Nov 3rd, 2008 at 9:44 am
Peddling Hope
Politico reports that Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) is under consideration to be Secretary of Transportation. It’s worth noting that Blumenauer, who represents Portland in the House, is by far the bike commuter’s best friend in congress, already responsible for getting us some lucrative special interest tax breaks as part of the bailout package along with general smart growth excellence.
As the ninth-most important person in American politics, in other words, I would be psyched to see this happen. New York City Transportation Commissioner Jeanette Sadik-Khan is probably my dream choice, but Blumenauer would be excellent.
37 Responses to “Peddling Hope”
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November 3rd, 2008 at 9:50 am
I think you want “pedaling hope” in your headline, Matt.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:50 am
As the ninth-most important person in American politics, in other words, I would be psyched to see this happen.
Matt, no offence, but I don’t think you’re the ninth most important person in American politics.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:56 am
“lucrative”.
welll–as far as i can tell, the maximum is $20.00 per month.
yeah, you can buy a used bike for $240.00. but you’re not likely to get it financed over a year.
i’ll certainly try to get my $20.00 a month if my employer participates. but it is a pretty nominal benefit, esp. in comparison to the multiple hundreds of bucks per month for car commmuters.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:03 am
YES! Please bring Blumie into the Cabinet! That would be an awesome move on the part of Obama.
Also, Peter DeFazio, who represents Eugene and points South, is another great public transportation advocate, but his district is fairly competitive without him. Portland has plenty of Democrats to replace Blumenauer.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:15 am
Matt, no offence, but I don’t think you’re the ninth most important person in American politics.
Yeah, I laughed at that too. I imagine Matt has more of a “misplaced modifier” problem than a “towering delusion of grandeur” problem.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:32 am
Matt is not the ninth most important person in American politics.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:41 am
Can’t wait for this to be over so people’s ability to detect humor can return to the norm.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:47 am
HTH.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:50 am
this wiki page on presidential succession:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_line_of_succession
puts transportation at number 12, not number 9.
still, maybe under obama they’ll do it peleton-style, and take turns.
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:11 am
Since it’s a gazillion times more important to the shape of America’s communities, to energy conservation and the environment, to rebuilding infrastructure, and to the economy, I sure hope he’s a friend to mass transit, too. Perhaps, misplaced modifiers aside, Matt does think he’s that important if he’d give greater priorities to rewarding his habits.
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:32 am
This is what Matt means when he claims to be “the ninth most important person in American politics.”
http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/10/power_hour.php
It’s a kinda lame joke. It has nothing to do with Presidential succession.
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:34 am
kid bitzer, the Secretary of Transportation is not the #12 most important person.
The list you link to is specific only to Pres. Bush’s cabinet, so it skips over two secretaries who were not natural-born citizens, so on that list, the Transportation secretary is #14. But even then, he’s still only the #15 most important person, because the list you link to is only the presidential succession list–it doesn’t list the President himself, so in terms of succession only, the Transportation secretary is #15.
But line of succession doesn’t necessarily coincide with power. The Senate president pro tem is just the oldest geezer in the Senate.
I still don’t know where Matt gets his number, though.
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:36 am
Ah, there we go. So it’s not a misplaced modifier.
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:39 am
Since Yglesias has already threatened to send the people that complain about spelling to Gitmo, I think you people that question his place as 9th most powerful person are walking on thin ice here.
It certainly would be nice to have a bike friendly person as Transportation Secretary. Even if it is just to put a requirement for more bike capacity on commuter trains.
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:52 am
Oh, I thought it was an error in grammar, referring to some sort of cabinet hierarchy.
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:56 am
read the link at #11, it will explain a lot.
I used to commute by bike (about 4 years, 12 miles roundtrip.) but six months ago I moved and now I work at home and it sucks. I should just ride my bike every morning, but somehow without having a place to go on it, it just never happens. I wish I could have heard more from the candidates about this problem. Also the problem of me spending my time reading stupid blogs instead of working, cause I’m at home and I can do whatever I want.
November 3rd, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Finally, someone is giving the powerful bicycle commuter lobby the attention it deserves.
November 3rd, 2008 at 1:38 pm
nice line, mixner.
it occurs to me: what if i promise to go biking after i have eaten nothing but corn-based products: fritos, jujubes, every form of corn sweetener imaginable. couldn’t we swing the farm-states behind it?
how about if i promise to go biking blind drunk on moonshine: don’t i count as an ethanol-powered vehicle?
there’s got to be some way to put the midwest in play. god only knows that king corn gets what it wants.
November 3rd, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Stefan:
With “Blumie” as Transportation Sec., and Pete DeFazio (my congressman) as head of the Surface Transportation Subcomittee (if he stays there), Oregon could have a majority share in deciding transportation policy in this country!
What might we do with our newfound power? SUPERTRAIN + bicycles = SUPERBIKES? Is the technology there yet for the 280 mph automated bicycle (powered by wind, solar, and beaver droppings, of course)?
November 3rd, 2008 at 6:24 pm
I’m lucky enough to have Earl as my congresscritter, and I’m happy to share him if he gets the TransSec job. As for mixner’s point, well, give it a couple of years and the bike lobby will be powerful! In Portland, they were building bike lanes before cycling took off here, and the cycle mode share came as a result of infrastructure improvements. Now, we actually do have some clout in town, and had no small role in the choice of our current mayor. Of course, we have our own mixners in Portland, and there are some unhinged car-driving backlashers spewing LTE’s of hate in the local papers, begrudging every penny spent on paint.
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:55 pm
Not sure if anyone knew this, but Blumenauer was the keynote speaker at this year’s American Planning Association 100th Annual Conference in Las Vegas. He was a super-well received speaker with a focus on upgrading America’s infrastructure, but not in 15-lane highways but in transit, biking and pedestrian infrastructure. When I read his name in Politico, the planner in me was VERY happy. Hope he gets this post…
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