Million dollars a year is definitely “rich”. Tax breaks include taxing investment income at a *maximum* of 15% and earned income at a *minimum* of 17.5% (payroll tax!). This is specifically a reward for the idle! There’s sales tax on ordinary transactions but not on investment transactions. Finally, there are fairly well-hidden tax structures called “phaseouts” which cause effective income tax rates to go *up* on the upper-middle-class but *down* on the truly rich. The payroll tax “cap” is another example of a tax break for the rich. Those are off the top of my head.

Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. This is wrong. Buffett agrees.

This reminds me of how some hold up signs saying, ‘What are you doing for the people?’ when it would be better to concern yourself with _all_ people.

Actually, it is correct to say that taxpayers are bailing out the Highway Trust Fund. One of the arguments of the libertarians against investments in mass transit is that highways “pay for themselves” with user fees, in the form of the gas tax – if you don’t drive, or don’t drive that much – you don’t pay, whereas if you drive a lot, you pay for it. Buses and subways are not paid for by user fees.

If the gas tax is insufficient to pay for highways and money must come from other general funds, then highways cannot be said to pay for themselves. (Note that another argument is that although the gas tax has been sufficient to pay for highway construction in the past, that does not mean highways are self-sufficient as ongoing maintenance costs are proving to be far higher than gas tax revenue can compensate for at current levels). Either way, seems like subsidizing transportation is needed regardless of the mode of transport.

There is also the issue that freeways go up steeper grades than train tracks. It would be well worth to make a survey which interstates could be treated this way.

Of course, you’re talking about heavy rail and high-speed rail. There’s another angle that I touched on in my original post: light rail. Here the idea of using existing roads and streets may get some traction. But the roadbeds may need to be firmed up to accept the weight of trams.

One quibble: Not sure if “bail out” is the right word. Taxpayers can bail out failed private enterprises (Bear Stearns, etc.) or quasi-private enterprises with private sources of funding (Fannie Mae etc.) but they can’t really bail out the Highway Trust Fund since they were paying for it all along.

One of the few, at least to an extent, is the guy they put up from President, but if elected he’d have a hell of a time getting his own kind off the tit. The United States of America, however, may be bankrupt by inaugeration day, so anything is possible.

Bicycles — little public capital cost, no public operating cost.