US US Politics General 2: Hope Edition - Discussion of President Trump and other politicians

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Should be a wild four years.

Helpful links for those who need them:

Current members of the House of Representatives
https://www.house.gov/representatives

Current members of the Senate
https://www.senate.gov/senators/

Current members of the US Supreme Court
https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/biographies.aspx

Members of the Trump Administration
https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/
 
Ostatnio edytowane przez moderatora:
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To avoid clittyleakage:
Anti-HSR group in Texas is trying to prevent Brightline West from securing a $6 billion loan from the Federal Railroad Administration. Currently the FRA is looking at the idea favorably because Brightline West is a private project that is expected to be profitable within the first few years after opening in 2029. It's also expected to have a lifespan of 100+ years and only cost $22-24 billion for a 218 mile long corridor making it multiple times cheaper than the government operated California HSR project despite going through worse terrain than California HSR.
 
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To avoid clittyleakage:
Anti-HSR group in Texas is trying to prevent Brightline West from securing a $6 billion loan from the Federal Railroad Administration. Currently the FRA is looking at the idea favorably because Brightline West is a private project that is expected to be profitable within the first few years after opening in 2029. It's also expected to have a lifespan of 100+ years and only cost $22-24 billion for a 218 mile long corridor making it multiple times cheaper than the government operated California HSR project despite going through worse terrain than California HSR.
Isnt Brightline East in Florida looking to go bankrupt to pawn off debt?
 
Isnt Brightline East in Florida looking to go bankrupt to pawn off debt?
Sorta, what's likely going to happen is that their parent company will sell off some real estate assets to keep the company going which they've done before by selling a parking garage for $20 million. They delayed some payments to August I believe. The entire Brightline system, once accounting for the land value boost coming from the service, is actually profitable. It's why the Fortress Investment Group has kept the company going all these years despite costing them billions.
At the current rates, they'll be able to break even some time in the late 2020s and become profitable in 2030. I say this because in FY 2024 they had a loss of like $500 million and in FY 2025 it's down to about $250 million. This includes all expenses so it isn't just the operational one which is I think $90 million of that $250 million for FY 2025.
 
Niggerball update, the NYC Knicks lost tonight's game against the Spurs.
Trump attended the game, expect tons of 'Orange Man bad' seething on X.

That is all.
They're already saying it's the Trump curse. I'm very happy to see New Yorkers lose tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars to watch an L.

All for Trump to apparently fall asleep during it.
 
Alaska is alright but I really wouldn't want to live there. I had a job offer up there a few years ago and I just couldn't do it.
My understanding from people who have moved up there for jobs is that the place is flooded with migrants now. Idk I haven't seen it myself and it's hard for me to imagine Mexicans or jeets tolerating the mind numbingly shitty cold weather in most of the state, but Anchorage has enough nice days I could see some of them making their way there.

Alaska is an absolutely beautiful state but if you're not in a city it can kinda suck because you will find yourself relying more than you may have expected on private plane deliveries of food and goods. Someone who could survive well enough off the land could do well up there, and the state is huge enough that it's very easy to basically disappear.
 
My understanding from people who have moved up there for jobs is that the place is flooded with migrants now. Idk I haven't seen it myself and it's hard for me to imagine Mexicans or jeets tolerating the mind numbingly shitty cold weather in most of the state, but Anchorage has enough nice days I could see some of them making their way there.

Alaska is an absolutely beautiful state but if you're not in a city it can kinda suck because you will find yourself relying more than you may have expected on private plane deliveries of food and goods. Someone who could survive well enough off the land could do well up there, and the state is huge enough that it's very easy to basically disappear.
my understanding is that the cities are especially bad. I'm sure the rural areas are all right but the decent ones are still close to the city and the ones that aren't... well, its still a proper frontier up there. not a life for everyone.
 
The entire Brightline system, once accounting for the land value boost coming from the service, is actually profitable.
WTF is this accounting logic? This isn't Japan, Brightline doesn't own any of the land around their stations. Various local governments in Florida own many of the stations and they invested several billion of taxpayer dollars to help build them. Orlando alone spent $680 million for their station though they got reimbursed by the feds for some of that. Miami spent $77 million on the Aventura station and Biden gave them a $34 million grant to offer a commuter pass. They're a quasi-government company in practice.

Brightline is going bankrupt, but makes enough money to keep the lights on if they don't have to pay for their capital expenses, so the train could stick around if the company is sold for pennies on the dollar. Of course, in that scenario all the investors and bondholders are screwed and good luck funding any capital improvements in the future.

HSR was made obsolete with the invention of the airplane over 100 years ago. Just because the Chinese and Europeans did something doesn't mean that it's a good idea.
 
Ostatnio edytowane:
WTF is this accounting logic? This isn't Japan, Brightline doesn't own any of the land around their stations. Various local governments in Florida own many of the stations and they invested several billion of taxpayer dollars to help build them. Orlando alone spent $680 million for their station though they got reimbursed by the feds for some of that. Miami spent $77 million on the Aventura station and Biden gave them a $34 million grant to offer a commuter pass.

Brightline is going bankrupt, but makes enough money to keep the lights on if they don't have to pay for their capital expenses, so the train could stick around if the company is sold for pennies on the dollar. Of course, in that scenario all the investors and bondholders are screwed and good luck funding any capital improvements in the future.

HSR was made obsolete with the invention of the airplane over 100 years ago.
Brightline is operationally profitable. the revenue from ticket sales exceeds the outlays needed to run the trains. it's the debt from building the lines that is dragging them down. They'll go bankrupt, restructure and continue operating.

Passenger service in all types of travel is notoriously a money black hole, that barely makes profit if it makes any at all. the airlines make their money from freight, same as the railroads did when they were forced by the government to offer passenger service.
 
WTF is this accounting logic? This isn't Japan, Brightline doesn't own any of the land around their stations.
Their parent company owns the properties around the stations and they make money off it and do what they can to keep the company going because without it, abandoned stations like Miami Central would look pretty bad and ruin what they've got going real estate wise.
HSR was made obsolete with the invention of the airplane over 100 years ago.
This is how I know you don't know what you're talking about, The current Brightline isn't HSR, it's regional rail.
Calling HSR absolete because of planes is pants on head retarded anyways, planes are better suited for longer distance trips (>500 miles). HSR primarily exists for trips in the 100-500 mile range which is where it beats air travel because most airports are intentionally far away (FAA regulations).
Various local governments in Florida own many of the stations and they invested several billion of taxpayer dollars to help build them. Orlando alone spent $680 million for their station though they got reimbursed by the feds for some of that. Miami spent $77 million on the Aventura station and Biden gave them a $34 million grant to offer a commuter pass. They're a quasi-government company in practice.
Not really? This is like calling airlines quasi-government owned because the government spends money on airport terminals. A combination of public and private funds usually works best for transit projects since if this whole thing were up to Amtrak, they wouldn't have even bothered making it a proper service and it would've dragged out for another decade because they never spend money on anything outside the NEC.
 
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