Opinion: The Red Line: Perfectly fitting

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Along came the news last week of an economic development group’s possible creation in an effort to grab state dollars (your tax money, folks) to float Phase I of an electric-bus, rapid-transit line. Here we go again. That the former Carmel-to-Indianapolis commuter bus service was cratered for lack of ridership as 2015 dawned seems to be of little note or interest to those involved. The idea is to create a regional development authority among Carmel, Westfield, Indianapolis and Greenwood. We get the idea, and we believe it could work. What we don’t get is the need for government to fund it and operate it, because that’s what would eventually transpire. Might we commend to your attention Amtrak? When has it ever turned a penny of profit? Closer to home, please take a look at the financial disaster that is IndyGo. No, no a thousand times no. The officials involved are well-meaning folks, we believe, but there is a better way: the private sector. For one, it likely would be run as a profitable business free from burdensome union undertones, and for another it wouldn’t be akin to a tax phlebotomy every time the coffers got mowed down. Oh, and the working title of the project? The Red Line. How financially fitting. Privatize it, people, and enjoy the ride.

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Moles last week said the long-suffering Transportation Security Administration is nothing more than a government creation hindered by a philosophy of “fear and distrust.” They also said the coveted TSA PreCheck – the lane that gives expedited passage through the Skinner box – is doled out “like Halloween candy.” That’s all well and good. What shook us was this, according to Fox News: “A second report released … showed the agency failed to flag 73 commercial airport workers ‘linked to terrorism.’” More: “Washington hasn’t leveled with the American people,” Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said. “And (the Department of Homeland Security) is treating this like a PR crisis instead of a homeland security threat.” Of course.


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