One of many items appearing before the hard-at-work public that 'need to be done now', includes the ARC Tunnel under partial construction in New Jersey, slated to be reconsidered as part of an infrastructure enhancement, with more emphasis on alternative thinking than funding it as the only means to an end. There is no doubt there is a necessity to upgrade and revitalize city and state capacities to provide more access to commerce, interstate activity, and the like. There is also no doubt the taxpayer has been swindled by the largesse that has been wasted from the coffers of many states' budgets, with no accountability, and no retribution for same. This goes on daily, and seems to be taken for granted by too many at this stage, now that we talk of Trillions of Dollars, instead of 'just' Billions. By, 'at this stage', I mean the general public has been lulled into some kind of hush, just do what you're gonna do attitude, where no challenge to any of the policy decisions that are thrust upon us are thought to be worthwhile enough to counter the volumes of proposals that continue to come forward.
What we lack in general, is an attitude of do what we can WHEN we can. This is to say, be accountable always for decisions made, even personally put your reputation on the line in order to promote what is to be considered at any given point in time, and hold yourself as the last stop for the buck. This is part of what being elected by the people means - those who elect someone need to hold themselves and those they put in office as responsible for the outcomes of those elections and policy decisions; and standing up for, and acting upon those items and plans which were thought to be paramount reasons to BE elected in the first place. Not to be taken lightly, but deliberately, in order to achieve the ends you put yourself into the 'spotlight' for, and, preferably, make a difference in your community, and, ultimately, your country and even the world. That we have lacked the compassion it takes to resurrect the true purpose of government in the United States is humbling. And the need to reverse that is a tremendous one. For those of us who hold transparency, responsibility, and accountability as more than words in our lives, the passion that exists to bring government back to its rightful place, one that is limited in scope, is much less intrusive on the freedoms this great nation enjoys, and is much more decentralized, in order to foster 'home rule' - in this case, the states - this passion will not wane, and should not. The patriotism exhibited by the citizenry to make our control of all-encompassing government a reality AGAIN will not diminish, and as we move forward through the new millenia, intend on holding OURSELVES accountable for the actions we take to make this happen.
Many who think of the Access to the Region’s Core project, think of the Big Dig in Boston, Massachusetts , and rightly so. There is no telling what the costs will actually be - I personally think it will go beyond the current bloated estimates, due to 'overruns', by triple what is currently thought. 'Overruns' - interesting, compact term for 'we didn't know!', 'it wasn't US', and 'well, will ya look at that...' - are all too commonly thought of as an avenue for all involved in projects of this scope AND less to provide an 'out', if you will, for really not bothering to make the real numbers available to the public to be astonished at the costs involved. To THIS end, those of us who are incredulous that a project of this size (see http://www.arctunnel.com/ ) would be promoted as costing 'so little', due to previous encounters with overruns in the past, find it inhibitive to sensible dialogue about containing costs, which is why we have this article today: ARC Tunnel: White Elephant or Good Bet?. Yes, alternatives ARE available, yet we do not hear of the thought process and deliberation that went into the choices that have been made, except by researching the actual study(ies) done ourselves - one is not likely to be presented with alternate views on the nightly news, and the locals are busy shooting out headlines to gain ratings and readership. So, the accountability ends up in the taxpayers' lap. All too often it is easier to let an issue slip from our grip of conscious thought of it, whilst living our lives, working to pay for the plunder. This must change on an ongoing basis in order to remain aware that the system in place is not conscious itself of the costs dealt to the generations of families and individuals that prohibit us from moving forward as a society united. Instead, we are pitted against each other in simple fashion: 'those opposed don't care about you'; 'it's a mistake not to proceed with the spending'; 'get the money from THEM' - all this is counter-productive, obviously, yet the fight remains. When Governor Christie says there should be a rethink, and the opposition to THAT thought trounces him with, for instance, a“$600 million hole to nowhere” (Senator Menendez), and “Killing the ARC Tunnel will go down as one of the biggest public policy blunders in New Jersey’s history.” (Senator Lautenberg), it is easy enough to see where the thought process goes from there. The ideas in the above article are responsible, coherent, and ALTERNATIVE to what has been chosen thus far, and even MORE rethink is needed here.
For those who choose not to join in the fight ahead of us, so be it. Choose what you will, but my choice is clear - I think I have none. To let this barbaric attitude of current government confiscation to continue is against every fiber of my being, and I choose to fight, and oppose its advancement. I do encourage anyone reading this to RETHINK the direction we are headed - if we allow this process to go forward, with nothing but naysaying the opposition to prove need for 'taking what you got', our visit to the abyss of civilizations gone awry and devastated will be short and painful.
See The Difference, Business, Christie, Corporate, Economics, Governor, Lautenberg, Menendez, Senator, accountability, business-news, confiscation, constituents, construction, countries, finance, government, responsibility, taxes, trust
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