Sunday, January 28, 2007

Culbertson Not the Coldest Beer in the Fridge

So here is another idiotic writeup by Mini Tom Delay. Rep. John Culbertson asks Metro to put the rail down Westpark which in his opinion is a good idea. What he doesn't know however is that the FTA would never fund that route. The ridership is too low to get a favorable rating in the New Starts program yet he pushes it anyways. Any guess as to why? Well he thinks that he needs to hold metro accountable but really it's because he hates transit. Can't we get rid of this guy like we got rid of Tom Delay?

2 comments:

Thomas said...

What he doesn't know however is that the FTA would never fund that route.

Culberson actually knows this fact all too well. That's *exactly* why he's pushing it. He knows it won't pass muster with the FTA, so it won't get built. And since he won't let a Richmond alignment be built, the end result is that *nothing* gets built.

Culberson is an urban rail opponent. He co-chaired the PAC that opposed the 2003 referendum. He does not want *any* rail built in his district, and as long as he's in power that's what's going to happen.

Can't we get rid of this guy like we got rid of Tom Delay?

The only way to do this is to find a well-funded, pro-transit Republican that is strong enough to defeat him in the primary. The 7th is gerrymandered to be a Republican district such that nobody can defeat him in the general election.

Sadly, Culberson's probably not going anywhere for awhile, and that means that there will not be any westside rail in Houston for awhile.

Pantograph Trolleypole said...

Good point. He just doesn't want rail period. It's annoying that folks like him can take a project hostage.