Derailing That Train Of Thoughtlessness

Via Balloon Juice, Ohio GOP Governor-elect John Kasich's petulance has cost the state $385 million, and Wisconsin's GOP Governor-elect Scott Walker has cost his state $810 million.  That billion plus will go to states who actually want infrastructure and jobs as the federal government has made good on their threat to yank the cash and give it to states smart enough to take it.

Neither Ohio nor Wisconsin were getting high-speed trains. They were simply getting new train routes that the federal government hoped would form the basis of a new national network of trains, which could eventually be upgraded to high-speed rail. But the new governors-elect questioned who would ride the new, not-terribly-fast trains.

Scott Walker, the governor-elect of Wisconsin, who vowed to stop the train in a campaign commercial, said that the train from Milwaukee to Madison would cost too much money, take the same amount of time as driving and leave many passengers needing cars anyway to get around at both ends.

Mr. Walker worried that the new $810 million train route would leave the state with subsidies of $7 million to $10 million a year to run the trains. Exasperated train supporters, who saw a lucrative jobs project and an environmentally friendly way to travel, complained that Mr. Walker’s position was analogous to turning down a free new car, simply because it would cost money for gas and insurance.

John Kasich, the governor-elect of Ohio, declared “this train is dead” after being elected, and mocked the slow speeds the train was expected to travel.

Both men expressed interest in using the stimulus money to fix and maintain highways and roads in their states instead. But the money was part of $8 billion in the stimulus bill that was directed for building trains and paving the way for high-speed rail in the United States.

Now they are about to find out if the electorate that supported their antirail platforms will still support them, now that it has cost their states $1.2 billion. 

We'll find out a lot sooner than 2014, my guess.  Better hope unemployment goes down, boys...because the Democrats already have the campaign commercials planned for you.   If you don't want to use the money for what it was intended for but still want the handout, well gosh, I thought Republicans called that sort of thing fraud.

Good luck with that whole recovery thing.