News talk 2014-01-21: Miami trolleys avoid poor

What’s natural is for private entities to develop upscale transportation to entice wealthy clientele. What’s unnatural is to use federal funding, in the form of stimulus dollars, to target that same clientele. So, I see the issue here. But we might not know the whole story.

And Miami could argue that it’s in the public interest to have high-class trolleys that cater to tourists. If poor people climb aboard in higher-crime areas, that might make wealthier riders uncomfortable enough to abandon the rides. Then the whole concept is unprofitable. So, I see that side, too.

I guess I have no strong opinion on this one, except that the entire stimulus thingy was mostly a waste of money. You stimulate when you leave the money in the hands of the people who earned it. Taking their money and squandering it doesn’t stimulate enough to be worthwhile. In fact, logically, it can’t, despite what new-age, loony economists say. A couple weeks of training with me and I might be able to get them thinking logically. I said might. Their minds could already be damaged beyond repair by the hippie epidemic that spread and exists in mutated form today. Come to think of it, that’s NOT an opinion. But it is marginally off the topic, so let’s move along. — MC