September 11, 2021 dawned bright and brilliant over the 48 contiguous states of America. Optimism was rampant as President Sarah Palin the first woman elected chief executive was in office in her first year. Just as she campaigned to restore a patriotic fervor to our land, the holiday formerly observed on the 1st monday in September (labor day) was changed to September 11th and renamed Patriots day to honor all the martyr's killed on that day 20 years before. The National economy was taking off unseen since the 1990's although the fair and balanced news network mistakenly said the 1980's.http:/http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/11/23/5516897-chart-economic-growth-by-president/. People were moving back into America's cities for the second decade in a row although to do so meant you were in the top 5% of earners. American cities were booming and the suburbs were dying and why shouldn't they have been since fuel prices were averaging $10.00 a gallon. Moat building and ditch digging were the job growth areas ending technologies rein. We were in our 20th year of the war on terror and our 50th year in the war on drugs as reported by the fair and balanced Faux news agency. While many people questioned the insanity of these never ending wars and thought that perhaps more spending on education was in order they were always out opionated by the corporate think tanks that were experts on everything right for us. The jobs were plentiful in the cities of the day and suburbanites flocked there to work, because not to would've meant unemployment and certain starvation since any sort of social safety net had been ruled illegal by the Supreme Court 4 short years before.http:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_(Ayn_Rand)//From their suburban ghetto's courtesy of their newly privitized minicipal bus company the long journey into the urban areas was made affordable as the corporations of the day relied on this supply of labor to keep their businesses booming. You see workers really had no choice as jobs were non-existent outside the walls of a metropolis. The middle class of the day always voted in elections be it state wide or nation wide to lower taxes and allow monopolies to exist stifiling out any type of competition in their neighborhoods. But what the people of the day didn't realize was that what the elected officials were doing was putting the responsibility of funding every day services such as schools,fire departments,police,onto the local goverments where write offs were non-existent. As a result of this these essential services could no longer function so the citizenry became the serfs of the 21st century. Some knowlegeable scholars in the out lying towns tried to change this by rallying people to register to vote. However this was a failed attempt as to be able to vote people needed 2 forms of identification and at least 2 valid credit cards with their balances up to date. This was an impossibility for over 90% of the populace, as student debt had exploded to unheard of proportions.

Job Loss, Traffic Jams, and Heart Ache.

On March 13Th, 2011 the Port Authority of Allegheny County plans to cut 35% more of its service, and layoff 500 plus employees. The pink slips for these employees will be delivered during the holiday season, just in time for Christmas, but rest assured the Pennsylvania Lawmakers and their families get to enjoy another extended holiday vacation, and put Mass Transit, Roads and Bridges on the back burner again.

This Funding Crisis didn't happen overnight. In 2007 Act 44 was signed, creating an Historic Permanent Revenue source for Transit, Roads, and Bridges. The problem was that the main funding source for Act 44 was the tolling of I-80. On April 6Th, 2010 the feds rejected (again) the Tolling of I-80. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10096/1048294-100.stm Our elected officials have sat on their hands for too long now, they put getting re-elected over public interest. Ed Rendell tried in-vain to create another source of revenue, but the self serving Pennsylvania General Assembly once again stood on the sidelines. Republicans sat back and said "NO NEW TAXES"so they could get re-elected, and the weak Democrats sat back and said "WELL, WE REALLY NEED TO RAISE TAXES BUT, I MIGHT NOT GET RE-ELECTED. This attitude needs to be stopped. The riding public should be treated better, a Public Transit 'Bill of Rights" should be enacted to protect their interests from the "do nothing" Pennsylvania Lawmakers who cant seem to stick their necks out to do the right thing.

In March, when these additional cuts are put into effect, there will be traffic jams of ridiculous proportions. There will be zero places to park in the already congested City of Pittsburgh, and the people who use this once great Transit system will be stranded and unemployed. The Poor, and Elderly who rely on this public service will not be able to get to vital services necessary to their lives. The rich will not be able to park their Hummer's and Lexus' and save on gasoline and parking fees, creating another void in our Free Market Economy. (sarcasm) This crisis is real, this is not an Allegheny County issue, it is a State Lawmaker issue. Note to the riding and non- riding public, start calling and e-mailing your State Legislators NOW! If you don't know who they are use this link to find out. http://www.legis.state.pa.us/index.cfm

Why now and not 1964?

I'm constantly reminded by naieve individuals about the virtues of competition in our public transit service circa 1963. Allow me to take you back to the pre-Port Authority days prior to 1964. A time when there were 21 different transit lines operating service into Allegheny County suburbs and 17 into Downtown pittsburgh. A time when there were 38 different fare structures and 38 different public transit schedules to read. Many of these companies were so financially insolvent that equipment over 30 years old was the norm. More than half of these companies were bankrupt and the ones that were profitable derived their income mainly from charters and school bus operations, a service denied to the present operations of the Port Authority. This was a time when Pittsburgh Railways the dominant carrier in the county adjusted Fares upward 13 times in 13 years and was in bankruptcy around 50% of the years it was in operation. Breakdowns were the norm because of the age of the equipment and the automobile was becoming the preferred mode of transportation in the area taking away a customer base.These were the reasons that public transit was formed into a Municipal Authority in the first place. This was a time when our Politics wasn't controlled by large Corporate campaign donors. When private think tanks didn't exist (Allegheny institute,Heritage foundation,Cato institute, Manhattan institute etc.)to frame arguments in a Corporate Monopolistic type of philosophy with their advertising dollars in our newspapers and broadcast media. If we're to hand over our transit system to private carriers, these will not be the mom and pop operations of the past. These type of operations will be done by large Companies that will stifle any type of competition. The First Transits,Veolia's, Coach U.S.A.'s of the world operate for one reason only, as any business does,to make a profit. Their reason for being is not to provide a public service, and the only way for them to exist is thru OUR TAXES as their operating margin.(Please read my blog on Public vs. Private as this is where this debate is going) These transit companies that will be entering our market are not local concerns as they have you believe but are international conglomerates, that will be hauling more American capital overseas as we continue the habit of selling off our public assets (Turnpikes,Public Transit systems,Utilities,etc.) because we as a nation have decided to outsource our manufacturing capabilities. Our economy has become a barter economy ie: you wash my windows, i'll mow your lawn. So to make up for our lack of creating wealth by making raw materials into consumer products and exporting them as we did prior to the 80's. we've resorted to selling off our public assets for cash and importing well over 90% of our manufactured goods to pay for it. Just like the discussion of the selling of our parking assets Pittsburgh, you might want to think long and hard about this public utility as well. Rest assured fellow citizens of Allegheny county you'll hear many proponents of the privitization of our transit in the media over the months to come but if its so good now why wasn't it in 1964?

The Death announcement of the Port Authority of Allegheny county is moments away on this day the 24th of November 2010 at 9:25 A.M. Funeral arrangements will be made by the "Board of Directed" in a secret meeting. Details to follow.