Florida’s lost may be other states gain

If Joan Lowy Associated Press article titled High-Speed Rail Funds Sought By Twenty-Four States, Amtrak is correct and any one, or a combination of these states Wisconsin, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Washington, makes what Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday will happen “high-speed rail will deliver tens of thousands of jobs, spur economic development across their communities and create additional options for their citizens as the country's population grows," Florida, Gov. Rick Scott who canceled a project will have more to answer for than he ever imagined.

This article even shows the hypocrisy of “Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker who turned down $810 million to build a Madison-to-Milwaukee high-speed line but now Walker is asking for at least $150 million of the rejected money to add trains for an existing Milwaukee-to-Chicago line.” It also mentions that Amtrak has joined the fray and put forth several projects that they would use some of the money for. I would personally like to see it go to the states because then they could contract with local companies to provide the supplies, keeping the money in house than seeing it go to Amtrak who may put more of the money to work outside of the state. Either way all these states and Amtrak has to do is deliver thousand of jobs to any state and spur economic development. Those two things alone would apply unheard of pressure to those Republican governors who sought to see that nothing would be done to help this president see a second term and may also limited them to one term or even a half term if they could be recalled. For those governors who can not be re-called, imagine the campaign ads for his opposition when the next election comes around.