Siemens Bribery Scandal and Light Rail

The Wall Street Journal today has a lengthy article about the Siemens company bribing government officials to get contracts. Among other things, Siemens builds light-rail cars.

As far as I know, Siemens has never bribed an American public official to get a contract to for its rail cars — at least, not in the sense of paying people under the table. Instead, it routinely makes large contributions to political campaigns involving light rail.

According to the 50mg viagra sale different conditions, it is classified into prostatitis-bacterial or non-bacterial. These days, every individual are aware of testosterone that augment the frequency sexual performance with cialis super active firmer, fuller and harder erections. And even if we today think we have so much knowledge, the majority of people around the world to lose hair rapidly, causing confusion amongst them on what they need online cialis sale to do. Erection issues are something which never let you have an enjoyable and complete sensual buy levitra without rx playing with the partner. Siemens contributed $10,000 to the 1996 campaign to build a $3 billion light-rail line in Portland (the ballot measure lost, but they are building it anyway). It contributed $51,000 to the 2004 campaign to build $4.7 billion worth of rail lines in Denver. It also donated $50,000 to a 2003 campaign for a bond measure for Houston transit. If you ever had a light-rail ballot measure in your region, look up the campaign contributors and you will probably find Siemens on the list.

Siemens does not stop at ballot measures. When pro-rail Portland city Commissioner Charles Hales was challenged by rail skeptic Ted Piccolo in 2000, Siemens contributed $5,000 to Hales’ campaign.

It is these sorts of contributions, rather than any advantages inherent in rail itself, that leads many cities to go for rail transit. It is far more economical to improve bus service, but what giant companies would donate to a campaign to expand bus service?

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About The Antiplanner

The Antiplanner is a forester and economist with more than fifty years of experience critiquing government land-use and transportation plans.

9 Responses to Siemens Bribery Scandal and Light Rail

  1. Dan says:

    Boy, Randal, that’s a stretch.

    But I find it interesting that you use the common rhetorical technique of conflating one small thing up to the whole.

    Of course, your argument would be convincing if you didn’t guess and actually had evidence. And you showed how many operations use Siemens cars rather than, say, CAF or the cars BART uses. Or if these other manufacturers contributed money to someone. Or politicians took money from other interests. But you did none of these things.

    You just found a crumb and made a picnic out of it.

    But, you have to have something to write about, eh?

    DS

  2. JimKarlock says:

    Hey Dan,

    Take a look at http://www.DebunkingPortland.com/Transit/WhoWantsRail.htm for a long list of who buys the rail is good BS.

    Here are the three that wanted it the most:
    Portland General Electric_________________________$52,500(Sells Electricity)
    Pacific Power_____________________________________$52,500(Sells Electricity)
    International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers___$50,640(Wiring the system)

    Thanks
    JK

  3. Pingback: American Dream News » Siemens Bribery Scandal and Light Rail

  4. msetty says:

    Randal:

    I think you’re flogging a case of “pots and kettles” here. You know as well as I do that in most places, local real estate, development, road construction and many other interests routinely contribute to local politicians to support approving their projects, but also supporting government spending on major road projects. In California, development and road-building interests were instrumental in passing County sales taxes for transportation, with few exceptions, the lions share of the money going mainly (2/3 or more) to various road projects. These are NOT user fees, but straight subsidies to roads from the general taxpayer (hundreds of millions per year statewide, I add).

    Therefore, I find your point about Siemens and other rail manufacturers targeting political contributions to measures and politicians that might benefit them a big “so what else is new,” e.g., utterly unremarkable. Certainly the “road-industrial complex” is two orders of magnitude bigger than the “rail-industrial complex.” Pots and Kettles!

  5. Dan,

    When I present general ideas, you say I don’t give concrete examples. When I give concrete examples, you say I found a crumb and made a picnic. My point here is that planning is ultimately political, so the idea that it can be “rational” is absurd.

    MSetty,

    As you know, I oppose subsidies to roads as much as subsidies to rail transit. My point here is not roads vs. transit but rail vs. buses: transit systems would be a lot more efficient if they stuck to buses, but the political muscle (money) comes from rail.

  6. Dan says:

    Randal,

    you gave one newspaper article and blew that up to the whole system without additional evidence.

    And buses are subject to delays from traffic accidents.

    DS

  7. JimKarlock says:

    Dan said: And buses are subject to delays from traffic accidents.
    JK: Buses can go around an accident, toy trains cannot.

    If a bus is involved in an accident they dispatch a new one. If a toy train is involved in an accident, it shuts down the whole system.

    Buses kill less people than toy trains (attack of the killer rail) per passenger-mile.

    Thanks
    JK

  8. Pingback: Transit Lobby Backed Up by $2.3 Billion in “Suspicious Transactions” » The Antiplanner

  9. Light Rail Tattler says:

    Since this column has been written there has been a plea-bargain regarding the Siemens bribery scandal in United States District Court.
    Siemens plea-bargained to the largest fine for bribery in United States history.
    A record $1.6 billion fine and an agreement to co-operate with the Department of Justice
    and FBI to give names of bribed politicians and public servants.

    How the bribery by Siemens in the United States happened:
    Siemens had 2,700 business consultant agreements called B.C.A.’s worldwide; these consultants were at the heart of the bribery scheme, sending millions of dollars to
    government officials.

    Of course the Light Rail Train is politically corrupt in design and operation in Denver and though I can’t say when, I am certain the FBI will come knocking on the
    doors of corrupt politicians, public servants and news media executives.

    To see a part of my story go to http://www.google.com and enter: Light Rail Running Red Light At Signalized Crossing

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