• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

“But what about the lurkers?”

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

“A king is only a king if we bow down.” – Rev. William Barber

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Why Not?

Why Not?

by John Cole|  November 10, 201011:26 am| 84 Comments

This post is in: Teabagger Stupidity

FacebookTweetEmail

Via the comments at this D-Day post, here is an idea I support completely:

how about some dem signage outside the clocked NJ tunnels and bridges reminding folks:
Traffic Jam Courtesy Gov. Christie.

Make them eat their decisions. Let every voter sitting in traffic for hours know just who is responsible. Sounds like a winner to me.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Clueless
Next Post: Main Street Paying Wall Street »

Reader Interactions

84Comments

  1. 1.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    November 10, 2010 at 11:29 am

    I like it…

    Nice and low-tech…

    Simple… direct… would be seen DAILY by the people most affected by the situation… nothing to water or feed…

    TRUE…

  2. 2.

    ChrisS

    November 10, 2010 at 11:30 am

    I support this as well.

    I know a lot of dems supported globalization and free trade back in the 1970s and 1980s, but I think that in every little shit-hole town that used to be a vibrant community, there should be signs thanking politicians and business leaders for fucking the american worker.

  3. 3.

    Davis X. Machina

    November 10, 2010 at 11:31 am

    The effectiveness of such signs depends on your answer to this question:

    “Assuming you’re pissed off at being stuck in traffic, are you more or less pissed off at being stuck in traffic than liberals are pissed off because Governor Christie shit-canned the tunnel?”

    Go sell your copies of The Federalist Papers and Richard Hofstadter and both Arthur Schlesingers to an unsuspecting AP US Government student.

    “What will piss liberals off?” Because that’s what it’s all about.

    It’s in Burke. Or Oakeshott. Or Nozick. I forget which. But it’s in there someplace.

  4. 4.

    scav

    November 10, 2010 at 11:32 am

    GOP: Supporting Gridlock here and in DC.

  5. 5.

    Alex

    November 10, 2010 at 11:33 am

    I’m down with it as soon as I find out what a “clocked tunnel” is.

  6. 6.

    Napoleon

    November 10, 2010 at 11:33 am

    Heck, the local Dem party could pay one of those planes that fly a banner behind it to fly over the traffic jam while they sit there with that message on the banner.

  7. 7.

    PaulW

    November 10, 2010 at 11:33 am

    but… but… Christie will have his fee-fees hurt!

    Here’s a better solution for the traffic problems. Have all registered Republicans walk to work instead of driving. Maybe then they’ll support transportation infrastructure projects.

  8. 8.

    TR

    November 10, 2010 at 11:34 am

    Oh hell yes.

  9. 9.

    Zifnab

    November 10, 2010 at 11:34 am

    This is the kind of grassroots rabble rousing we could use more of.

  10. 10.

    ruemara

    November 10, 2010 at 11:35 am

    @Zifnab:

    Then the grassroots rabble rousing better start now, because the GOP certainly are starting.

  11. 11.

    ChrisS

    November 10, 2010 at 11:36 am

    A lot of people support mass transit commuter rail because they want other people to ride in order to reduce traffic.

    Of course, until people realize how much of their fuel consumption is wasted pushing their vehicle and not them. People will reconsider commuting to NYC from CT and NJ in an Expedition when it costs them $500 to fill up.

  12. 12.

    sherifffruitfly

    November 10, 2010 at 11:38 am

    Won’t matter. Obama, Muslims, and Mexicans will still have brown skin.

  13. 13.

    matoko_chan

    November 10, 2010 at 11:38 am

    Chris Christie is FAT.

  14. 14.

    Alex S.

    November 10, 2010 at 11:41 am

    I can’t, Dancing with the Stars is on.

  15. 15.

    Zam

    November 10, 2010 at 11:41 am

    Republicans have a plan for that, it’s called massive job loss. That way no one has to drive anywhere, or owns a car for that matter.

  16. 16.

    danimal

    November 10, 2010 at 11:41 am

    Great idea. It’s the liberal response to the conservative billboards claiming Obama = Hitler/Stalin/Lenin/Mao.

    Except ours is based in something approximating reality.

  17. 17.

    WyldPirate

    November 10, 2010 at 11:41 am

    @PaulW:

    but… but… Christie will have his fee-fees hurt!

    And he might start overeating as well and become obese and cost the taxpayers a shit load of money in health costs.

  18. 18.

    Eric S.

    November 10, 2010 at 11:42 am

    Back in 1998 Illinois Gubernatorial candidate George Ryan had a billboard sign up along The Eisenhower Expressway (I290) that promised, if elected, he’d fix the Hillside Stragler, a notorious bottle neck. The sign was in the middle of the bottle neck. Drivers idling on the expressway during rush hour stared at it for many minutes on end. George won. Many people gave credit to that promise for pushing him along.

  19. 19.

    Perry Como

    November 10, 2010 at 11:43 am

    I’m guessing the majority of people stuck in the tunnel traffic aren’t the ones who voted for Christie.

  20. 20.

    Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther

    November 10, 2010 at 11:43 am

    @sherifffruitfly: I think you may have won the thread, here.

  21. 21.

    bleh

    November 10, 2010 at 11:46 am

    Or a bumper sticker:

    If You Can Read This, Thank Chris Christie

  22. 22.

    Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther

    November 10, 2010 at 11:46 am

    Also, too: It might not be a bad idea to counter-picket outside of abortion clinics with signs that read:

    Your Abstinence Education At Work!

    But I think that might fly right over their wee little heads.

  23. 23.

    Blackfrancis

    November 10, 2010 at 11:46 am

    This is totally a job for the freeway blogger!

  24. 24.

    Culture of Truth

    November 10, 2010 at 11:48 am

    We could hand out little jars of preserves labeled “Chris Christie’s Traffic Jam”

  25. 25.

    Culture of Truth

    November 10, 2010 at 11:50 am

    Or little medicine jars labeled “ObamaCare: Stimulates and Relieves Congestion”

  26. 26.

    Scott de B.

    November 10, 2010 at 11:50 am

    I know a lot of dems supported globalization and free trade back in the 1970s and 1980s,

    And plenty of current Dems do. Myself, for one.

  27. 27.

    Tim I

    November 10, 2010 at 11:50 am

    It’s a great idea, but I would also put up signs where train passengers could see them. As it is now, you can ride the Acela (our version of high speed rail) from DC to NYC and then find yourself stranded for half an hour waiting to cross the Hudson.

    The delays are even worse if you are on a regular Amtrak or commuter train, as the Acela gets priority treatment.

  28. 28.

    Citizen_X

    November 10, 2010 at 11:51 am

    @bleh: Clever! But that’s its downfall; it requires a moment’s thought.

  29. 29.

    aimai

    November 10, 2010 at 11:56 am

    @Davis X. Machina:

    You know, I really doubt that is correct. I mean, sure, “this will piss liberals off” is behind a lot of what motivates right wing voters. But its usually attached to something that they find actually gratifying: like driving your hummer around town on Earth Day, or throwing stuff out instead of donating it, or hunting, or whatever. Sitting in traffic for fifteen minutes staring a a sign that says “Governor Christie Thought You’d Rather be Eating Fumes Than Do Anything Else!” kind of puts the whole thing in perspective.

    Its definitely time to bring back the Freeway Sign Bandit, but this time with an emphasis on jobs, the environment, and the royal republican screwing that will now dramatize for the voters just what they forgot about the last 10 years.

    aimai

  30. 30.

    wasabi gasp

    November 10, 2010 at 11:56 am

    Also, pictures of Obama on tongue depressors.

  31. 31.

    Maude

    November 10, 2010 at 11:57 am

    The Pew poll says a majority of people in NJ approve of Christie getting rid of the tunnel. This was before NJ Transit was billed for $271 million by the Feds.
    People have no idea what this will do to the state.

  32. 32.

    eemom

    November 10, 2010 at 12:00 pm

    can someone explain to me why Christie is considered a contender for the dreckulous array of 2012 republican presidential prospects? I mean even for the republicans it’s kind of ridiculous.

  33. 33.

    ruemara

    November 10, 2010 at 12:02 pm

    @eemom:

    He’s fat, boorish, obnoxious, completely hypocritical and is on tv a lot. Ergo, perfect conservative presidential material.

  34. 34.

    Rosalita

    November 10, 2010 at 12:02 pm

    Yeah! An East Coast Freeway Blogger…

  35. 35.

    Mike from Philly

    November 10, 2010 at 12:04 pm

    “Sounds like a winner to me.”

    It is – which is why it won’t happen.

  36. 36.

    Hal

    November 10, 2010 at 12:04 pm

    You mean future POTUS Chris Christie, don’t you? I expect him to begin dropping pounds and in about a year, he’ll have replaced Huckabee as the former fattie Governor turned obvious heir to the Regan empire.

  37. 37.

    Davis X. Machina

    November 10, 2010 at 12:05 pm

    @aimai: At this point in the decline of our Republic people are content to sit hungry with their hungry children in the stands and watch the morality play — provided the hero-victims look like them, and the villains look like the Other, they’ll sell their children to get the ticket.

    Carthage had Moloch. We’ve got Rush. But the sacrifice of the firstborn is the same…

  38. 38.

    MattR

    November 10, 2010 at 12:06 pm

    @eemom: He has all the talking points memorized and has not done anything spectacularly stupid yet to torpedo his chances.

  39. 39.

    Martin

    November 10, 2010 at 12:11 pm

    @aimai: I don’t think ‘piss liberals off’ is it. I thought it was, but after talking to more people, I think that’s wrong.

    I think Rush is the patron saint of this mindset:

    What have I told you about diet and exercise? Exercise is irrelevant…. “How do you know all this?” One of the reasons I know what I know is that I know liberals, and I know liberals lie, and if Michelle Obama’s gonna be out there ripping into “food desserts” and saying, “This is why people are fat,” I know it’s not true. “Rush, do you really believe that? It’s that simple to you, liberals lie?” Yes, it is, folks. Once you learn that, once you come to grips with that, once you accept that, the rest is easy. Very, very simple. Now, my doctor has never told me to restrict any intake of salt, but if he did, I wouldn’t. I’d just spend more time in the steam or the sauna sweating it out.

    They don’t care about pissing us off. But they’re going to take any bit of advise that is supposed to help them and do the opposite, just out of principle. That study that showed when the power company tells you how much more/less power you use than your neighbors? Republicans went out of their way to use more – even though they were paying for it. The explanation I got: nobody is going to tell them what to do.

    Seriously, the Obamas and Olbermann and George Soros should run a 30 second spot during the Superbowl telling people that dousing themselves in gasoline and lighting a candle is very bad for them, and have Al Gore and Michael Moore come out with a bunch of Powerpoint graphs and that motorized lift thing.

    Before the game is over there’d be nothing but Democrats and Independents left.

  40. 40.

    Joshua

    November 10, 2010 at 12:12 pm

    @MattR: Well, I would argue he has, but you can’t understimate the effect that bullying and finger pointing has on the authoritarians that make up the core of the modern Republican base.

    This is not even getting to the whole “NJ’s economy still sucks after a year, wtf Christie” thing which is what the teabags said about Obama.

  41. 41.

    TR

    November 10, 2010 at 12:16 pm

    @Martin:

    This.

  42. 42.

    Linda Featheringill

    November 10, 2010 at 12:17 pm

    @Martin:

    [#39]

    Before the game is over there’d be nothing but Democrats and Independents left.

    LOL. Thank you. The brightest note to appear in a rather dreary day.

    [still chuckling]

  43. 43.

    Southern Beale

    November 10, 2010 at 12:19 pm

    how about some dem signage outside the clocked NJ tunnels and bridges reminding folks: Traffic Jam Courtesy Gov. Christie.

    That’s the kind of signage that billboard advertisers like Lamar routinely deny for being “overly partisan.”

    Sounds like a job for some local freeway bloggers.

  44. 44.

    Joshua

    November 10, 2010 at 12:20 pm

    @Martin: This mindset also speaks to the difficulty of market-based reform, because many people are, alas, not rational. And it also shows why ads in the “Do it anyway, you’re a man” genre work so well. Insightful post, thanks.

  45. 45.

    Citizen_X

    November 10, 2010 at 12:20 pm

    @Scott de B.: There’s not a lot of “free trade” in the modern world. Free trade means the free movement of capital, goods/services, and labor. Which requires that there be rough parity in income levels between two different entities.

    You can have free trade between the states, which was established with the adoption of U.S. Constitution. We could have free trade with Canada. But when you talk about “free trade” between, say the U.S. and China, then you’re just taking advantage of the captivity of workers in the poorer country. If you establish “free trade” with a poor country on your doorstep, like Mexico, then you’re got the worst of both worlds: trade (U.S. corn exports, in this case) destabilizes agriculture in Mexico, causing rural poverty in the south, which causes workers to flood into the U.S., depressing the wages of Americans.

    Modern “free trade” has been a scam.

  46. 46.

    debbie

    November 10, 2010 at 12:22 pm

    Genius idea. It contains just the right amount of snark for the NJ/NYC area, and it would go great with a photo I have of a street sign in front of the Metropolitan Museum: “Don’t even think of parking here.”

  47. 47.

    Athenae

    November 10, 2010 at 12:25 pm

    Outdoor advertising in NJ. Who owns the billboards near the tunnels, and how much do they cost? We find that out, raise the money, design the billboard and put it up. Usually around here it’s Lamar and Adams Outdoor, but I dunno what the companies out there are.

    A.

  48. 48.

    TR

    November 10, 2010 at 12:25 pm

    @Southern Beale:

    That’s the kind of signage that billboard advertisers like Lamar routinely deny for being “overly partisan.”

    There are a couple apartment buildings in Jersey City right over the entrance to the Holland Tunnel. I’m betting you could find a Democrat or twelve in there to hang a banner out the window.

  49. 49.

    Lolis

    November 10, 2010 at 12:25 pm

    Dems never seem to do any offense.

  50. 50.

    Ricky Roma

    November 10, 2010 at 12:30 pm

    @Perry Como: My guess is that this is wrong, and a lot of people driving into New York are Republicans/Christie supporters. Some portion of NJ has an obscene love of cars, no matter how bad traffic gets.

    I don’t know what the distinguishing factor is. I know both people on the right and left who live in towns specifically for train access to NY, and people on the right and left who scoff at the concept of mass transit. Being in marketing, publishing, or banking doesn’t seem to determine which camp they are in either.

  51. 51.

    Dork

    November 10, 2010 at 12:32 pm

    Traffic Jam Courtesy Gov. Christie.

    How about: Empty Buffet Table Courtesy Gov. Christie

  52. 52.

    Kryptik

    November 10, 2010 at 12:35 pm

    Hey, don’t forget, Christie is more popular than Obama, Zogby sez so! Why do you hate the will of the American Peeplez?!

  53. 53.

    Violet

    November 10, 2010 at 12:36 pm

    @Lolis:

    Dems never seem to do any offense.

    Exactly. Dems suck at offense.

    FWIW, I was just in the car and listened to Limbaugh for about five minutes. He was going on about the purge of the Blue Dogs from the Dem party and how the “far left” was really happy about it (said he was following all this on the “far left blogs”). He said the far left was thrilled about the “purity” of the party now. He also commented on the Steny Hoyer/James Clyburn contest for Minority whatever-the-job-is and how Clyburn was going to have to “go to the back of the bus.”

    How is it that despite the teabaggers tearing the GOP apart, the Dems are the ones who can’t get their party together? Sigh.

  54. 54.

    sparky

    November 10, 2010 at 12:42 pm

    @Martin: nice post.

    for myself, i’d say that Rush is the embodiment/enabler of narcissistic behaviour among certain segments of the american population.

    also of note in this connection: the demand that “I” be able to do [X], where X can be, for example *cough* arrange for “my own” garbage collection, is always a demand for further consumption.

    likewise, in politics, narcissists, definitionally, cannot be satisfied.

  55. 55.

    Church Lady

    November 10, 2010 at 12:44 pm

    @Maude: Which is worse: a 271 million dollar payback to the feds or a multi-billion dollar cost overrun which would have been the responsibility of the NJ taxpayer? I know which one I would pick if I lived there. NJ, like NY, Illinois and California, is broke.

  56. 56.

    Nick

    November 10, 2010 at 12:44 pm

    My guess is people who voted for Christie much rather sit in hours of traffic than admit they voted for the wrong guy.

    And I’m not so sure he wins reelection anyway in 2013…too many strong Dem candidates.

  57. 57.

    RalfW

    November 10, 2010 at 12:44 pm

    That’s how we gotta win HCR, too. TV ads of white middle class families with early 20’s kids “The GOP took our son Steve’s health insurance away, now he’s sick and we’re bankrupt”

    Bad stretch of potholed road? Billboard saying “neglected highway courtesy of GOP failure”

    Over and over, hammer the GOP for cutting programs that are popular in exchange for tax cuts for rich fat bastards.

  58. 58.

    Kryptik

    November 10, 2010 at 12:45 pm

    @Violet:

    Because a third of our party seems to constantly agree with folks like Rush, and another third are so beholden to the idea of ‘bipartisanship’ and ‘moderation’ to the point of utter contrarianism.

    In other words, the only thing the country abhors more than a Democrat is a filthy lib.

  59. 59.

    Nick

    November 10, 2010 at 12:47 pm

    @Lolis:

    Dems never seem to do any offense.

    sure they do. They just get beat down and criticized by all sides when they do

  60. 60.

    Allan

    November 10, 2010 at 12:50 pm

    Jerry Brown’s got a new web feature asking Californians to submit their ideas and suggestions to turn our state around.

    I used it to suggest that he invest heavily in infrastructure including broadband internet, aggressively pursue any federal funds that become available due to red state governors’ posturing, then ADVERTISE to the businesses of that red state that they should relocate to CA to take advantage of our superior infrastructure.

  61. 61.

    aimai

    November 10, 2010 at 12:51 pm

    @Nick:

    That’s a typically stupid thing to say. The issue isn’t whether they have to “admit” that they voted for the wrong guy at all–its whether they learn from this that voting has consequences, even for them, and not just for black people or welfare queens or liberals. We do, in fact, know from just watching people deal with ideas in real life that people can and do rethink their positions when the consequences of their positions are dramatized for them. It should be obvious that very few teabaggers, and certainly no actual indpendents, ever really think through the implications of the policies they claim to support. Few even know what those policies are. Fewer can even name or grasp how those policies become law. Bringing that home to even a few voters, or raising the rage of the democratic voters, is a definitionally good thing.

    aimai

  62. 62.

    sparky

    November 10, 2010 at 12:52 pm

    reading the comments, it appears that many people here don’t have a clear picture of the NJ-NYC commuting scene. people who drive to NYC from NJ already know the score, and they are not taking NJ transit now, and to them the tunnel is irrelevant. (incidentally, much of the worst traffic is within the state rather than to NYC.)

    IMO there might be more utility in pointing out to people who reside in, say Bergen and Essex counties that their NJ Transit delays are due to CC. also, they could say, especially in Bergen, that CC just lopped $20,000 of the value of their residence, as there would now never be a faster commute to the city. probably running an ad every so often in the papers would be best.

    @aimai: agreed. but this presupposes a certain savvy amongst the professional political class that is not usually visible. and of course, there’s also a mountain of disinformation to overcome. none of that is a reason to throw in the towel, however.

  63. 63.

    MattR

    November 10, 2010 at 12:53 pm

    @Church Lady:

    Which is worse: a 271 million dollar payback to the feds or a multi-billion dollar cost overrun which would have been the responsibility of the NJ taxpayer?

    Which of those two is real and which only exists in your head?

    But accepting your choice as real, given that the cost overrun results in the existence of a tunnel that is very badly needed I will still pick the overrun.

    @sparky: I am under the impression that one of the things the tunnel will do is make commuting from some areas of NJ (and Rockland in NY where I grew up) into NYC much more convenient which would theoretically lead to an increase in the number of people taking mass transit.

    @me: Both NY and NJ should contract with their own companies and just hope the two ends of the tunnel actually meet in the middle under the Hudson.

  64. 64.

    Joshua

    November 10, 2010 at 12:54 pm

    @Church Lady: I’m a NJ taxpayer, and if the tunnel, which is very much needed, that comes out of those cost overruns (which were the responsibility of NJ because this was a NJ Transit program – I thought Christie was going to run a tight ship?) leads to more good, high-paying jobs in New Jersey, I will take the cost overruns.

    Let me show you the Interstate Highway System. It was and is massively expensive, and it far exceeded the cost. But was it worth it? Have it helped grow the American economy? Ever hear of the phrase, “you have to spend money to make money”?

  65. 65.

    me

    November 10, 2010 at 12:55 pm

    Maybe everyone in New Jersey should be allowed to contract for their own tunnel building. That would be more ideologically correct.

  66. 66.

    alwhite

    November 10, 2010 at 12:57 pm

    OT and designed to bring calls of “firebagger!” But really, is anyone surprised?
    http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/11/09/103468/obama-administration-moving-away.html

    Administration is backing away from 2011 date for Afghanistan pull out.

  67. 67.

    Nick

    November 10, 2010 at 12:59 pm

    @RalfW:

    That’s how we gotta win HCR, too. TV ads of white middle class families with early 20’s kids “The GOP took our son Steve’s health insurance away, now he’s sick and we’re bankrupt”

    I saw ads similar to this in New York.

  68. 68.

    WereBear

    November 10, 2010 at 1:02 pm

    @Maude: I see this kind of attitude as a symptom; they don’t know how to think about things.

    Essentially, they are reacting to national events as though it was a friend or relative.

    *Obama disappointed me. I’ll show him! I’ll vote for the Tea Party Candidate. (Flirting with someone to make SO jealous.)

    *I’ve had to tighten my belt, so should the state. (This is like not fixing your car while job hunting. To save money.)

  69. 69.

    sparky

    November 10, 2010 at 1:03 pm

    @MattR: yes, that’s my understanding as well. what i meant was that the subset of NJ commuters to NYC who drive probably would not give up driving by virtue of the tunnel. consequently billboards would not matter much.

    incidentally, that’s why i said i thought the most effective retort would be to point out that by torpedoing faster NJ Transit service to Manhattan CC just lowered the value of their residence, since property values are a function of commute times among other things. and this would be especially true for places further out and over the line (i’m surprised that the MTA still runs trains to Port Jervis.)

    @me: agreed, though i would suggest it is best understood as a pathology masquerading as an ideology.

  70. 70.

    alwhite

    November 10, 2010 at 1:04 pm

    @RalfW:
    Hell, we had an entire freeway bridge collapse, killing & injuring dozens, due to 20 years of Republican (and toss Jesse “The Boobie” Ventura in with that crowd) neglect and short-term cheap thinking and the Dems were kind enough to never bring it up.

    IN a 3 way race this fall a really weak & worthless D is currently ahead of a crackpot R by less than 9000 votes (with an even more useless R-running-as-an-I getting about 10% of the vote). Minnesotans are veeeeerrrrry slow learners I guess

  71. 71.

    Tom Hilton

    November 10, 2010 at 1:04 pm

    I had a more general version of this idea back when Bush was in office: signs graphically similar to your basic CalTrans (or local equivalent) signs, posted at closed libraries & broken infrastructure & so on, reading “Your tax cuts at work!”

  72. 72.

    kay

    November 10, 2010 at 1:10 pm

    @Allan:

    then ADVERTISE to the businesses of that red state that they should relocate to CA to take advantage of our superior infrastructure.

    It’s nice if business appreciates the value of investment in infrastructure but the real value to individuals is time.

    It gives each individual hundreds of uncompensated hours back, to use as they see fit. You can use a straight time-hourly rate calculation, or you can go to quality of life; one hour saved on each end to do with what you please. That’s worth a lot.

    I see this again and again with conservative dogma, and it amazes me. They never factor in monetary or personal costs that accrue from all of this short-term cheaping out, and they’re HUGE.

    Everything costs. New Jersey voters have decided to pay in time instead of money, but they’re still paying.

  73. 73.

    Kryptik

    November 10, 2010 at 1:11 pm

    @Joshua:

    When a company invests in infrastructure, it’s called an investment.

    When government invest in infrastructure, it’s called ‘soshulsim’.

    Then again, not that we really have to worry about keeping that distinction clear, as neither group seems much concerned with the idea anymore.

  74. 74.

    MattR

    November 10, 2010 at 1:12 pm

    @sparky:

    what i meant was that the subset of NJ commuters to NYC who drive probably would not give up driving by virtue of the tunnel.

    I kinda disagree with this. I think there are quite a few commuters who drive because despite how much the trafiic sucks it is still better than the train. If you live in Bergen and want to take the train you have to transfer in Secaucus or go to Hoboken and take the path. I am willing to bet that replacing that with a straight shot into Penn station would greatly increase ridership.

  75. 75.

    Rommie

    November 10, 2010 at 1:15 pm

    The signs would fail with the ones you want to have a change of mind, because the reaction will be “If it wasn’t for DFH Lieburls, NJ would have the money for the tunnel!”

    I don’t think there’s enough potential JC’s out there any more to make the signs more than just feel-good snark, however deserved the snark is. People are entrenched like WW1, getting them to cross the no-mans-land is getting harder and harder.

  76. 76.

    snowbird42

    November 10, 2010 at 1:23 pm

    We can raise huge amounts for candidates. Why not raise money for bill boards? One in NJ as suggested and some where ever the light rail money is turned down.
    Mention jobs and progress lost.

  77. 77.

    pablo

    November 10, 2010 at 1:51 pm

    I took that idea, and ran with it…Tunnel vision

  78. 78.

    TuiMel

    November 10, 2010 at 2:02 pm

    Chris Christie doesn’t worry about traffic. He’ll just rent a helicopter and charge YOU for it.

  79. 79.

    Alex

    November 10, 2010 at 2:12 pm

    Onward the March for Unfunded Liabilities! Taxpayers unite, you have nothing to lose but the entirety of your personal savings!

  80. 80.

    Bill Arnold

    November 10, 2010 at 2:49 pm

    @<a href="#@Alex: comment-2189755″>Alex:
    re

    I’m down with it as soon as I find out what a “clocked tunnel” is.

    If there aren’t clocks near the beginning of the tunnel indicating how long the tunnel blockages are, there should be.

  81. 81.

    Jay in Oregon

    November 10, 2010 at 3:40 pm

    @Martin:
    I’m still waiting for BP and the Gulf state GOP parties to host a big ol’ Gulf Coast shrimp feed, to prove that all of that oil isn’t really hurting the fishies (or us!)

  82. 82.

    SB Jules

    November 10, 2010 at 4:01 pm

    Great idea for NY-NJ.

    If Christie comes to his senses, California won’t get his share for our rail system.

  83. 83.

    piratedan

    November 10, 2010 at 4:17 pm

    @eemom:

    supposedly he’s a man of principals, rumour has it that he ate two of them.

  84. 84.

    snowbird42

    November 10, 2010 at 5:30 pm

    @pablo:
    That is awesome!!! Just what Ive been envisioning!

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - BarcaChicago  - Off the Gunflint Trail/Boundary Waters 6
Image by BarcaChicago (7/7/25)

World Central Kitchen

Donate

Recent Comments

  • NeenerNeener on Open Thread: BRICS-A-Bracket (Jul 7, 2025 @ 6:08pm)
  • prostratedragon on Belated Pennsyltucky Dispatch Open Thread (Jul 7, 2025 @ 6:06pm)
  • Redshift on Belated Pennsyltucky Dispatch Open Thread (Jul 7, 2025 @ 6:05pm)
  • Soapdish on Texas Flood (Jul 7, 2025 @ 6:04pm)
  • Redshift on Belated Pennsyltucky Dispatch Open Thread (Jul 7, 2025 @ 6:03pm)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Feeling Defeated?  If We Give Up, It's Game Over

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!