of why government-funded, monopolized, services are a bad idea. When there is no competition, there is no way to keep prices down, so they tend to shoot up. And in this case, the price that is sky-rocketing is the price of labor.
SEPTA (SouthEast Pennsylvania Transit Authority) recently went on strike (although they kindly waited until after the World Series, despite their initial threats). The union is demanding an increase in wages and benefits, but when you consider that the average unionized SEPTA worker is already making $52,000 a year, you have to wonder why.
By the way, the median salary in the city of Philadelphia is only $36,646. So most transit workers are making significantly more money than the people riding on the buses/trains/subways with them.
Mix in the fact that we're in the middle of a recession, and that unemployment in Philadelphia recently hit 11 percent, and its pretty hard to believe that anyone can support this strike or the union that organized it.
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Showing posts with label public transportation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label public transportation. Show all posts
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) doesn't understand irony
At least Rep. Brady is trying to support the call for smaller government; though I'm not sure he really understands what that means.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Brady sent a letter to the Washington METRO on Wednesday demanding an explanation for the lack of increased service during the "tea-party protest" this weekend. The problem, of course, is that the protest was against taxpayer-funded big government spending, which would include things like, oh, public transportation.
As WSJ blogger Brody Mullins put it:
"Rep. Kevin Brady asked for an explanation of why the government-run subway system didn’t, in his view, adequately prepare for this past weekend’s rally to protest government spending and government services. "
But, you know what, I'm actually going to give Brady some credit for this. At least he's showing that he cares about the movement, even if he's got a funny way of trying to help out. It just goes to show that even the politicians who disagree with big government spending lack the ability to think of any other alternative. At least there is hope for people like Brady, he just needs a little help to see the light.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Brady sent a letter to the Washington METRO on Wednesday demanding an explanation for the lack of increased service during the "tea-party protest" this weekend. The problem, of course, is that the protest was against taxpayer-funded big government spending, which would include things like, oh, public transportation.
As WSJ blogger Brody Mullins put it:
"Rep. Kevin Brady asked for an explanation of why the government-run subway system didn’t, in his view, adequately prepare for this past weekend’s rally to protest government spending and government services. "
But, you know what, I'm actually going to give Brady some credit for this. At least he's showing that he cares about the movement, even if he's got a funny way of trying to help out. It just goes to show that even the politicians who disagree with big government spending lack the ability to think of any other alternative. At least there is hope for people like Brady, he just needs a little help to see the light.
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