Comments by "interstellarphred" (@interstellarphred) on "Looming budget crisis threatens to stall progress fixing the MBTA" video.

  1. Believe me! it was suggested when they were rolling out the forward funding public relations dog and pony show. I for one, stated that sales tax receipts would drop during economic downturns right at the time more ridership could be captured and the revenue source should reflect the cigarette tax; funding the disincentives to smoking only with gasoline, but local elected officers are addicted to highway funding, and the ones who would be the most annoyed about it have most of the guns.
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  2. The great "Five F" of Y2K: Fundamentally Flawed Forward Funding Formula. The citizen advocates warned of this happening, and the elected officials blew us off. with rhetorical gems like "live within its means" and "cut out the fat" which is their way of telling us that no one loses elections screwing transit riders. Advisory board meetings had presenters telling about more overtime and deferring maintenance to cut costs. Absent in the rhetoric was anything about being adequately funded to meet the challenges of the new century.
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