Letters To The Editor
To The Editor: The FBI just released video recordings taken on 9/11 by six security cameras located at the CITCO station overlooking the Pentagon. I find it incredulous that, according to the FBI, none showed any aircraft during the actual attack on 9/11. So far – six cameras – no aircraft – nothing! It
The Devil Made Me Do It
The Devil Made Me Do It
Whenever world leaders call their enemies “the Devil,” or lambast them as “evil,” it
Austin Loses Vote But Wins University
Austin Loses Vote But Wins University As the second week of classes began at the University of Texas on Sept. 22, 1883, two towns could not believe their luck
Proper Perry Pounces On Diversion Of Tax Dollars?
Proper Perry Pounces On Diversion Of Tax Dollars?
Where the heck has he been for the past five years?
So, one month before the elections our beloved and proper governor is concerned about how legislators take tax dollars collected from one issue and divert it to another? How timely!
For years legislative loopholes have enabled elected officials to take money they promised taxpayers would go towards, say, building and maintaining roadways (via gas taxes) and instead divert those tax dollars to higher education. We
Pets In Boxer Shorts Means It
Pets In Boxer Shorts Means It
Cell Phone Wallet
Cell Phone Wallet I
King George Bush and the Tortured Truth
King George Bush and the Tortured Truth
The Truth about Torture
Polls show that six out of ten U.S. citizens disapprove of George W. Bush, who has had one of the worst weeks in his six-year reign. Monday the National Intelligence Report
Kay Bailey Sings The Death-Tax Blues
Kay Bailey Sings The Death-Tax Blues
I am constantly amazed at just how far politicians will go to get what they want. When they don
Texas Hold
Texas Hold
Amendment To Warrantless Wiretap Law: Amnesty To All Government Officials?
Amendment To Warrantless Wiretap Law:
The U.S. House got out of Dodge in a hurry last weekend, after its members passed a bill that includes language apparently intended to get them and members of the executive branch legally off the hook and away from ultimate accountability
Trans-Texas Confidence Corridor Deals From Bottom Of The Deck
Trans-Texas Confidence Corridor Deals From Bottom Of The Deck As Uncle Hugh used to say, “Highways is just naturally good for makin
Benjamin Franklin Would Puke
Benjamin Franklin Would Puke
Idealism is dead.
Or it is about to be.
It did not breathe its last when planes struck the twin towers and a projectile made its way into the Pentagon in September 2001.
No, this deathbed scene came about through a series of events that followed.
The cancer was a mis-led U.S. government that championed lies, deceit, personal greed, and cowardice, and now, with the assistance of a flock of Congressional quacks, our democracy
State Spends $3.5 Million For TTC-35 Master Development Plan — Study To Be Updated Next Year At Additional Cost
Study To Be Updated Next Year At Additional Cost
AUSTIN Taxpayers are already paying for the Trans-Texas Corridor, whether they want it or not.
Last week, Cintra Zachry, the state’s private-sector partner in the 370-mile Trans-Texas Corridor, submitted its 1,600-page plan for the project. At a cost of $3.5million, the master development plan has been 16 months in the making.
However, due to what Phillip Russell, director fo the Texas Turnpike Authority division of the state transportation department says is a complex project, the state is in line to pay Cintra Zachry an undetermined amount of money to update the development plan next year.
According to the report, construction of the suggested $8.8 billion project could begin by 2011 and first sections could open s soon as 2013.
In 2004, Cintra Zachry a consortium led by Spanish and Texas firms identified a plan to relieve congestion on I-35 by investing $6 billion to build a state-owned toll road from east of San Antonio to the Dallas-Fort Worth area and to pay the state $1.2 billion for the investment opportunity.
The Texas Transportation Commission authorized TxDOT staff to enter into discussions with Cintra Zachry to produce a master development and financial plan. Work on the plan has been ongoing separately, but parallel to, the environmental process.
Under the master development plan, Cintra Zachry now suggests that the toll road extend south of San Antonio, connecting to I-35. In North Texas, the toll road should connect to I-35 north of Dallas-Fort Worth and run all the way to Oklahoma, according to the plan.
Also included in the master plan is the southern section of Loop Nine around Dallas Fort Worth, a project that has been under study since the 1960s. The report indicates private investment could potentially be worth $8.8 billion with additional concession fees to the state for other transportation projects possibly reaching $1.9 billion.
The basic idea behind the Trans Texas Corridor, as promoted to Texans, is that motorists need a new north-south alternative to the busy Interstate 35. However, the vision of a Mexico-to-Canada route through the United States as a key element of the American Union plays a role.
Much debate has been aired about which route the tollway would take. According to state officials, the final toll road route could be selected by next spring.
Cintra Zachry estimates that it or other highway builders would pay the state a total of $2 billion to let them build the project. In return, they could collect toll revenue for the next 50 years to recoup their investment.
The use of private-sector money to help build toll roads is a cornerstone of Gov. Rick Perry’s transportation policy, said Texas Transportation Commission Chairman Ric Williamson.
Cintra Zachry originally estimated the project would cost about $6 billion and result in up-front payments of $1.2 billion to the state, but both estimates have increased dramatically in two years, due to inflation and the addition of several new projects around southern San Anto
Edwards Supports Terrorist Electronic Surveillance Act
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Newsweek Features Rove
DALLAS
Rep. Edwards Supports Military Commission Act
WASHINGTON, D.C.
