Ever heard of the Ben Franklin Method?

It is an old high-pressure salesman ruse to close a deal. After the schemer spins the positive virtues of a product, he produces a blank piece of paper, draws a line down the middle, and writes "FOR" on the left side and "AGAINST" on the right side.

Follow up:

He goes on to explain to the mark that Ben Franklin used a method of writing down all the subject pros on the left, then list all the cons on the right before making a major decision. So with pen or pencil in hand, the salesman and prey summarize the product’s virtues and write them in the left-hand column. Then, the salesman turns to the mark and says, “Let’s write down the why-not’s”. At this point, the salesman shuts up. After a prolonged period with few entries in the right “Against” column the salesman breaks the silence with, “ Looks like the answer is obvious, isn’t it?” The deal is closed.

There has a lot of hubbub lately concerning light-rail. I thought I’d compile a crib sheet list of entries for those of you who feel they need to negatively argue light rail in Virginia Beach. I guess we could call it Ben Franklin in reverse.

Entry: Rail is an albatross around the necks of American cities.

One of rail transit’s dirty secrets is that the entire system - rails, cars, electrical facilities, stations - must be replaced, rebuilt or rehabilitated roughly every 30 years costing more than initial construction costs

Entry: Rail construction almost always costs more than the original estimates.

Denver voters approved a 119-mile rail system in 2004 on the promise that it would cost $4.7 billion to build it by 2017. The current estimate is up to $7.9 billion, and the regional transit agency says the system might not be complete until 2034.

Entry: Rail transit is bad for the environment. Most U.S. light-rail lines use more energy, per passenger mile, than an SUV.

Considering that most electricity comes from fossil fuels, light rail is likely to produce more greenhouse gases per passenger mile than an SUV. Buses can provide better, faster, safer transit service than light rail at a far lower cost.

Light rail is a hoax perpetrated by on taxpayers by companies that profit from designing and building rail lines along with those own or have property options along the route.

I welcome you, the reader to add to this list. As Ben Franklin said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

Source: Cato Institute