This will not be a particularly revelatory read for folks that think critically and follow the news, but the debate over funding for mass transit has officially been subsumed by the culture wars. Exhibit 1: cloaked in the (baldly-disingenuous) robes of the 'extreme fiscal conservative,' the Tea Party has increasingly opposed taxpayer funding for mass transit projects on the local, state and federal level. Problem is, spending on mass transit is the more fiscally-responsible alternative to endless road building (not to mention the exponentially better investment in the big picture). Outrage aside, the trend is more depressing than anything...even if one detests cities (a convenient catch-all for all things urban and transit-related), pretty much everyone with a brain knows that the economic development they drive and density they create are the two best hopes the U.S. (and the world) have for rising above the current malaise and dealing with future population growth. (sigh) [Salon]
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