Obama at Saint Paul Union Depot

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Ispolkom

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President Obama will give a speech on transportation Wednesday at St. Paul Union Depot. Well, we know how he won't travel to the station.

It seems an odd venue, since it might seem that a train station that so many hundreds of millions of dollars was spent on doesn't actually have train service might seem like a boondoggle.
 
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You've got to have a background to make it interesting for the TV news. Just a speech from the White House would be a bore, but throw in some background and some loyal supporters and you've got a TV show! Every president since, Oh, probably Reagan, has done this sort of thing.
 
Thank you very much for posting this.

Ispolkom said:
President Obama will give a speech on transportation Wednesday at St. Paul Union Depot. Well, we know how he won't travel to the station.

It seems an odd venue, since it might seem that a train station that so many hundreds of millions of dollars was spent on doesn't actually have train service might seem like a boondoggle.
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Independently from what anybody might think of the person speaking, still it seems like St. Paul Union Depot only doesn't have train service yet, as it seems like there were press reports that Amtrak was moving to St. Paul Union Depot soon, as well as light rail might be scheduled to be stopping in front of it in 2014 still. It could not be clear yet what other services like a second daily Amtrak service or commuter rail might be added in the future, still those services might be much more attractive with than without St. Paul Union Depot, and for some it might seem like a positive sign for rail in general that a sitting president is about to speak at a train station, and not about any topic but actually (quote from the linked article) "will focus on transportation and transit issues at the depot". Guessing that this focus most likely not on what transit services to cut, and which transportation infrastructure should deteriorate, but quite the opposite, this might seem like a good sign at least for all of those who support investments in transportation infrastructure.

Question: When was it the last time a US president gave a speech at a train station about the topic of transit? (There will be an answer to this, maybe not even so long ago, just currently not in possession of the answer. :) )
 
Unfortunately, since the Kennedy assasinations, speeches by Presidents have become ridiculous affairs where everything is closed off for blocks. I actually avoided my own college graduation because President Clinton was speaking; the "security" arrangements were so ridiculous that I decided I just wanted to get out before the nonsense started. I wish they had never invited him.

It is probably better that Obama is speaking at St. Paul Union Depot while there is no train service. Why? Because the "security" forces would deliberately disrupt the train service for his speech. :p They will probably disrupt all the existing bus service for his speech too. I understand that there are real threats to the President, but it's just no good if everywhere the President goes they break everything preemptively just for his arrival.
 
beautifulplanet said:
Question: When was it the last time a US president gave a speech at a train station about the topic of transit? (There will be an answer to this, maybe not even so long ago, just currently not in possession of the answer. :) )
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I tried to research this and I did not have any luck. It's very difficult to find records of when a President gave speeches on a particular topic (such as transportation) unless the speech became famous after-the-fact.
 
Nathanael said:
Unfortunately, since the Kennedy assasinations, speeches by Presidents have become ridiculous affairs where everything is closed off for blocks. I actually avoided my own college graduation because President Clinton was speaking; the "security" arrangements were so ridiculous that I decided I just wanted to get out before the nonsense started. I wish they had never invited him.

It is probably better that Obama is speaking at St. Paul Union Depot while there is no train service. Why? Because the "security" forces would deliberately disrupt the train service for his speech. :p They will probably disrupt all the existing bus service for his speech too. I understand that there are real threats to the President, but it's just no good if everywhere the President goes they break everything preemptively just for his arrival.
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Don't get me started on Presidential security and its impact on local traffic, etc. Let's just say that after the last few years, I think there are more than a few folks who would love to uninvited any sitting President from my area on a permanent basis.
 
beautifulplanet said:
Thank you very much for posting this.

Ispolkom said:
President Obama will give a speech on transportation Wednesday at St. Paul Union Depot. Well, we know how he won't travel to the station.

It seems an odd venue, since it might seem that a train station that so many hundreds of millions of dollars was spent on doesn't actually have train service might seem like a boondoggle.
Click to expand...


Question: When was it the last time a US president gave a speech at a train station about the topic of transit? (There will be an answer to this, maybe not even so long ago, just currently not in possession of the answer. :) )
Click to expand...
While not a "Sitting President", VP "Amtrak Joe" Biden came to the Dedication of the Wilmington Station named in his Honor and made a Speech! (along with Joe Boardman! That was a day where there were Serious Delays on the NEC so Boardman and the Veep had to Bail out of Beech Grove and Drive to the Station! :lol: )

Also the President Elect and the VP Elect (Obama and Biden) rode a Train to Washington for Inauguration Day in 2008 and made Speeches during Stops @ 30th Street in PHL, Wilmington, BAL and Union Station in DC!

Former President Clinton also visited the Old Remodeled MP Station (now a Visitors Center) in Hope, Arkansas (his Hometown) and made a Speech! Hope is now a Stop on the Texas Eagle Route between Texarkana and Little Rock!
 
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Anderson said:
Nathanael said:
Unfortunately, since the Kennedy assasinations, speeches by Presidents have become ridiculous affairs where everything is closed off for blocks. I actually avoided my own college graduation because President Clinton was speaking; the "security" arrangements were so ridiculous that I decided I just wanted to get out before the nonsense started. I wish they had never invited him.

It is probably better that Obama is speaking at St. Paul Union Depot while there is no train service. Why? Because the "security" forces would deliberately disrupt the train service for his speech. :p They will probably disrupt all the existing bus service for his speech too. I understand that there are real threats to the President, but it's just no good if everywhere the President goes they break everything preemptively just for his arrival.
Click to expand...
Don't get me started on Presidential security and its impact on local traffic, etc. Let's just say that after the last few years, I think there are more than a few folks who would love to uninvited any sitting President from my area on a permanent basis.
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Yeah, I'm one of them.....does shutting down a major international airport, while the 'Prez' gets a haircut aboard Air Force One, ring a bell to anyone? :angry2:
 
Ispolkom said:
President Obama will give a speech on transportation Wednesday at St. Paul Union Depot. Well, we know how he won't travel to the station.

It seems an odd venue, since it might seem that a train station that so many hundreds of millions of dollars was spent on doesn't actually have train service might seem like a boondoggle.
Click to expand...
The administration is rolling out its FY2015 budget proposal, so this is presumably part of the effort to drum up support for increased transportation and infrastructure spending. It would better if there were trains running to SPUD, but perhaps that is part of the background to the speech. Light rail will be opening in June, the EB moved soon. But use the station to advocate federal funding to advance commuter trains and corridor service to Chicago.

Having the President giving a speech in a lightly used station (at the present) means it will be less disruptive than if he were to visit Chicago Union Station or, god forbid, NYP on a weekday. The security perimeter that surrounds the President in the post-911 era is extensive.
 
I look forward to reading the Metro Transit, Jefferson Lines, and Megabus arrangements for alternate stop locations on Wednesday. :p
 
In 2004 the RNC was in New York City at MSG above NYP. Train service remained operational with increased security. The City of New York I assume said, you can't shut down NYP. In Boston the previous month the DNC was at the Boston Garden built over North Station and completely shut down MBTA Commuter Rail and Downeaster operations.
 
They once held us at work, without pay I might add, for almost an hour while Jr.'s motorcade came up US 23. God forbid my truck get in the way of a politico.

I myself am elated that a sitting president wants to recognize the worth of Amtrak by using a facility as the background for a transportation speech. The value of this can't be measured in dollars.
 
Preview in the Washington Post of what the President will be announcing at SPUD: Obama to tout new transportation proposal in St. Paul.

"The president will call on lawmakers to pass a four-year, $302 billion surface transportation reauthorization bill that would help repair and modernize the nation's roads, bridges, railways and transit systems, according to a fact sheet provided by the White House. To help fund the initiative, Obama will propose dedicating $150 billion in "one-time transition revenue from pro-growth business tax reform," officials said."

He will also be announcing the start of the TIGER grant application process which was funded at $600 million in the FY14 appropriations.
 
Ho

afigg said:
Preview in the Washington Post of what the President will be announcing at SPUD: Obama to tout new transportation proposal in St. Paul.

"The president will call on lawmakers to pass a four-year, $302 billion surface transportation reauthorization bill that would help repair and modernize the nation's roads, bridges, railways and transit systems, according to a fact sheet provided by the White House. To help fund the initiative, Obama will propose dedicating $150 billion in "one-time transition revenue from pro-growth business tax reform," officials said."

He will also be announcing the start of the TIGER grant application process which was funded at $600 million in the FY14 appropriations.
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How does this impact Amtrak's NEC?
 
Guest_Andrew_*, thank you for posting this.

Many will find this exciting. Though it's just a call on lawmakers, so once again of course the legislative can block anything the president proposes, still a call for more transportation funding from the president might sound promising for a lot of people.

Maybe the speech will be made available on YouTube or similar platforms afterwards, so people could watch it even if they are not following it live.
 
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afigg said:
roads, bridges, railways and transit systems, according to a fact sheet provided by the White House. To help fund the initiative, Obama will propose dedicating $150 billion in "one-time transition revenue from pro-growth business tax reform," officials said."
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I don't like these words at all. I hope this isn't the proposed massive giveaway (super-low tax rates for "repatriatiation") to corrupt tax-evader corporations which have been stashing money overseas. It probably is, though. I can't think of anything else with "one-time transition revenue" which would be called "pro-growth business tax reform", but giveaways to scummy corporations usually go by that name.
 
Andrew said:
How does this impact Amtrak's NEC?
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Well, first of all, expect the Republicans in Congress to declare the President's budget dead on arrival at the Hill and denigrate it. They been doing that when there is a Democratic president since 1994. Just the way DC works (or doesn't work really) these days.

As for the NEC, wait for the details of the 4 year transportation spending proposal to be released. Then the long slog through Congress begins with the House committees likely all but ignoring the Administration proposal while the Democrats in the Senate at least read it. Since this is an election year, I would be very surprised if a 4 year Transportation Authorization bill makes it through Congress prior to the election. But like the Chicago Cubs, there is always hope when spring training starts. :p
 
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Without having seen the actual speech, here are the excepts regarding to rail from the White House Office of the Press Secretary.

$600 million in TIGER grants (funded) will be distributed for different transportation projects:

Launching competition for $600 million in TIGER competitive grants to fund transformative transportation infrastructure projects. Since the President took office, America has made historic investments to improve our nation’s infrastructure –including the highly successful Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) competitive grant program that has invested $3.5 billion in 270 projects across the country. Today the President is announcing that the U.S. Department of Transportation is making available $600 million in TIGER competitive grants to fund transportation projects. The TIGER grant program, which was initially funded as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, was recently funded in the bipartisan Consolidated Appropriations Act, signed by the President on January 17th, 2014.

[...] The highly competitive TIGER program supports a range of projects, including roads, bridges, transit, rail, and ports, and offers one of the few Federal funding sources for game-changing projects that integrate different modes of transportation.

[emphasis added]
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The $302 billion within 4 years proposal, including a possible funding source, might probably never get through Congress:

Proposing a pro-growth, bipartisan approach to financing the President’s surface transportation plan. The President’s Budget will outline his proposal to dedicate $150 billion in one-time transition revenue from pro-growth business tax reform to address the funding crisis facing our surface transportation programs and increase infrastructure investment. This amount is sufficient to not only fill the current funding gap in the Highway Trust Fund, but increase surface transportation investment over current projected levels by nearly $90 billion over the next four years. When taking into account existing funding for surface transportation, this plan will result in a total of $302 billion being invested over four years putting people back to work modernizing our transportation infrastructure. [...]

The President’s vision [...] will be described in his FY2015 Budget request[.] [...]

$72 billion to invest in transit systems and expand transportation options. The proposal increases average transit spending by nearly 70 percent annually, for a total program of $72 billion over four years, which will enable the expansion of new projects (e.g., light rail, street cars, bus rapid transit, etc.) in suburbs, fast-growing cities, small towns, and aging rural communities, while still maintaining existing transit systems.

$19 billion in dedicated funding for rail programs. The proposal also includes nearly $5 of billion annually for high performance and passenger rail programs with a focus on improving the connections between key regional city pairs and high traffic corridors throughout the country.

[emphasis added]
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See here:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/02/26/fact-sheet-president-obama-lays-out-vision-21st-century-transportation-i
 
Well, the $19 billion for passenger rail would be nice. I'm not taking any bets on it happening this year, that is for sure.

As to why Obama used SPUD as the place for his speech, the station project received $35 million in TIGER grants, so it is being used to show "hey, we can have nice things if we spend on infrastructure!"
 
President Obama Reveals 4-Year, $19 Billion Proposal for Trains

In a visit to St. Paul’s restored Union Depot, President Barack Obama outlined an ambitious $302 billion, 4-year investment plan for America’s roads, bridges, railways, and transit. $19 billion of that will go towards rail, with another $72 billion directed to transit.
The President was in St. Paul to celebrate the renovation of Union Depot, which returned intercity passenger trains back downtown after more than 30 years. The restoration occurred as part of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program, which provides funding to projects of regional significance that generate positive economic development. Thanks to the TIGER program, Union Depot is being transformed from a dusty, overrun old building into a modern regional transit hub.
And while $600 million for intermodal projects is a pretty big deal, it was dwarfed by the $302 billion surface transportation plan, which includes a one-time infusion of $150 billion in revenue from corporate tax reform.
The President’s plan includes $19 billion in dedicated funding for rail programs. That would mean almost $5 billion each year for high performance passenger rail programs, with “a focus on improving the connections between key regional city pairs and high traffic corridors throughout the country.”
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Well, it's over and things are back to normal. There were a number of complaints on the depot Facebook page about the disruption, as well as a number of people who were excited to see the President.
 
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