# Obama's American Jobs Act proposal



## afigg (Sep 13, 2011)

The White House has released the complete text of the American Jobs Act proposed bill that they have sent to Congress. There are significant funds in it for intercity passenger and high speed rail, Amtrak, and transit which show Obama has not stopped pushing for HSR and intercity rail. How this plays in the House is another matter.

The rail related parts:

-$4 Billion for grants for intercity and high speed rail projects with the following guidelines:

"The Federal share payable of the costs for which a grant or cooperative agreements is made under this subsection shall be, at the option of the recipient, up to 100 percent." So, 20% state matching not required (good teaser to get support from cash strapped states).

"Not less than 85 percent of the funds provided under this subsection shall be for cooperative agreements that lead to the development of entire segments or phases of intercity or high-speed rail corridors"

-$2 Billion for Amtrak for capital grants for "the repair, rehabilitation, or upgrade of railroad assets or infrastructure, and for capital projects that expand passenger rail capacity including the rehabilitation of rolling stock." Most of this would likely be for the NEC. Could also pay for new equipment orders.

-$3 billion for transit capital assistance grants.

-$6 billion for state of good repair capital expenditures as directed by the Secretary of Transporting, where the Secretary of Transportation shall apportion not less than 75 percent of the funds under this subsection for the modernization of fixed guideway systems,. Looking up the definition of fixed guideway systems that means rail of all types or trolleys and buses in exclusive right of way operations.

-$5 Billion for capital investments in surface transportation infrastructure as discretionary grants. The list of eligible projects include passenger and freight rail.


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## Anderson (Sep 13, 2011)

I like all of this. Too bad the GOP in Congress is going to likely drag their feet...looks like I have yet another thing to call my Congressman about.

Serious question: Should I split calling about this and calling about the starvation budget into two calls or deal with them at one time?


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## Devil's Advocate (Sep 13, 2011)

I'm not a big fan of this president, in fact I feel he pretty much threw us under the bus in most respects, but at least he's still pro-rail. Too bad that we had to vote-in a bunch of anti-rail congressmen and governors before many projects could be started, let alone finished.

hboy:


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## GG-1 (Sep 13, 2011)

Unfortunately most elected officials have forgotten they work for the voters and the full public!


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## George Harris (Sep 13, 2011)

It remains to be seen whether he will actually put his our money where his mouth is. Latest federal appropriation, as opposed to hot air promises to teh Calif HSR is zero, nada, nothing. If there is no money going to a very logical potentially high ridership line in a very populous state that generally goes the Democrat way, what do you think the chances are for any real money going to systems elsewhere. A lot fo the work currently happening started with or is being done by money appropriated under his much maligned predecessor.


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## Devil's Advocate (Sep 13, 2011)

George Harris said:


> It remains to be seen whether he will actually put his our money where his mouth is. Latest federal appropriation, as opposed to hot air promises to teh Calif HSR is zero, nada, nothing. If there is no money going to a very logical potentially high ridership line in a very populous state that generally goes the Democrat way, what do you think the chances are for any real money going to systems elsewhere. A lot fo the work currently happening started with or is being done by money appropriated under his much maligned predecessor.


Talk about hot air. 

There were few if any budgets Bush wouldn't sign into law. The fact that he didn't veto a given bill that happened to provide some amount of money for passenger rail does not make Bush a pro-rail anything. He was indifferent toward rail most of his life and staunchly anti-rail while acting as president and I've yet to hear or see anything to change that well-deserved reputation. The only thing that remains to be seen is if George Harris will ever give anyone from another tribe credit for publicly supporting Amtrak instead of trying to twist it around into a knock against them.


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## Ryan (Sep 13, 2011)

Texas Sunset said:


> The only thing that remains to be seen is if George Harris will ever give anyone from another tribe credit for publicly supporting Amtrak instead of trying to twist it around into a knock against them.


I'll settle for working knowledge of how the Federal budget process works. (Hint: The President doesn't appropriate money, Congress does).


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## leemell (Sep 13, 2011)

Ryan said:


> Texas Sunset said:
> 
> 
> > The only thing that remains to be seen is if George Harris will ever give anyone from another tribe credit for publicly supporting Amtrak instead of trying to twist it around into a knock against them.
> ...


More specifically, only the House does. United States Constitution (Article I, Section 7, clause 1).


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## afigg (Sep 13, 2011)

George Harris said:


> It remains to be seen whether he will actually put his our money where his mouth is. Latest federal appropriation, as opposed to hot air promises to teh Calif HSR is zero, nada, nothing. If there is no money going to a very logical potentially high ridership line in a very populous state that generally goes the Democrat way, what do you think the chances are for any real money going to systems elsewhere. A lot fo the work currently happening started with or is being done by money appropriated under his much maligned predecessor.


The FY 2011 appropriations for HSIPR got caught in the buzzsaw of the very messy budget process with many newly elected House Republicans last spring. The House Republicans made a point of cutting the FY11 HSIPR funds and rescinding $400 million from FY10 to spite the President. If the Democrats had been able to pass the FY2011 appropriations last December, there would have been from $1 to $2.5 billion for HSIPR. But the Democrats could not get the FY2011 bills through the Senate with the need for a 60 vote super-majority to get anything done. The fight continues for the FY2012 budget round.

I don't see how you can possibly complain very much in California. After several go-arounds, CA was granted a total of $4,243,143,231 (or $4.24 billion in short) out of the $10.1 billion provided in the stimulus and FY2010 for the High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail program. More than any other state by a respectable margin. The projects funded are not just the CA HSR project, but a bunch of projects for track, signal, station upgrades for the current corridors, purchase of new bi-level rolling stock, and engineering and NEPA studies. Takes time to finish the design stage, get the funding obligated, and award the contracts. Many of the CA projects are now obligated, so the construction work on the current corridor projects may have started or will soon.


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## George Harris (Sep 13, 2011)

Ryan said:


> Texas Sunset said:
> 
> 
> > The only thing that remains to be seen is if George Harris will ever give anyone from another tribe credit for publicly supporting Amtrak instead of trying to twist it around into a knock against them.
> ...


I am aware of how the budget process works. I am not concerned about public support. I am concerned about the difference between talk and action. Regardless of which side of the aisle, generally to say someone is a lying politician is to put an unnecessary modifier in front of "politician."

afigg: Note that all the money mentioned, the 4.2 B was in 20*10*, not in 2011 which I was talking about.


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## Ryan (Sep 14, 2011)

Clearly not, since you're talking about action that isn't Obama's to take.

The White House can talk all they want, but it is the House of Representatives that must take action.


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## jis (Sep 14, 2011)

I don't see how Obama can be primarily responsible for doing or not doing something that the Constitution does not give him the power to do. But then again, I am just a silly immigrant who probably does not fully understand how the Constitution works either.  I just had to pass a simple silly test on the subject, that's all.


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## George Harris (Sep 14, 2011)

jis said:


> I don't see how Obama can be primarily responsible for doing or not doing something that the Constitution does not give him the power to do. But then again, I am just a silly immigrant who probably does not fully understand how the Constitution works either.  I just had to pass a simple silly test on the subject, that's all.


This is true. It is more of a question of why is trying to take credit for what. The US president does not have near the power most people think he does nor as much as the guy in the office would like to pretend he does when things go his way.

Once comment I read being made about Eisenhower when he became president was to the effect, "Poor Dwight. He will find out that as president when he gives an order nothing will happen. Totally different from when he was a general."


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## Devil's Advocate (Sep 14, 2011)

George Harris said:


> This is true. It is more of a question of why is trying to take credit for what. The US president does not have near the power most people think he does nor as much as the guy in the office would like to pretend he does when things go his way.


Yeah, I can tell that's exactly what you were trying to say right from the start.



George Harris said:


> It remains to be seen whether he will actually put his our money where his mouth is. Latest federal appropriation, as opposed to hot air promises to teh Calif HSR is zero, nada, nothing. If there is no money going to a very logical potentially high ridership line in a very populous state that generally goes the Democrat way, what do you think the chances are for any real money going to systems elsewhere. A lot fo the work currently happening started with or is being done by money appropriated under his much maligned predecessor.


Hmm.


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## Anderson (Sep 14, 2011)

Texas Sunset said:


> George Harris said:
> 
> 
> > This is true. It is more of a question of why is trying to take credit for what. The US president does not have near the power most people think he does nor as much as the guy in the office would like to pretend he does when things go his way.
> ...


It depends on what you mean by "started". Most of the construction is current, but the EIS phase on many of these things started under either Bush or even Clinton (the Hampton Roads project referred to an EIS dating back to about 1999/2000, and I know the Florida project was basically dusted off from the late 1990s/early 2000s). The reason for this was the desire to move on projects which could be pursued relatively quickly.

Now, I've hit on this before, but it is entirely possible that Obama could have gone into some states and allowed them to carry out trimmed-down EISes so as to get things out the door more quickly (this could have been loaded into the stimulus act with the help of any competent lawyer on staff in DC), making more mid-scale to large-scale projects eligible. Mind you, I'd also have pushed the project list out more quickly so as to commit the money well ahead of the 2010 elections (especially when the health care debate went upside down on him)...there's a lot that could have been done better.

But yes, the processes frequently started under Bush or Clinton...I believe mostly with state money...because the way the stimulus was worked out, it was aimed at "shovel ready" projects, which meant projects which had already been planned to a certain stage. Put another way, Obama more or less limited the major projects to things previously started.


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