Comments on: Embarrassing

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 17:24:23 +0000

I’m amazed that some people think that Molnau and the disaster that MNDOT has become is not an important story. Every story reveals new layers of incompetence and sheer stupidity, and this is an area where when you get things wrong people can be killed!

But some people think that Mark Ritchie is a more important story? Think about it.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 16:41:31 +0000

Bike trails cost pretty much nothing and do get some (although I will admit this is very limited) drivers off the roads. But by and large the two are entirely different issues and someone would have to be pretty dense to confuse them. Bike trails, like parks, are a public service to increase quality of life. They encourage exercise, provide scenic escape from urban life, a safe place for our children to get outside, and, for a limited few, an alternative, pollution free, way to get around. Yeah, spending the relatively little they cost to maintain is definitely a big part of infrastructure problem… ha.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 15:11:34 +0000

How quickly this topic went from the state of Minnesota’s ROADS to RITCHIE!!!

By: Big Kahuna

Big Kahuna — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 14:57:40 +0000

Nice try HCDFL, Ritchie himself said he did not know where the list came from and now says he delivered it himself. He is being called on this no matter how much you would like it to go away.

By: HCDFL

HCDFL — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:04:53 +0000

B.K.
Do you read the posts at mde? The one that doorknob wrote on Nov.26th said that Ritchie’s lawyer was the one who said the list was public information it was HIS understanding that was how the list was obtained. So because the lawyer didn’t have HIS facts correct means Ritchie lied. How so.

By: Roseville Dem

Roseville Dem — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 21:34:54 +0000

Big Kahuna, I don’t care about every small detail about the Ritchie story. They have covered the major points about it for the most part here, so gladly have your 24/7 Ritchie coverage over at MDE.

By: Big Kahuna

Big Kahuna — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 20:55:22 +0000

Roseville Dem - Quite honestly if you want much news at all you should head over to MDE.

Here fluff stories are covered to keep anything DFL looking positive and bad stories like Ritchie are ignored.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 19:05:03 +0000

In Sunday’s Strib, Lt.Gov. Molnau goes on to say…”There is nothing in the Law that says we can only use the Gas Tax monies for roads and Bridges. We as a state have to look at where our priorities are going to be.”

The whole purpose of having State Mandated Gas Taxes is to go to the building and maintaining of roads and bridges. Either Molnau is ignorant of what her job is or is lying to save face and that of Gov. Pawlenty.

Molnau goes on to state that more has been done under Pawlenty regarding Transportation that in the previous 12 years!! There’s been plenty of activity in the Metro area, that is for sure. But what of the rest of the state???

I have lived in Minnesota for going on 32 years. I can recall a few years here and there in the 70’s and 80’s where there has been NO road construction of any kind!!! The HWY 52 upgrade was to have started in the Spring of 1998 after Federal, State, and City monies were secured, but was delayed for 5 years. Was that project Molnau’s to take credit for???

By: Roseville Dem

Roseville Dem — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 18:35:05 +0000

Big Kahuna, the Ritchie story has been covered, if you want 24/7 reporting on the story go over to MDE.

By: Kerosene Hat

Kerosene Hat — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 18:33:25 +0000

Zack,

I assume you used the per capita GDP fact for some reason but thought it could be a little deceptive unless there was context for the numbers.

I am a big advocate of the gas tax and think it should be the only source for road funding (just as fares should be the only source for mass transit). The problem with you or anybody else being stuck in traffic is due to the fact government has subsidized sprawl for decades through cheep transportation. The subsidization has created a system based on overconsumption and inefficiency. Sure a higher gas tax would raise the costs of goods and services but those higher prices would reflect the true cost. Then when people bitch about a long commute because they needed to buy that Mcmansion in Ramsey they know they will have to pay to change it.

If we started there we would eventually get to the point where many of our communities would be dense enough for mass transit to make sense. Simply adding mass transit to the current system will change nothing as it is simply another method to hide the cost of inefficient land use by from those receiving the benefits.

Also your concern about safety is highly misplaced. If people were truly concerned with safety they would make motorcycles illegal (or at least require helmets) reduce the speed limit by 0-15 miles an hour and charge the person responsible for an accident for the police response. My feeling is though the concern isn’t for safety but the hope of a political issue that can be used to snowball potential voters.