in your luggage when you weren't looking?" Then in 2006 the TSA began quietly testing two new anti-personnel weapons.

The public planning oppressors are at it again. In a Fort Worth Star-Telegram article ("Is the time ripe to privatize our urban mass transit systems? NO") a government coercion apologist cited a counterfeit case of "privatization" as a justification for damning all privatization. The writer makes it clear that he's against the very concept of privatization by describing the act of transforming any taxpayer-plundered boondoggle into a money-making enterprise "as close to vulture capitalism as one can get." He then offers Transantiago, the government-run bus system of Santiago, Chile, as his position-clinching Exhibit A.

The public planning oppressors are at it again. In a Fort Worth Star-Telegram article ("Is the time ripe to privatize our urban mass transit systems?

One major concern I discussed a few weeks ago regarding the Trans Texas Corridor is where the land will come from. Another concern is where the money will come from. Official government websites for the TTC assure that public-private partnerships will shield the taxpayer from bearing too much of the cost burden, but a careful reading shows the door is definitely open to public funding sources, while at the same time there is no doubt of the intention to charge tolls on the road.

Taxpayers already pay for their transportation system through hefty gasoline taxes, vehicle registration fees, and other fees. They have every right to expect the roads they have already paid for to be properly maintained and toll-free.

We have a unique opportunity to push the Trans-Texas Corridor fiasco  
in to the Presidential race by contacting CNN/Univision now before  
this Thursday's debate in Austin between Senators Obama and Clinton.

        Will you join us in contacting CNN & Univision to urge that they ask  
a question concerning the Corridor, an issue that concerns all  
Texans, and particularly the 1.3 million Texans who voted independent  
in the 2006.  All the pundits say that independents will be pivotal  
in the Texas primary on March 4th -- but they don't necessarily know  
what issue is most important to us.

The Constitution guarantees Americans the right to be secure against all unreasonable seizures. My home state of Texas is unfortunately planning on some very unreasonable seizures of land with the monstrous Trans Texas Corridor highway project. The TTC plans call for a highway to cut through about 4,000 Texas miles, and with separate rail lines for passenger and freight, a multi-lane highway with separate truck lanes, utility and cable easements, this highway could be as wide as 1200 feet across. In the end this project would consume something like half a million acres of land in Texas . However, since the exact path of the road has not been determined, it is putting much more acreage in jeopardy, and in limbo.

Taking land is destructive enough. But the perpetual threat of taking an undetermined amount of land is hanging over the heads of millions of Texans and putting their lives at a standstill. Land is a store of wealth and a source of stability. This highway project is tragically threatening that for so many Texans.