tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132273.post1600048635632754827..comments2023-05-01T11:44:04.490-03:00Comments on D for Disorientation: I want to believePablohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296074005654785159noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132273.post-47244000893193935572008-06-11T14:27:00.000-03:002008-06-11T14:27:00.000-03:00But Canada is more than three times the size of Ar...But Canada is more than three times the size of Argentina and has a smaller population! Argentina had an extensive railway system until the 1950s, and a decent system was in place until the 1990s. We know it works. Such a system requires federal subsidies - it does in every country - but it pays for them by being much safer, cheaper and less polluting than road transport. If we had a good railway system, we wouldn't need so many roads, we could retire half the cargo truck fleet that clogs those roads, and bulk cargo would be transported much more efficiently.<BR/><BR/>I didn't say the provinces should administer all their money. But surely, hospitals and homes and some roads (not highways) can be handled by local governments!Pablohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08296074005654785159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132273.post-80240859480858454442008-06-11T11:51:00.000-03:002008-06-11T11:51:00.000-03:00If you have a major complaint with the roads at ho...If you have a major complaint with the roads at home, you should probably quit supporting the TrenParaTodos.<BR/><BR/>I understand that its a better option than the high-speed money pit the government wants to build but if they cannot maintain the roads with their money, they certainly cannot maintain the roads and the railway with their money.<BR/><BR/>In Canada, another huge country with a small population, the passenger trains are long gone because they simply are too expensive to maintain and operate...<BR/><BR/>That San Luis was an example, because the province has far less provincial money than Mendoza or Buenos Aires, and there for would not have the best highways in the country if it were not for federal sharing of funds...<BR/><BR/>I can think of one bad outcome by saying that the money will be used for roads and hospitals. What happens when they need the money for something else, like repairing a damaged seaport or purchasing energy from Paraguay and the public cries that they are illegally using the money for something other than what was intended?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132273.post-54689632187393819022008-06-10T11:34:00.000-03:002008-06-10T11:34:00.000-03:00The highways in San Luis are probably the best of ...The highways in San Luis are probably the best of the country, and they're so well-lit you can't sleep while you do the all-night trip from Mendoza to Rosario or viceversa. On the other hand, the highway between Rosario and Córdoba has been on and off for years, because it requires federal funding that for some reason never arrives in time. And these are the country's second and third city, in two of the wealthiest provinces.<BR/><BR/>It's not that I'm against redistribution. Obviously Jujuy and Chaco will never be able to collect so much revenue as Santa Fe and Córdoba. But they've always been desperately poor and this hasn't changed during the five years of Kirchnerism, even as their governors have submitted all their authority to the national government.<BR/><BR/>I also know provincial administrations are often feudal-like and corrupt, and I've denounced that repeatedly in this blog. But the Kirchners haven't cleaned that up; instead they've placed themselves on top of the feudal hierarchy. Loyal governors (like those of Chaco, Jujuy and even Buenos Aires) have turned into vassals; disobedient ones have been branded as rebels. That's a shame and it's also a violation of the spirit and the letter of the Constitution, which mandates a federal country. We had fifty years of civil war over that, back in the 19th century.<BR/><BR/>Most of my criticism comes from the lack of credibility of the Kirchners. Cristina never intended for the money to be used on hospitals and roads; she was forced to make that up after three months of political attrition. Why not at the same time the taxes were announced? Why not one or two years ago? The money was already rolling in nicely by then.Pablohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08296074005654785159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132273.post-87804158646184661932008-06-10T10:37:00.000-03:002008-06-10T10:37:00.000-03:00In a country where nearly the entire non-elite pop...In a country where nearly the entire non-elite population lives in a collection of three cities, you could never have a successful provincial level government program the money most go to the federal government first for redistribution or else the difference between say, farming rich Cordoba and generally poor Jujuy would be far far worse.<BR/><BR/>And at the same time, as I have traveled throughout the country, it is very obvious that the money is where the rich people are anyways. The federal government give everyone basic services to a point, but rich oil/gas towns like Rio Grande, TDF, and Neuquen, Neuquen live in a much higher class than the residents of the above mentioned Jujuy.<BR/><BR/>Mendoza, where i spend most of my time, is also a pretty rich area and it is one of the cleanest cities I have ever seen, as the cleaning crews, who are paid by the provincial government, are out in full force each night, while nearby San Juan receives far less of the same service.<BR/><BR/>You think the money should be provincial? Then what happens when the highway between, lets say, Mendoza and Buenos Aires is incomplete because San Luis cannot afford to repave the damn thing?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com