Unless you have been living in a cabin somewhere beyond Jupiter without television, radio, or the internet you should be aware that the United States of America is in the midst of its quadrennial governmental reorganization. Among the real benefits of living in this country is the inherent individual right to disagree with and complain about the government without fear of sanction and the collective right to change that government. If you have not done so yet today I urge you to exercise the individual portion of that collective right and vote.

What happens today is going to impact heavily on energy and transportation policy for the next several years and that is going to determine much of what happens on the railroads.

GME
(Who was waiting at the door when his polling place opened)

Here in NC, at least in my SMSA, more people have already voted early than voted often in previous elections. State and local contests have been unusually shameful and divisive here, which seems to help get more citizens motivated. No matter who wins, either by getting elected or escaping the responsibility and accountability thereof, there's a large mess to be cleaned up and many problems and opportunities disguised as problems to be dealt with. Vacuums at leadership positions caused by blind allegiance to long standing party lines might be filled - we can only hope. Took me over 2 hours to get to the booth.

dave

No 1 topic on BBC news currently and this viewer/listener who has just about had a skinful of homegrown politics is thoroughly fed up....

G

(sorry folks but I don't have a vote in this one:-( )

When the wife and I went to our polling place at about 10 O'clock this morning, the polling judge told me that they usually have about a 35% turnout. They were already over 50% at that time. Now matter whom you support, I too urge people to vote.

Les

Deleted post, To spare the "children" from having to consider the real issues that got us to this point in time.

Ahem, this is the place for railway preservation topics. (NOT right wing drivel)
Peace- rdj4

I wouldn't pick on the Polish people, or Americans of Polish descent - we are all in this together. Clearly an inappropriate remark from many perspectives.

dave

Drivel never, right wing never.

The moderator allowed the topic, stay out of it if you don't like it.

Moderator
Please remove this topic, as it serves absolutely no purpose on this board. My 2 cents.

Mike Tillger

Okay, this chief election judge just staggering in from duty and hitting the hard stuff as a result will try his best to steer this to a worthwhile topic:

Assuming (and that's dangerous, of course) a substantial, if not filibuster-proof, Democratic majority in Congress and an Obama victory, is there any possibility seen of yet another Teapot Dome scandal---oops, I mean, another TEA (transportation efficiency act) pork-barrel trough that rail museums and historic operations can hope to chew at?

It's one thing to say "Biden likes Amtrak;" it's another to foresee the likes of another Civil Conservation Corps or National Recovery Act that could find, say, unemployed folks shoveling ballast and laying rail for food stamps or whatever............

Please lock this thread and remove. It has no place on RYPN. There are topics where politics play a role but a topic with no rail pres content is not appropriate.

Rob

As the one who started this thread I would be perfectly happy to close it as the purpose was to project a reminder that today is the day that we can fire our government and that that government has a significant impact on the industry that we are here to preserve. The intent was never to start a discourse on why some groups should or should not be allowed to vote.

I suggest that we table the discussion of what may happen to the industry as a result until tomorrow morning and simply drop the irrelevant portion concerning the social ills of ancient Greece and the more modern sociological fables. There was an election today that will impact on our vocation/avocation. Do your part in it or reserve your complaints about the result as I will not entertain them.

GME
(who is returning to watching the most fascinating set of returns since Truey beat Dewman (or was it the other way around?)

Let us all celebrate this truly historic election and now that the nation has spoken due our individual best to help America address the many issues confronting us.

I suspect that near term events will show that it was a good night for passenger rail in general and for railway preservation in particular?

Time will soon tell!!

IMHO-Ross Rowland

I won't say a word about any particular candidate or platform, but I do want to take this opportunity to point out that EVERY interest, firm, or profession ignores politics to its peril. This includes railroad museums, as much as anyone else--maybe more because we're usually so close to the margin of failure. In the next two to four Congresses, this country will decide on transportation finance; business taxes generally, which affects corporate health; railroad re-regulation; and most especially carbon trading and taxation, which affects everything that burns fuel and could change travel and tourism heavily. All of this is in addition to the usual federal rulemaking, which is utterly political and can present us with an unforeseen crisis at any time, like it did the Delta Queen. Keep your eyes open and your powder dry.

But let us indeed celebrate the election. As usual, I voted wrong and am not smiling, but I feel that the ghost of A. Philip Randolph is.

Aarne Frobom
Somewhere right of center, Shiawassee County, Michigan