Today is April 15. It is time that many people will be attending the “Tea Parties” that are being held all over the country and even in some foreign countries. How many will attend is anyone’s guess. The one here in Phoenix is on the lawn in front of the Senate offices in Phoenix this evening. KFYI will have many of their talk show hosts there to speak to the crowd. Since KFYI is the most listened to station in the valley, I would expect a good turnout at the Tea Party.

There are rumors that ACORN and other left wing nut jobs are going to try and infiltrate the Tea Parties to try and stir up trouble. If they manage to stir up trouble, they will discredit some of what the Tea Parties are trying to achieve. The goal is to protest the massive tax increase that is coming and also the other socialist policies of the Obama administration. Since people know that there might be people from left wing goon squads present at the meetings, there should not be much trouble.

Since I have to work this evening, I cannot attend our Tea Party in Phoenix. I will be there in spirit. I wish I could go, but I do not have enough time off to afford to go. I agree with the goals of the Tea Party and wish them well. I will most likely support whatever activity comes out of the Tea Party here in Arizona.

Since I support the Tea Party and write this blog, I am probably on the Janet Napolitano’s list of subversive people. I doubt that there is a more patriotic individual in the country. But because of the definitions that Homeland Security is dealing with, patriotic Americans are listed as subversives. There was a report written in the Homeland Security Department that got leaked to the press that gives out all this information. This report details how anyone that believes in the second amendment and the right to bear arms is a subversive. Anyone who does not support and Obama administration is a subversive. Anyone who is a believing and practicing Christian is a subversive. Since I am guilty on all counts, I must be a subversive. All along, I thought that I was a patriotic American. That is what I have been taught that patriotic Americans believed in since I was a child. Up until January 2009, the government believed that patriotic Americans had those qualities. Now, the worm has turned and those qualities are now unpatriotic. How things are turned upside down in my country.

I support the Tea Parties because I want my America to be the America she has been. I want patriotic Americans honored for being patriotic Americans. I want heroic Army, Navy, Marine and Air Force personnel honored for their service. I want their stories told like we told the Audie Murphy story from World War II or Sgt. York from World War I. Those stories make men and boys want to emulate those heroes. It makes better patriots out of all of us. Unfortunately, we do not get to hear about the heroes of the current wars. I am sure that there are heroes that are not being recognized. We need to hear their stories. We need their stories made into movies just like they used to do to raise patriotism.

Whatever the outcome of the Tea Parties, just talking about them is a success. They sprang out of nowhere and have grown into something big. There is no single leader of this movement. If this movement can be harnessed and focused, we can take this country back in two stages, 2010 and 2012. It also might put some spine into the backs of those noodle backed Republicans we have in the House and Senate. The Democrats keep giving the Republicans fantastic talking points to completely destroy the Democrat positions, but the Republicans are unfocused and drop the ball. If they had a spine, that would not happen and we might even get America back by June.

On the way to work today, I heard the Bruce Jacobs show with Mike Broomhead. He was discussing the huge boondoggle that is our light rail project.

We have spent approximately $70 million per mile for the light rail project. It is now up and running. For the first few days, they let people ride the light rail for free. I took advantage of the opportunity with my wife and granddaughter. We rode from ASU into Mesa and back. The trains were supposed to run every 10-15 minutes and they were doing very well on being on time. The trains were new, so they were clean. The train we rode was crowded because of everyone taking advantage of the free offer. I rode from ASU into Mesa standing up near a door. I rode from Mesa to ASU crammed into what we used for a seat, but I do not think was a seat. I am not sure what it was. It did not look like the seats in the compartment as it was not covered. It was just plastic. The three of us were crammed into space not intended for three.

The waiting areas were interesting as they had interesting designs. They were not covered and we found the sun uncomfortable. This was at the end of December. If it was uncomfortable at the end of December can you imagine what it will be like in the summer with temperatures over 100 degrees? The car was air conditioned, but with the number of people it did not work very well. I was standing in the sun on the way to Mesa and was hot. We sat on the sun side of the train going to ASU and we were hot. Again, this is in December. Can you imagine what that would be like during our hot summer?

Funding to run the light rail will cost Phoenix and Tempe a lot of money. The price of the ticket to ride is supposed to defray some of the cost. It will, but on the show this morning I learned that students ride the light rail for free. I am not suggesting that the students should have to pay full price, but even 25- 50 cents one way would make a huge difference in defraying costs for the cities. As it is, the light rail will cost the cities of Tempe and Phoenix millions of dollars each year whether the city is flush with money or cash strapped. It is one area that they will not be able to cut costs. The citizens of Phoenix and Tempe will be paying higher taxes to support this thing for a long time.

With the problems that I identified with the light rail, spending for the project is not over. They will have to do something to provide sun protection or nobody will go near the light rail in the summer. The air conditioning system is entirely inadequate to cool the trains in the winter. The cities will have to do something to cool them by summer. That is assuming that anyone is still riding the trains by summer. If they keep things as they are, nobody will be riding the light rail until after dark or before the sun comes up.

One other problem is that the light rail is subject to the traffic rules. It stops at traffic lights. Cars are allowed to turn in front of the light rail as it is traveling down the line. This is a recipe for accidents. I know that it is in the traffic areas, but that is also part of the problem. The light rail will be the cause of a lot of accidents, a lot of them fatal.

On the plus side, the light rail will be a positive for the businesses near the light rail stops. It will also be a positive for sporting events that are held near enough to the light rail line that people would walk from the line to the sporting event. The trains should be kept open until after the bars close at 2 am. This will keep drunk drivers off the road as the light rail will help many reach home without driving. I think the plan is to shut the light rail down around 11 pm like the bus system. That would not be a good thing.

Overall, I think the money spent on the light rail would have been better spent somewhere else. Now that it is in place, it needs to be fixed before summer hits or it will really be a white elephant. There are some positives associated with the light rail. Right now, there are so many negatives associated with light rail that the positives get drowned out. Maybe in a couple of years I will make a different assessment. As I stand here today, I think that it was a huge waste of money. As it stands today, few people will be riding the light rail by summer. That will mean almost no money coming in to defray the costs associated with the system. This is a large, giant financial drain on two cash strapped cities. They will regret spending money on the light rail long before they ever think it was a good idea.

I must add that one of my sons will be a regular user of the light rail system. The light rail comes about a mile north of his house and drops him off just outside his office. He will be one that will regularly use the system. Of my kids, he is the only one who will ever use it for more than incidental use.