Understanding Government

The Chicago Tribune’s Jon Hilkevitch reports that the Chicago Transit Authority is making major, major increases in the number and sophistication of its surveillance cameras thanks to a $16 million U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant. Most CTA train stations have only one camera now — but the plan is that they will each have 10-30. Moreover, the cameras installed are “high-resolution digital video cameras capable of recording even faint facial features from a distance.”

Why in the world is this a priority? A DHS grant usually is intended for emergency prevention and response like counterterrorism, but CTA wants to use the cameras to catch pickpocketers. Meanwhile, the CTA itself is in disrepair, with the whole system needing to be modernized and entire parts of the city not served by rail. CTA needs money from the Dept. of Transportation, not DHS.

Sen. Mark Kirk

Rick Pearson of the Chicago Tribune has a pretty lengthy piece on the early record of Mark Kirk, who was elected from Illinois to the U.S. Senate in November. Kirk is far and away the most prominent Republican in a largely Democratic state and so he spends much of his time raising money for the state GOP. Kirk’s also strangely preoccupied with passing federal legislation that would prevent the Obama administration from bailing out state governments, even though, (a) the chances of this happening are next to impossible, and (b) a bailout would actually be a lifesaver for deficit-wracked Illinois.

Kirk, however, is a more legit representative of Illinois than erstwhile temp Senator Roland Burris.  For example, he has helped get money for the state, including funds from the Dept. of Transportation for the delayed O’Hare Airport expansion.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which is part of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, has shut down the Michigan-based Haines Company motor coach, because it held passengers in the cargo department. An inspection last month by the Ohio State Highway Patrol found six passengers riding in the luggage compartment with unsecured luggage. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that DOT has started to crack down on some of the nation’s sketchier charter bus companies.

The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (part of the Dept. of Transportation) announced that is temporarily shutting down an oil pipeline that runs from Alberta, Canada into Montana and then the Great Plains and Midwest. Matthew Daley of the Associated Press reports that federal inspectors want to check safety on the pipeline run by the TransCanada company after a recent leak of 400 oil barrels in North Dakota.

The news comes as TransCanada wants a 2nd pipeline — one that would run from Alberta down into Texas. This pipeline needs approval not just from the Transportation Dept. but the State Department, since it crosses national borders.

Ray LaHood

Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood announced this week which states won a total of $2 billion in U.S. Dept. of Transportation grant money for train lines. Larry Sandler of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Wisconsin received none of the $150 million it wanted in upgrades to the Amtrak line between Chicago and Milwaukee. The reason Wisconsin didn’t get any money partly lies in Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s past opposition to federal transit cash. The bigger issue here, though, is with the Obama administration.

Walker applied for the grant months after he rejected $810 million in federal money to build a rail line between Milwaukee and Madison. (more…)