Local conservative columnist continues love affair with OPEC and asphalt: "I'm not complaining about the price, much."

(I know, he loves Wal-Mart, too.)

No new taxes, conservatives like to bleat. And don't try slipping fees past us - those are taxes!

Well, maybe some, um, tolls, would be A-OK, columnist Patrick McIlheran explains. Anything to keep that asphalt carpet growing and the OPEC coffers overflowing, while further disregarding any notion of sane alternatives like rail.

Only a card-carrying member of the right wing hive mind could possible type out a passage like the following with a straight face:

As for elitism, the tolls aren't exactly prohibitive: "I'm not a rich guy, but I like having the option of saving time when I really need it," one Orange County commuter explained to a newspaper. In Minneapolis, the toll Wednesday afternoon peaked at $3.75. That's not much if you absolutely had to make it to your kid's hockey practice on time.

Perhaps as a promotion during a future Milwaukee Journal Sentinel subscription drive, columnist McIlheran could hand out free "Eat My Upper Middle Class Dust, Sucker!" bumper stickers that are legible from the lower class "slow" lanes he proposes.

James Rowen at The Political Environment slices and dices:

When conservatives accuse government of taking money out of our pockets, every fee is called a tax, with fees and taxes being pretty much a bad thing, especially if the fees and taxes are being expanded or are altogether new.

But Patrick McIlheran can endorse putting first-ever Wisconsin tolls on an express lane from Milwaukee to Chicago, and that's not a tax increase.

In fact, it's downright virtuous, he tells us.

Set aside the fact that you can't take federal gas tax money and use it to build a toll road.

Tolls roads in Wisconsin have no political support here because they are too much an Illinois way of doing things.

And because people correctly know that tolls only go up, enriching the builders or lessors - - which more and more - - from Texas to Indiana to the Chicago Skyway - - are foreign-owned.

What's surprising to me in the debate about transportation spending in Wisconsin is how little support there is from conservatives who usually want choices in all things - - goods through free trade, charter and choice schools, open shops without unions, and so forth.

Except when it comes to transportation.

Then it's roads, and more roads and now even toll roads.

So even a conservative like McIheran can dismiss the Milwaukee-Illinois I-94 project costs - - "I'm not complaining about the price, much," he tells us. "It's a huge sum, though at $54 million a mile, it's a bit below what observers say is the going rate," while noting that the federal government, as if it spends free money, is picking up most of the cost of the $810 million Marquette Interchange.

But still - - no trains.

Same for the conservative Deb Jordahl. No trains!

It's an odd thing, this fear of rail on the right - - light rail, commuter rail - - and it's so strong that conservative thinkers are willing to line up with the agendas of the road-builders, a lobby that continues to commandeer a giant share of one-dimensional, government spending that keeps going up and up and up.

For expensive major highways that need maintenance, cleaning, plowing, patrolling and always, inflation-accelerated replacement.

This is the policy in Wisconsin, not suprisingly, a high-tax-and-spending state, but a rail poor one.

Even progressive Indiana is way ahead of us.

Interesting that McInheran has touted building more lanes to Chicago, and opposed adding commuter rail, twice in three days.

Maybe he and others sense that the I-94 project, without the complementary commuter rail line, is losing its appeal.

Maybe $54 million a mile is nothing to sneeze at after all.

And installing commuter rail as a real choice makes sense across political and ideological lines.

Comments

[Josh Strupp]

"And installing commuter rail as a real choice makes sense across political and ideological lines."

No John, it's still a waste of money politically and ideologically in this case.

As for McInheran, I read his piece a few days ago and found it absolutely ridiculous. The express toolway in which he speaks of in Minneapolis is 394, which connects downtown Minneapolis with the western suburbs. I've driven this stretch of interstate a million times and I have to admit that traffic, especially during rush hour, is horrible. The commute to and from the city can take upwards of an hour either way. The express tollway is definately effective in shaving significant time off your commute if you are willing to pay a premium. That being said, 394 in Minneapolis has absolutely ZERO similiarities with I94 between Chicago and Milwaukee. The stretch of interstate between Chicago and Milwaukee is never congested even during rush hour. I found myself laughing at the comparison and the idea that an express toll road would work considering the rush hour traffic speed on I94 between the 2 cities is about 55 MPH. It would be even faster if the Racine and Kenosha county troopers didn't hover over 94, dishing out citations for speeders every other mile. The amount of attention this stretch of interstate has gotten recently is a waste of time and energy. There are NO problems with I94 between Chicago and Milwaukee and there won't be in the long term scheme of things.

[John]

I used the term "hive mind" in this blog entry to describe a certain breed of conservative ideologue that is becoming more and more pervasive (especially online). Josh does NOT fall into that category; rather, he exemplifies the sort of thoughtful conservative - now rare - that actually brings facts to the table rather than catchphrases.

With that said, I believe every year that goes by without commuter rail as a REAL choice in the Madison-Milwaukee-Racine-Chicago corridor is another year of sad decline for us as a viable region in mid-century.

More on that later, of course :)

[Josh Strupp]

As a side note, the light rail in Minneapolis is very enjoyable to ride and very user friendly. I love riding it. All you choo choo folks would salivate over the thing :) They really did a remarkable job up there (minus the billions in taxpayer dollars it cost to build).