The Pittsburgh Thread

**MarketStEl** · 08-27-2012, 08:27 AM

Originally Posted by Jayfar

Port Authority transit cuts temporarily averted with aid from Pa., Allegheny County, union - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

EDIT:

I see mixiboi has provided a more extensive list of links to stories about the PAT Transit reprieve in another thread:

http://www.philadelphiaspeaks.com/fo...tml#post526710

So Gov. Corbett is playing former Gov. Rendell's game - reaching into a pot of money somewhere, exactly where we may not know, and handing some over to the transit agency to stave off Transit Apocalypse.

I realize that since Rendell is a Democrat, his experience and actions cannot serve as a guide for a Republican, but aren't they supposed to serve as cautionary tales?

So we're gonna get another Act 44 instead, I guess.

**Jayfar** · 08-27-2012, 09:08 AM

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

So Gov. Corbett is playing former Gov. Rendell's game - reaching into a pot of money somewhere, exactly where we may not know, and handing some over to the transit agency to stave off Transit Apocalypse.

I realize that since Rendell is a Democrat, his experience and actions cannot serve as a guide for a Republican, but aren't they supposed to serve as cautionary tales?

So we're gonna get another Act 44 instead, I guess.

Ugh!!! You mean like the Act 44 that has put the Turnpike Commission at the brink of bankruptcy and now $7 Billion in debt?

Pa. Turnpike $7 billion in the red

**mixiboi** · 08-27-2012, 09:43 AM

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

So Gov. Corbett is playing former Gov. Rendell's game - reaching into a pot of money somewhere, exactly where we may not know, and handing some over to the transit agency to stave off Transit Apocalypse.

This was a move that I feel Gov. Corbett didn't want to do, but he was forced into it by others in the capitol to do something before it was too late for their district...

**BarryG** · 08-27-2012, 09:52 AM

Originally Posted by mixiboi

This was a move that I feel Gov. Corbett didn't want to do, but he was forced into it by others in the capitol to do something before it was too late for their district...

Probably has something to do with his low popularity rating and the fact that his power base is in Allegheny County. I don't know if the response to a transit crisis here will play out the same way.

**eldondre** · 08-27-2012, 10:22 AM

Originally Posted by BarryG

Probably has something to do with his low popularity rating and the fact that his power base is in Allegheny County. I don't know if the response to a transit crisis here will play out the same way.

the transit situation there is different. SEPTA has been limping along and made themselves whole using "savings." in Pittsburgh, retiree healthcare skyrocketed 195% (even while all other costs declined 4%)in the last five years and is eating up something like 20% of their budget and was on pace to eat up a third (which would have put them on pace for insolvency). in their case, more transit funding wasn't going to transit services. I don't know if Corbett was forced into it or if his hand was also forced by circumstance. this played out just weeks before the cuts. per jayfar's post, he is still relying on rendell era debt to fund roads and bridges. in regards to SEPTA, I wouldn't be surprised if similar concessions (at least as far as healthcare) are expected.

**mixiboi** · 09-27-2012, 05:33 PM

There turn:

The Most Racist City In America: Pittsburgh?

It's Pittsburgh. The only segregated city left in America. AA's live in one neighborhood. (Hill District) Big time police brutality, and if you're not a playing for the Steelers good luck finding employment.

**eldondre** · 09-30-2012, 02:09 PM

TribLIVE - mBusiness

**MarketStEl** · 09-30-2012, 08:33 PM

Originally Posted by Jayfar

Ugh!!! You mean like the Act 44 that has put the Turnpike Commission at the brink of bankruptcy and now $7 Billion in debt?

Pa. Turnpike $7 billion in the red

No. Act 44 was supposed to put an end to the repeated trips to the honey pot. It's the legislature's baby, concocted when Gov. Rendell's original proposal to lease the Turnpike system to a concessionaire was shot down as soon as it landed in the legislature's lap. I suspect you've been around here long enough that you can figure out why.

And as you know, the Feds pulled the linchpin of Act 44 out from within it. Our solons had been told this the first time they applied to toll I-80 but persisted anyway. After three attempts to apply, they finally gave up but didn't fix what was now a serious problem with the legislation.