Monday, March 16, 2009

NOW Bill Rogers is FOR Mass Transit?

The Conservative Media has a great post about state Rep. Bill Rogers' sudden interest in mass transit, after he did absolutely nothing to further the WALLY rail line between Livingston County and Ann Arbor as head of the Livingston County Commission.

Check it out here.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you have no shame? Are you so blatantly partisan that no facts or logic are beyond your spin?

Why is it that Bill Rogers has to be for EVERY mass transit project? Is it your opinion that every mass transit project is inherently good and must be funded endlessly by taxpayer dollars without question? Or is it possible to study different proposals and decide which ones deserve support?

It is possible for reasonable people to disagree about the value of WALLY. But your position seems to be that there should never be any debate...if it's "mass transit," then fund it blindly. No thanks.

You and the serial liar over at the other web site also find it convenient to ignore a significant difference between the two proposals. WALLY required significant taxpayer subsidies...both start-up and annually. This new project claims that it doesn't need one single dime of taxpayer dollars. In fact it offers to split its profits with the state and local government in exchange for right-of-way access.

Now I, for one, am skeptical that the market can support a totally self-sufficient $2.3 billion project. So I think there must be much more to this proposal. But that's what a study is for.

The proposal is for a huge investment that will bring jobs and development without any taxpayer commitment. It would be irresponsible for state government not to explore this. It has nothing to do with the WALLY project which was ill-studied and, in fact, was irresponsibly and fraudulently presented to the county board. (Example: WALLY leader chastised board for not ponying up early money and said Genoa DDA was among Livingston groups financially supporting it. A total fabrication since Genoa doesn't have a DDA and the township offered no money to the proposal. With that experience, I think the county board was wise to be wary about WALLY claims.)

I realize this is a Democratic site. But do you have to blindly give a kneejerk negative opinion to all things Republican and support all things Democratic? Do you really think you embody the change that President Obama envisioned?

Anonymous said...

I'm curious. Do you really see no difference between a project that is totally privately funded and one that requires large taxpayer-funds? It seems that you see them as equal. If so, that explains a lot.

Anonymous said...

It is not true that he did "absolutely nothing" to further the line. The board heard presentations from WALLY -- which included exaggerated claims and downright distortions. Nonetheless, Rogers met with the leader of the Washtenaw board to discuss possibilities. The county board, including Rogers, voted to help pay for a $150,000 feasibility study. Only then did Rogers, along with the rest of the board, decide that WALLY did not justify the expenditure of county tax dollars.

You can disagree with his decision but your criticism is more of the empty, predictable rhetoric for which you are becoming well known.

Your position, simply, is that all mass transit projects must be accepted and funded without question. Sorry, that just doesn't make sense and I'm glad our elected officials don't share your views.