WHO: Barack Obama and Joseph Biden Jr.
WHAT: The president-elect and vice president-elect have made the decision to ride on the same train for a Whistle Stop Tour the Saturday before Inauguration Day. Obama and Biden invited “average Americans” to join them on the trip from Philadelphia to Washington.
WHY IT’S A BAD IDEA: Are they kidding? The two of them are going to ride on the same train? Does that sound safe to anyone? There are miles and miles of train tracks between D.C. and Philadelphia. Is the Secret Service going to put someone every couple hundred feet to ensure no one gets near the track? Security is almost nonexistent on trains. Anyone remember the 2001 explosion that had all of us Baltimoreans trapped in our houses with the air conditioning off (in July, mind you) because there were black clouds of chemicals hanging over the city? And we want the incoming president and vice president to travel this way? Do we really want Nancy Pelosi to take Obama’s seat in the White House before he has a chance to sit in it?
Today’s bright bulb: The cost of commuting
No one likes it when prices increase, but the Maryland Transportation Authority’s new E-Z Pass service fee of $1.50 per month and a one-time $21 fee should have been implemented years ago. User fees are the most fair way to pay for state services since they only ask those who drive to pay for roads. Besides, Marylanders can still hold on to the fact that our toll prices are some of the lowest in the region (try driving Pennsylvania and Delaware’s toll roads sometime and watch the fees mount up).
Quote of the day
“He was very intent on getting to school. … When he got out of the car, he started walking to school. He did not want to miss breakfast and PE.” — Northumberland County Sheriff Chuck Wilkins, on a 6-year-old boy who tried to drive his parents’ car to school after he missed the bus. The boy said he learned to drive playing “Grand Theft Auto” and “Monster Truck Jam” video games.
