My wife, who is also my campaign manager, and I were in D.C. for the past couple of days meeting with the powerbrokers. We had successful meetings with quite a few people including representatives from the DCCC, the DNC, Congressmen Murtha and Kanjorski, the chiefs of staff of other Congresspeople, and a representative from John Edwards' One America Committee. All expressed their gratitude for the campaign. I felt that we achieved important first steps.
Our boys stayed with their grandparents in suburban Philadelphia while my wife and I were in D.C. My wife and the boys were going to stay a couple more days with the grandparents, but I needed to get back to the campaign. So, I took the bus. And, I loved it. The bus is air conditioned (My truck is not.) I didn't have to drive. I had plenty of room. I wasn't stuffed in my seat like a sardine. It was wonderful.
Why you ask? Let's start with the financial. I saved two tanks of gas (~$60) and two sets of tolls on the turnpike and 1 toll on the bridge over the Delaware(~$19). This comes to $139. My bus fare with tax cost $48. My net savings was $91! And this is only the monetary savings. Tuesday night, I drove while my wife worked on her laptop and slept. Two things she definitely needed to do. Today (Friday), armed with my cell phone, laptop, and briefcase, I had 5 ½ hours of distraction free work time. It was excellent. When I arrived in Altoona, I was refreshed and ready for phase two of the day.
The roughest part of the trip was finding a convenient ride. Amtrak, thanks to Bill Shuster et. al., has had its funding cut. As a result, it has had to cut back on its routes and trips. There used to be a late afternoon/early evening train from Philly, but there is no more. Thankfully, Greyhound had an early trip, but even so, it offered no trips after noon from Philly. WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF AN ENERGY CRISIS! We need more not less mass transportation. The most efficient way to move people is by bus. The second most efficient way to move people by is high speed train. The most efficient way to move freight is by rail. Is this a common sense energy policy that we are following? The bottom line as Friends of the Earth has noted, "If America put the effort into upgrading our third-world railroads to a world-class system of energy-efficient high-speed trains, we could relieve congestion, cut pollution, and lower our demand for oil while creating jobs and increasing security."
President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, and Representative Shuster like to complain about taxes. But what have they done to actually reduce expenses? Have they undertaken any cost cutting measures? Mr. Bush says that we are addicted to oil. Has he stopped flying around in Air Force 1? What has he done do cut the Executive Branch's consumption of petroleum products? What has Shuster done to cut the Legislative Branch's consumption? If elected, I don't know if I will always use the bus or train, but you can bet that I will find ways to use these modes rather than to drive a car.
To find out more about the Tony Barr campaign, please check out my website: http://www.tonybarr2006.com
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