Two U.S. states lose high-speed rail funds

[wuushew]

WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- The Obama administration Thursday stripped funding for the development of high-speed rail from two states whose new governors had been hostile to the project.

Nearly $1.2 billion earmarked for Ohio and Wisconsin will instead go to California, a state that has been far more receptive to the concept and had requested any unwanted funds from other states.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/12/09/Two-US-states-lose-high-speed-rail-funds/UPI-59481291925832/


This rail project fiasco really did more harm than good. I honestly think it helped galvanize Republican opposition last November because I saw lots and lots of political anti-rail signs not that distant from Madison in the rural areas. Obama and Biden really should have polled to see what the support numbers for the rail project where before announcing the winner/loser list earlier. Dumb, dumb politicking on their part. Now the Governor elect is coming off even more arrogant than he was before.

[WCGreen]

1. So what. Now Kasich is going to piss and moan about not getting the money

he would have voted against...

Fuck him and fuck this state...

I want to get out of Ohio as fast as I can...

[FrancisTreptoe]

9. I'm right there with you man

It is all going down hill from here

[SoCalDem]

2. Now they need to claw back the money fron New Jersey too

When Mom gives you grocery money, she does not like it when you tell her you decided that you're gonna use it for a plasma tv..

[tabatha]

3. Well, I am glad it is going to CA.

Hopefully, CA will lead the way, again.

[Jackpine Radical]

4. They never really bothered to explain to anybody

what the rail projects would amount to in jobs, tourism and economic development. Damn, I was really hoping for that rail project to go through.

[Name removed]

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[Ron Green]

5. Maybe, over the next couple of decades, they'll learn.

"Anti-rail" people are either invested in an unsustainable transportation system or just dumbasses.

[marmar]

6. Good.....and who gives a shit whether the governor elect is more arrogant now.

I'm sure his arrogance will be of great comfort to those who would have gained direct jobs and all the ancillary ones that would go along with the project. Fuck them.

[eleny]

7. In the end this will help California so much

I know it will take years to build. But the first thing that came to mind was taking a vacation there. You fly to one city and travel all around as far as the high speed takes you. Not that it will even go "all over". I just got some very good thoughts about going to California because of their good fortune.

[stopbush]

15. It's really great for us in CA, and it helps close that $48-billion gap

that CA taxpayers have in the amount of $ we send to DC every year and what we don't get back.

CA is a perfect place for high-speed rail: once you get over the mountains north of LA, central CA is a flat wasteland that's been reclaimed for farming. Perfect for high-speed rail! It's one of the most-boring drives on Earth. Look quick or you'll miss Bakersfield!

I can see high-speed being a great option to get people from LA up to SF.

[simon1012]

10. more harm than good?

You think the rail project is doing more harm only means that you never been to other countries.
Have you ever been to Europe? Japan? China?
All of them have a matured and developed high speed rail infrastructure.

Not only it creates lot of job during the building of high speed rail.
After it's built, it will also generate and expand economic activity.
In those countries, it is a luxury to have a car because the transportation is so convenient that you don't need one!

[wuushew]

12. Yes, I believe that

This was not true high speed rail. How would it have succeeded if it had no advantages over travel by bus or car? The setup as proposed was not analogous traveling to the center of a densely packed city center where rail travel IS more convenient like say the rail service to Chicago.

I am not blanket anti-rail, I still want better links between Milwaukee, Chicago and Minneapolis.

The harm I was referrencing was mainly the political kind. We could have had Governor Barrett and not a Repuke controlled statehouse! Now we are all fucked.

[simon1012]

17. Reply:

"The harm I was referrencing was mainly the political kind. We could have had Governor Barrett and not a Repuke controlled statehouse! Now we are all fucked."

Well... Thanks to themselves, people in Wisconsin get what they voted for!

Oh, by the way, I am living in California.
So I may be arguing that Wisconsin is stupid to give up the rail, but some part inside me is happy that my state is getting the money.

[PeaceNikki]

11. Nice job creation, Walker!!

This also will hurt Minnesota if it can't connect to Madison-Milw-Chicago. Talgo, the train manufacturer just announced they are leaving Milwaukee - so, minimum 60 jobs gone (possible 100 more) and all the jobs to build the rail.

Fuck you, Scottie!

[Warren Stupidity]

13. wow something I actually support oh wait - the op is against it?

yeah!

on edit: wtf?

[spanone]

14. don't like the program, don't need the money....way to go Obama

[msongs]

16. let em walk everywhere til they get it thru their heads about voting repub lol nt