Transportation

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.

Another NAFTA nail is about to be hammered into the coffin Washington is building for the US economy. Within the next few days our borders will be opened to the Mexican trucking industry in an unprecedented way. A "pilot" program is starting which will allow trucks from Mexico to haul goods beyond the 25 mile buffer zone to any point in the United States . Officials claim this is being done with utmost oversight, but Americans still have their legitimate concerns. Rather than securing our borders, we seem to be providing more pores for illegal aliens, drug dealers, and terrorists to permeate.

Almost thirty years ago, as mayor of the City of Cleveland, I
confronted the money, the power, and the arrogance of private
corporate interests seeking to rob our citizens of one of their most
valuable public assets: a municipal electric system that provided low-
cost power to much of the city, Muny Light. As I observe the
political machinations regarding the Trans-Texas Corridor and related
attempts to turn publicly financed highways into privately controlled
profit centers for giant corporations, I find the similarities chilling.

The recent and tragic bridge collapse in Minnesota raises many questions in Americans' minds about our aging infrastructure, and what is being done to maintain it. Questions such as: "Was I-35 an isolated accident or are we approaching days when crumbling bridges and bursting pipes will be regular features on the evening news?"

The poor ratings on the inspection report of that bridge, and similar deficiency findings on as many as 25% of our bridges suggests the latter. Estimates on what it will cost to bring deficiencies in our infrastructure back up to par range from massive to astronomical.

There are several clauses in the U.S. Constitution that are troubling. The meaning they had among the people who had read the Constitution soon after it was adopted is no longer the meaning today. Several parts are either no longer considered to be in use or are ignored or have been broadened so as to include other meanings far from those of the time this nation was formed. First of these bi-weekly articles that will cover 10 of these troubling clauses, is this article on the Commerce Clause, which only intended fairness in the transportation of goods between the states, Indian tribes and other nations and today knows no limits.

Latest bizarre* search phrase to bring someone to our site:

“if I have a warrant for my arrest in texas, can I get a Drivers License in california”

Here's the short answer for you, “Sure, as long as you don't mind a stay in the California pokey with a resultant trip back to Texas to satisfy the warrant!”

"Reason for Toll Roads" just came in as a search engine phrase. ARGH! You've got to be kidding me. Have you no shame? Do you not pull your head out of the consumerist narcissistic sands long enough to even know just what a pork ridden boondoggle toll roads have become (and pretty much have always been...)?

Okay, at least they're searching, but still, it's been 3+ years of blatant corruption, blatant theft, and obvious double speak out of a certain Governor of Texas.

From the beginning of my legal education, law for me has been intertwined with wine. Fittingly, my first U.S. Supreme Court argument was about the beverage that is the sublime joint product of nature and human ingenuity. The case of Juanita Swedenburg, a proud woman, a farmer and entrepreneur who asks nothing of her government but to be left alone to mind her own business, is emblematic of the debate over the role of the judiciary in a free society. For when all else failed in Mrs. Swedenburg's quest to pursue her livelihood free from arbitrary government interference, she did what many Americans do when their basic rights are violated: she turned to the courts for justice. Whether the courts should help ordinary Americans like Juanita Swedenburg or should leave them to the mercy of democratic politics, even when politics are dominated by powerful special interests, is at the heart of the debate over what is pejoratively called "judicial activism."

The last day of the Legislative Session is Memorial Day, a holiday
for many people. David and I had decided to go, sit in the House and
Senate Galleries, walk the halls, and visit Legislators, just to let
them know that win, lose or draw, we are here and we are not going
away. Then we thought how great it would be if there were hundreds
of grassroots anti-corridor/toll people everywhere!

Dear Indy Texans and Friends:

You heard the good news that the Texas House passed a 2 year
moratorium on the Corridor. This is a major victory. And, you must
know that the House (and soon the Senate) is still trying to have
their cake and eat it too. For now, they have exempted the N. Texas
freeway-to-tollway conversations out of the moratorium, like the DFW
area SH 121 -- the "most lucrative toll road in the country". And
the Senate bill that may hit the floor at any moment, attempts to
exempt out N. Texas, El Paso and Bexar County.

You see, they want just a little less corruption! And, really more
to the point, they want to stop the urban, suburban and rural unified
anti-corruption uprising to stop Perry from selling off public
infrastructure to the lowest bidders.

The Citizens of Texas are presented with an unique opportunity to challenge the wisdom of the Trans Texas Corridor and express their concern about the growing obsession with toll roads and public private partnerships.

THIS IS NOT ANOTHER TxDOT HEARING

The subject of this hearing is not limited to TTC-35, TTC-69, or proposed TTC corridor routes or specific toll roads.

Come hear TxDOT defend their policies to our elected officials. And, hear others who seriously question those policies. Add your presence and your voice to the debate.

Come fill the auditorium. All eyes at the Capitol will be focused on this hearing as an indication of public acceptance or opposition. This Senate Committee can have a real impact on the flawed public policy surrounding these projects.

Don't Tag Texas!

NO Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC)
NO Animal Tagging

Join us in Austin, Texas on March 2, 2024 at 1:30 pm

March To The Capitol To Protest

Dear Friends and Members:

I hope most of you already know that big things are happening in our
anti-corruption movement to STOP the Trans-Texas Corridor and freeway
tolls.

Below is a flier you can send around to your friends, family and co-
workers to ask them to join you at the rally Against the Trans-Texas
Corridor (and animal tagging too!) on Friday, March 2, starting at
1:30 pm. (PLEASE NOTE: a time previously sent for 12 noon, is
incorrect!)

Something else--URGENTLY & EQUALLY IMPORTANT!!! Thursday, March 1,
starting at 8:30 a.m., is a hearing called by Senator John Carona,
chair of the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee.
He wants to hear from folks across the state about the Corridor, the
freeway tolls and public/private partnerships -- that's the
Governor's apparent plans to sell off our state's assets to the
highest bidder!