Michele Bachmann is Afraid to Debate Her Abysmal Transportation Record

According to the Saint Cloud Times, Bachmann will be a no-show at a forum in Saint Cloud sponsored by the Transportation Alliance:

Candidates will discuss cars, trains, boats and planes next week at a St. Cloud forum sponsored by the Minnesota Transportation Alliance.

Two candidates will attend from Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District race: DFLer Tarryl Clark and the Independence Party’s Bob Anderson, according to Margaret Donahoe, director of the alliance. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Stillwater, was invited, but her office didn’t respond, Donahoe said.

The forum is from 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday at the Best Western Kelly Inn. There’s no cost to attend, but organizers ask that you visit www.transportationalliance.com/regionals.htm to preregister.

Bachmann has an appalling record on transportation.

Bachmann has always opposed funding for rail projects like Northstar. This is what used to be on Bachmann's campaign website:

"As your District 52 State Senator, I will work hard to add capacity to Minnesota highways.... This is my personal commitment to you." "Michele believes a successful transportation policy must put an end to the diversion of scarce funds to impractical and expensive rail transit programs that will have no direct benefit for area residents and will cost millions of dollars in the future for operating subsidies. She has called for dedicating 100 percent of the sales tax on vehicles to road construction."

During the last election Bachmann pretended to support Northstar (ECM editorial):

And while tending to matters at home in her district she found time to pillage legislative candidates who voted their conscience on the state’s transportation issues, but had to leave early from our one-hour endorsement interview.

What really sealed her fate, however, was her unwillingness to later answer point-blank questions about a bridge project in St. Cloud and the Northstar Commuter Rail. We find it disingenuous that she wears a Northstar lapel pin but won’t comment on whether or when the line should ever be extended to St. Cloud and Rice.

This is what 2008 candidate and former Transportation Commissioner El Tinklenberg said in a video interview I did for The Uptake:

She is about partisan polarization. She is about divisiveness. And the result is she has not been able to accomplish anything as a (state) Senator and she’s not accomplishing anything except in a negative sort of way in the district currently. We think we represent a strong alternative to that.

The district is the focus of some major chages in transportation, not only in terms of improvements to the existing system, but changes in that system. Northstar is a big issue. And I’m proud of the fact that I helped get Northstar started when I was at Anoka County. And now we’re making some progress on that. It’s disappointing to me that it’s five year later than what it should have been. It’s $90 Million more than when we introduced it back in 2000. Back then it was going all the way to St. Cloud, now it’s just going to Big Lake. So we’ve lost time, we’ve lost half of the line and we’ve increased the cost as result of the delays that came out of the Republican controlled House back in 2000.

I bring a record of having to do some things in transportation and some important things, the Hiawatha light rail line for example, as compared to Representative Bachmann, who when she was in the state Senate fought every transportation initiative that came along, has been a constant obstructionist for transportation issues in the state and has carried that on even now in her Congressional seat. She has voted three times to hold up funding for the reconstruction of the 35 W bridge. And I think that represents where her priorities are in relation to transportation issues .

She hasn’t been able anything done partly because of that kind of partisan, ideologue approach she’s taken to so many issues. But also she has used what support she has given to transportation, principally PRT or Personal Rapid Transit, as a way of really distracting the discussion of kind of delaying tactics in terms of transportation. PRT is not something that’s going to work to serve commuters. It’s not something that’s going to work to serve the transit interests and concerns and needs of Minnesota. And she’s using it simply as a distraction. She doesn’t really mean or intend to support any kind of increased funding for transit and she’s just using this as a way of diffusing the issue.

It appears that Mary Kiffmeyer will also be a no-show. Both Kiffmeyer and Bachmann have a record opposing reality-based transit and supporting Rep. Mark Olson's Personal Rapid Transit pods. Mark Olson is no longer in the MN legislature, but his boondoggle lives on... read the latest, goofy PRT news at The Personal Rapid Transit Boondoggle blog. As we noted last week, PRT remains a favorite GOP pork project - Pawlenty having recently pissed away upwards of $150,000 in State and Federal funds on promoting the pods.

Somebody needs to get a copy of the bizarre movie Bachmann and fellow pod person Ray Vanderveer made on the Hiawatha LRT. We only have the audio and the hilarious comment about Bachmann at the end of by former Rep. Ron Erhardt.

Listen:

Michele Bachmann's Pods Get a Hearing in Front of Hennepin County Board

Michele Bachmann told MPR back in 2004:

Supporters range from Minneapolis City Council member Dean Zimmerman, a Green Party member, to Republican Sen. Michelle Bachmann of Stillwater. Bachmann says personal rapid transit, like many political issues, creates strange bedfellows.

"People on the right, people on the left, we have the common goal of moving people with transit, but doing it in the most cost-effective manner, in fact, in a manner that may end up costing no government subsidy, it may end up paying for itself," she says.

Reporters never bothered to ask Bachmann exactly how PRT could pay for itself. The media never bother to ask questions like that. Reporters rarely mention the long and sorry history of PRT flops and fiascos. And so, the PRT boondoggle goes on and on to waste time and money. How many chances do these PRT guys get?

Bill James, founder and CEO of the would-be Personal Rapid Transit vendor Jpods, dropped in on the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority meeting yesterday to urge the county to adopt a resolution to give Jpods the right-of-way to build PRT in Hennepin County.

James cites the Morgantown WVU PRT as a big success. The Morgantown PRT (not really a PRT) is in fact a dangerous and expensive boondoggle that has prompted students to create a Twitter account to keep track of the PRT's frequent breakdowns.

James said there there are three companies in Minnesota that can build PRT and create "several hundred jobs in Minnesota in the next 12 months" - that's total nonsense.

Bill James then asked for "a favor" - a resolution that would give companies that claim they could build transit systems that are privately-funded, getting all their revenue from the fair-box "non-exclusive access to rights-of-way". Bill James also claimed he has agreements to build Jpods in China.

Bill James said he wants to build Jpod "feeder lines" to connect to the Hiawatha LRT.

Commisioner Jeff Johnson asked Bill James about PRT in Winona. Bill James says the PRT project in Winona is "progressing" and the city of Winona is "going forward" with the PRT project. It is doubtful that the Winona PRT project can go forward without money.... and there is none. The Winona Daily News reported August 31st that federal funding for PRT was nixed. The Winona PRT project failed to get an earmark. The project could not get any money from the legislature either.

And the commissioners listened to this wacky stuff for 5 minutes... Hilarious!



Here's Bill James pitching Jpods in Cupertino, California:

Co-founder of Winona Tea Party Patriots Opposes Pods

Winona Daily News:

Chasco, the co-founder of the Winona Tea Party Patriots, called for the city to reduce its dependence on state and federal aid, with a goal of eventually being self-sufficient. In his opening statement, he talked about how he wanted to "lessen our dependency on aid that requires us to lose our freedoms." He also spoke critically of two other large projects city leaders have promoted - high-speed rail and Personal Rapid Transit, which uses small, pod-like vehicles on guideways to shuttle passengers to their destinations.

Bachmann said recently that her Tea Party Caucus will listen to the grassroots Tea Party activists.

Will Bachmann now oppose PRT?

Bachmann's Bogus PRT Boondoggle Bombs Again in Alameda

Michele Bachmann told MPR back in 2004:

Supporters range from Minneapolis City Council member Dean Zimmerman, a Green Party member, to Republican Sen. Michelle Bachmann of Stillwater. Bachmann says personal rapid transit, like many political issues, creates strange bedfellows.

"People on the right, people on the left, we have the common goal of moving people with transit, but doing it in the most cost-effective manner, in fact, in a manner that may end up costing no government subsidy, it may end up paying for itself," she says.

Reporters never bothered to ask Bachmann exactly how PRT could pay for itself. The media never bother to ask questions like that. Reporters rarely mention the long and sorry history of PRT flops and fiascos. And so, the PRT boondoggle goes on and on to waste time and money. How many chances do these PRT guys get? As far as Tim Pawlenty is concerned, they get as many chances as the taxpayers will give them. An MnDOT workshop for the pods that don't work is scheduled for August 18th.

Where is the outrage from "fiscal conservative" Tom Emmer? How about Taxpayers League President Phil Krinkie?

Both Krinkie and Emmer voted for one of Rep. Mark Olson's pod amendments (voted down 26 to 107 on April 12, 2006). Which probably explains why the Taxpayers League refuses to take a position on public funding of Pawlenty's pod boondoggle.

The latest chapter in the perennial pod farce reported in this San Francisco Chronicle July 21, 2010 article:

Alameda scrapped its contract with a developer early today to bring thousands of homes and offices to the former Navy base, sending the sprawling project back to the drawing board 14 years after the military left.

The City Council voted 4-0, with one abstention, to sever its four-year relationship with SunCal Cos. of Irvine (Orange County), which had planned to build 4,800 homes, a 60-acre sports complex, offices, parks, schools and a ferry terminal at the former Alameda Naval Air Station, which covers one-third of the island city.

Money quote:

"No matter what kind of Disneyland magic transit they talk about, I don't see how they're going to get all that traffic through two lanes of the (Posey) Tube," Johnson said. "I don't want people to come up to me in the grocery store and say, 'You're the person who ruined Alameda.' "

Here's Suncal's presentation aboout PRT at the Alameda City Council September 10, 2008:



Always the same computer-generated, fact-free, dog & pony PowerPoint presentation. And always the same result - nothing but wasted time and $$$.

In the case of Alameda, I can say I told you so:



This latest setback for the pod people is just one more I'll add to the list of recent pod flops and fiascos:

Taxi 2000 lobbyist and Bachmann pal Ed Cain also lobbied for the phony U.S. Navy Veterans Association charity.

ULTra PRT Heathrow Debut Postponed a Fourth Time.

No $25 million earmark for PRT pork project in Winona, Minnesota.

The Swedish/Korean PRT prototype malfunctioned recently in front of the media.

The Masdar PRT (actually computer-guided golf carts that follow magnets imbedded in the roadway) has been scaled way back, This setback got a mention in the NY Times and confirmed in this Bloomberg article.

The much-hyped PRT project in Daventry ended in fiasco.

The so-called Morgantown PRT (it's a mundane people-mover) was the subject of a student newspaper editorial after a malfunction created a "fireball" and filled a vehicle with smoke. The cost of fixing the Morgantown boondoggle is $93 million.

Bachmann's Pal Pod Lobbyist Edwin Cain Lobbied for Shady Veterans Charity

In this morning's DB post, Karl Bremer broke the news about Bobby Thompson:

A tax-exempt Navy veterans group founded by one of Michele Bachmann’s top campaign contributors may be under investigation by the IRS at the request of U.S. Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA). The group is under investigation in at least six states and has been banned from operating in at least three.

Webb has asked the IRS to investigate the U.S. Navy Veterans Association, a national charitable veterans organization founded by Bobby Thompson of Tampa, FL, after reading “alarming reports” that the charity’s directors cannot be located and its multimillion-dollar expenditures cannot be accounted for.The U.S. Navy Veterans Association was founded by Thompson, who donated $10,000 to Rep. Michele Bachmann’s campaign at her Minneapolis event with former halftime governor Sarah Palin April 7. Thompson was only one of six individuals who ponied up the 10 large to have his picture taken with the Tea Party darlings.

According to the St. Petersburg Times there's yet another connection between the shady Florida charity and Michele Bachmann.

The lobbyists were Wright, special counsel to the Navy Veterans; J. Kenneth Klinge, a consultant of JKK Associates who once served as executive director of the Virginia Republican Party; and Edward E. Cain, whose Minnesota company, Legislative Associates, is a consultant for the Navy Veterans group.

Actually it's Edwin Cain, but he is indeed a registered lobbyist in Virginia for the Navy Veterans Association. Contact info for Legislative Associates appears on the navyvets.org website.

Edwin Cain is also a registered lobbyist in Minnesota for the the City of Granite Falls, Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce Transportation Committee, the City of Marshall, Short Elliot Hendrickson Incorporated, and would-be personal rapid transit vendor Taxi 2000.

Taxi 2000 recently took part in an attempt to flim-flam a $25 million Federal earmark for a pod project in Winona.

Picture of Edwin Cain and Bachmann as it appears on Bachmann's congressional website (Click on screenshot to make it bigger):



Listen to Edwin Cain promoting the pod boondoggle to the House Transportation Finance Committee hearing on Thursday, April 14th, 2005:



You can read about Bachmann and Edwin Cain pushing the Stillwater bridge boondoggle here.

Another Big Fail for Bachmann's Fantasy Transport System

Michele Bachmann told MPR back in 2004:

Supporters range from Minneapolis City Council member Dean Zimmerman, a Green Party member, to Republican Sen. Michelle Bachmann of Stillwater. Bachmann says personal rapid transit, like many political issues, creates strange bedfellows.

"People on the right, people on the left, we have the common goal of moving people with transit, but doing it in the most cost-effective manner, in fact, in a manner that may end up costing no government subsidy, it may end up paying for itself," she says.

Bachmann never explained how PRT can pay for itself. Hell, the damn pods don't even work... never did and never will.

The ULTra PRT was supposed to be the most credible PRT (you can definately trust those British corporations) - really an automated golf cart with a futuristic body that followed magnets embedded in the guideway. The ULTra was supposed to launch in Cardiff, Wales way back in 2003, but it wasn't ready. The ULTra pods were supposed to debut at London's Heathrow airport, but it was postponed four times.... or is it five, I've lost track.

It was supposed to totally, definately launch in June (click on screenshot to make it bigger)



Well it's the end of June and we get this info, not from the two ULTra websites, but a tweet from the PRT Guru that links to his website where we find this statement:

June 2010: It appears ULTra will not meet its previously-announced June opening date at London’s Heathrow Airport. BAA has issued the following statement: "The Heathrow pod is innovative technology and we have always said that the system will be launched when it is ready to do so. The system, as well as being a world first, is bespoke [customized] to fit into existing airport infrastructure and the process of completing this is informing our decision about the launch date. Testing is continuing and we anticipate that the system will officially launch in the near future."

The statement as it now appears on the ULTra PRT website:

Latest Schedule

"The Heathrow pod is innovative technology and we have always said that the system will be launched when it is ready to do so. The system, as well as being a world first, is bespoke (custom-made) to fit into existing airport infrastructure and the process of completing this is informing our decision about the launch date. Testing is continuing and we anticipate that the system will officially launch in the near future." - BAA's schedule statement, June 2010.

There's no official reason given for the latest fizzled launch, but there are rumors like this:

The main problem is the cars keep bumping into each other. Nobody is allowed to mention the "C" word!

These pod projects have failed over and over, wasting tons of public funding...how may chances do the PRT guys get?

As far as Tim Pawlenty is concerned, they get as many chances as the taxpayers will give them.

Here's ULTra spokesman Steve Raney a while back explaining why people get mad at the PRT guys when they make promises they can't keep:



Here's some more recent pod flops and fiascos:

No $25 million earmark for PRT pork project in Winona, Minnesota.

The Swedish/Korean PRT prototype malfunctioned recently in front of the media.

The Masdar PRT (more computer-guided golf carts that follow magnets imbedded in the roadway) has been scaled way back, This setback got a mention in the NY Times and confirmed in this Bloomberg article.

The much-hyped PRT project in Daventry ended in fiasco.

The so-called Morgantown PRT (it's a mundane people-mover) was the subject of a student newspaper editorial after a malfunction created a "fireball" and filled a vehicle with smoke. The cost of fixing the Morgantown boondoggle is $93 million.

Mall of America Says No to Jpods.

Mall of America Says No to Personal Rapid Transit

Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) is another stupid idea that Bachmann has promoted. It keeps getting shot down.

There were some news reports on the internets a while back that PRT was coming to the MOA.

Seems that that won't be happening.

Here's the latest from Bill James, the Jpods guy (click on the letter to make it bigger):



Bummer - you won't be able to "pimp your own pod" at the MoA:



In this 2004 MPR news report, Michele Bachmann voiced her support for Personal Rapid Transit:

Supporters range from Minneapolis City Council member Dean Zimmerman, a Green Party member, to Republican Sen. Michelle Bachmann of Stillwater. Bachmann says personal rapid transit, like many political issues, creates strange bedfellows.

"People on the right, people on the left, we have the common goal of moving people with transit, but doing it in the most cost-effective manner, in fact, in a manner that may end up costing no government subsidy, it may end up paying for itself," she says.

Bachmann also sponsored legislation for PRT with Senator Yvonne Prettner-Solon.

Review of recent, dreary pod news:

No $25 million earmark for PRT pork project in Winona, Minnesota.

The ULTra PRT launch at Heathrow has been delayed at least 3 times. The new launch date of the glorified golf carts of Heathrow is some time this month.

The Swedish/Korean PRT prototype malfunctioned recently in front of the media.

The Masdar PRT (actually computer-guided golf carts that follow magnets imbedded in the roadway) has been scaled way back. This setback got a mention in the NY Times.

The much-hyped PRT project in Daventry ended in fiasco.

The so-called Morgantown PRT (it's a mundane people-mover) was the subject of a student newspaper editorial after a malfunction created a "fireball" and filled a vehicle with smoke. The cost of fixing the Morgantown boondoggle is $93 million.

Mark Dayton Running Mate Co-Sponsored Pod Legislation With Bachmann

Read about it and watch a clip of Yvonne Prettner-Solon's testimony on the awsome-ness of pods at the Personal Rapid Transit Boondoggle blog.