Tom Barrett, the soon-to-be-ex-Mayor of Milwaukee, stamps his feet.
A visibly angry Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett accused Gov.-elect Scott Walker of conducting “ideological warfare” that led to the loss of $808 million that was to pay for high-speed rail in Wisconsin.
Tommy's right about 'ideological war.' It's been waged by the City of Milwaukee, the County of Milwaukee, school districts, the State of Wisconsin, and a runaway-freight FedGov for about the last 30 years. And it has been waged on current taxpayers and those who won't be BORN until 2050.
At least he can identify a problem, even if his compass is off by 180 degrees.
Let's talk about costs, Tommy:
Barrett also said the city had spent $5 million to $6 million as part of its effort to encourage high-speed rail...
That was the wrong bet, Tommy. And don't look to the Feds or State to fix it for you.
$810M now for $200M over the next 30 years. Hope CA makes good use of it.
ReplyDeleteCali can have it. It's a complete loser for a state in fiscal crisis.
ReplyDeleteNow, a line that was designed right out of the box as high speed (>200 mph) and ran non-stop NY/Pittsburg/Cleveland/Chicago/MKE/Madistan/Mpls and west, it might have a snowballs chance by actually competing with automobile and airline. Incremental will never make it. It will be like that changeover to metric back in the 70's.
But hey...I don't care about the children...or the polar bears.
Jim, CA is a zombie BK.
ReplyDeleteConsider the money gone. Flushed. Disappeared.
Barrett and other like-minded train-huggers are like King Canute trying to hold back the tide. What part of 'No!" don't they understand?
ReplyDeleteInteresting that the money goes to the two coasts while the conservative Midwest - Ohio and Wisconsin - passed on the 'federal largesse' (read: your tax $$ at work) because they know the value of a buck.