It's to bad that while China's government was spending trillions on upgrading their infrastructure and transportation systems over the past decade we opted to spend it instead on fighting wars. War that were largely fought to protect gasoline prices. US: short-sighted. China: far-sighted. Better learn Mandarin.

Y'know, I'm kinda sick and tired of reading these columns...because they're right, but they're too late. Where was the Globe when the Governor proposed a sweeping transportation reform package that would have gotten the T out of this hole with a modest gas tax increase? Where was the Globe when the Legislature was proudly gutting that bill? They had the whole electorate chanting "reform before revenue" and as they convinced people that the whole problem was caused by "the hacks at the T" and could all be fixed with pension reform, the Globe basically abdicated its responsibility of being a fact checker and educating the public. Now it's too late...the momentum for any such reform is completely gone. The Governor isn't going to put himself out on a limb again.

Syre forgot one item - get the Conservation Law Foundation out of the T's budget making stream. Those deskbound ambulance chasers spend all their time thinking up ways to put more and more burdens on taxpayers and users of public facilities to pay for "concepts" the ambulance chasers want to see developed. Sure, some of their concepts, like a cleaner Boston Harbor, are wonderful. And a new choochoo to Fall River and New Bedford would be just ducky. But somebody has to pay for these items, and the ambulance chasers don't give a hoot that has become the same payers over and over again. The MWRA water clients are the same folks that use the T and its looming higher fares and reduced services. Shut down the CLF and let's see if the Massachusetts stable of quasi-public agencies can work their way out of the crushing debtloads that the CLF has been a large part of creating.

The GOP felt pretty good about forward funding, which was a change from paying the T's bills at the end of the year. Now debt service has doubled or tripled the deficit. This is the modus operandi typical of the party of "no".

A healthy MBTA is critical for the health of Massachusetts as a whole. Half the state would be unworkable (think traffic) without the MBTA efficiently funnelling people to downtown offices. Boston as a region is healthy because people are attracted to its healthy downtown (an anomaly in much of America), which in turn is supported by good public transportation. The Commonwealth needs to take the leadership to absorb T debt; this is the ONLY way out, and per Mr. Syre's column, is actually fair. We need to demand a public transportation system that is as good and as nice as Toronto's. We should have excellence and we need to pay for it.

If the MBTA is in such a financial mess, why don't they create s specific MBTA Lotterty? scratch tickets, a daily MBTA cash windfall game? People waste so much money on gambling the MBTA might as well use this "tax on the stupid" to help lower the level of the MBTA's debt ?

The reorganization and the Big Dig -all for the benefit of more automobiles.-2/3rds of the T debt, if I understand this correctly. Why can't those who use cars assume this 2/3rds debt????