The American Spectator

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Building Bridges

8.13.07 @ 12:01AM

VIA DIPLOMATIC POUCH
Re: Quin Hillyer's The Victims of Communism Memorial:

We are writing regarding your superb recent article, "The Victims of Communism Memorial," by Quin Hillyer. As Foreign Service officers who have spent much of our 23-year careers fighting Communism and other forms of totalitarian oppression, including in Poland, the USSR, Turkmenistan, and Iraq, we were deeply moved by this noble initiative. Too often it is forgotten that Communism, just as Nazism, was a horribly brutal and often successful effort not only to tell man what to do, but even what to think. We are sure it has not escaped you that the date of the unveiling, June 12, is also Russian Independence Day, proclaimed by the late President Boris Yeltsin from the Soviet Union. How appropriate!

Bravo to Ambassador Lev Dobriansky who conceived of this deeply honorable Memorial, and has now brought it to fruition. May his name live forever on the side of the truth-tellers, when so many others averted their eyes.

Yours sincerely,
-- Tatiana C. Gfoeller-Volkoff
U.S. Consul General
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

-- Michael Gfoeller
Deputy Chief of Mission
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

IN PERMANENT DISREPAIR:
Re: Randal O'Toole's Infrastructure Gridlock:

Randal O'Toole brings up interesting and appropriate points regarding the sorry condition of our nation's highways and I agree with his statements about the long lag time for government to take action to repair our roads and bridges. I also get to see every day the results of elite, environmental do-gooders plans and approaches to impede the development of an efficient and cost effective automotive based transportation system. In southern New Hampshire the do-gooders at the New Hampshire Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), which is really an offshoot of Massachusetts PIRG, have worked diligently for many years to block the proposed expansion of Interstate 93 in southern New Hampshire, which is one of the principal thruways to the metropolitan Boston area.

This highway has been subject to traffic jams for years during the morning and evening commute by average folks trying to get to work. The do-gooders at PIRG are the sons and daughters of rich liberals and they know better than our transportation experts the solutions that should be provided to improve transportation in the area -- light rail! If they knew anything about transportation engineering and the diverse manner of residential development in the southern New Hampshire area, they might understand why light rail will not displace any significant portion of those average folks who must use their automobiles to commute to work. Unfortunately, the Board of Directors of PIRG do not have to live and deal with clogged rush hour traffic on I-93 since they live in the Boston area (except for those Friday afternoons when they drive to the mountains and lakes of New Hampshire to enjoy peace and quiet at their mansions). Rather, they can litigate and appeal approvals granted several years ago on a project which is not even located in the state in which they live, thus delaying this much needed project and increasing its cost significantly -- all without fear of retribution for their ill-conceived and elitist thinking. All they care about is stopping development while thinking that they know what is best for average folks who are just trying to make a decent living.
-- Patrick R. Spooner, P.E.
Windham, New Hampshire

Good article by Mr. O'Toole. The examples of foolish government decision-making regarding infrastructure are numerous:

* Boston, 1960s. The lively, working-class West End was deemed "blighted" (Kelo, anyone?) by the legislature to make way for "urban development." Tens of thousands of residents were displaced as pork-laden demolition and construction contracts were doled out. Today the area is a sterile, lifeless zone of high rise apartments and the nation's ugliest government office building, the still-unfinished Hurley State Office building.

* Boston again, 1960s -1970s. Instead of creating a "loop" interstate like most major American cities have around their periphery the state decided to "invest" in public transportation. The Orange Line elevated street railway was sunk underground and the area where the trestles stood were made into "green space." The project failed spectacularly to relieve traffic congestion, necessitating the much more expensive ($15 billion), corruption-ridden "Big Dig" to put the Central Artery under the city.

* New York City/New Jersey Transit today. NYC has a subway and New Jersey a commuter rail system that ceases to operate during the rain, but Mayor Bloomberg wants to impose "congestion pricing" to reduce traffic. But New York will make a lot of money the next time folks need to drive in because the subway and trains aren't running due to weather. In the meantime the city wants to be a landlord and spend half a billion dollars on housing while the sewer system blows up. Priorities, please.

* New Jersey today. Hudson/Bergen Light Rail system that doesn't go into Bergen County because that part of the project has been abandoned to instead fund a third commuter rail tunnel from NJ to NYC. This tunnel should have been built years ago, as anyone who commutes into New York via New Jersey Transit rail knows all too well.

* United States Air Traffic Control. Grossly under-invested by the government in regards to equipment, stuck with decades-old radar systems and 1960's mainframe computers, the Federal Aviation Administration is a political football kicked around by both the executive and legislative branches. Privatization of ATC is okay for Canada, Germany, Australia and the UK but not here?

And some people want the government to run health care?
-- Paul DeSisto
Cedar Grove, New Jersey

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