Think Progress notes that the incoming Republican Governor of Wisconsin shot down a high-speed rail project between Madison and Milwaukee, turning down $810M in federal funding for it. He wants the money, mind you, but he wants to spend it on roads.
That in itself is small-minded, I think, but even more so when the money can only be spent on rail, and Governor Walker knows that.
So now not only is the money going to go elsewhere, but so are some jobs:
Talgo Inc., the Spanish manufacturer of high-speed train cars, will abandon its plant in Milwaukee in 2012, according to Nora Friend, a spokeswoman for the company.
The decision was made after U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced Thursday that the federal government was rescinding the $810 million allocated to Wisconsin. Wisconsin Gov.-elect Scott Walker had strongly opposed the state?s high-speed rail plan.“We can?t stay and manufacture in Milwaukee without the high-speed rail to Madison,” Friend said. “This is terrible news.”
Smart move, Governor Walker.
I’m not complaining too hard. California just got a hunk of that, for our famous high-speed rail project, which everybody wants, but not in their back yard. So they’re running the initial trackage (not electricity, or trains, yet, just tracks) essentially between Visalia and Bakersfield…
Were elected officials always this screwed up, and I just don’t remember, or have they actually gotten worse?
Visalia – Bakersfield? Er, the ridership between those two points can’t be projected to be too high, can it?
There’ve always been loony elected officials; I think it’s just that the stakes are higher now.