Urban Warfare

Expanding on Harry Reid's smart-assery below, the story behind the Tea Party' war-on-cities transit bill.

Public Transit: Hot Rails To Hell?

The story being that not only do they want to destroy this reporter's Social Security & Medicare (And probably de-subsidize our housing.) they now want to destroy all of America's cities, not just the one in which we live. (So we're probably not being paranoid. We aren't the only one they're after.)

“Now, it seems, Republicans want to turn cities into a part of the culture wars. Now it’s abortion, gay marriage and subways.”

[...]

Defunding transit is how you smack down urbanites, environmentalists, and people of color, all in one fell swoop. It’s how you telegraph a disdain for all things European. It’s how you show solidarity with swing-state suburbanites who don’t understand why their taxes are going toward subways they don’t even use. And it’s how you subtly reassure your base that you’re not concerned about the very poor.

[...]

The Tea Party plan to decimate transit is no less explicit a statement. “House Republicans are, essentially, declaring war on cities in the federal transportation bill,” tweeted Naparstek. It’s not just that they know they can’t expect many votes from urban dwellers — that at least would be political calculus. It’s that they despise cities in general. They see “smart growth” principles as a U.N. plot, gun control as fascist, and funding for transit not just as wasteful, but un-American. Don’t like it? Get a car like the rest of us.

The House transportation bill will not become law, but that doesn’t make it benign. Like the debt ceiling battle, it could become a political bargaining chip, or reframe the national debate: Maybe cities are getting more than their fair share? Are we overspending on transit? Why should I help fund some faraway bus system? It plants these questions in voters’ minds.

If such questions can be planted in someone's mind, that someone shouldn't be allowed to vote, or even to leave the house w/o a caretaker.