Thursday, December 9, 2010

Good money after bad: Feds redirect high-speed rail money

The principled oppostion by governor-elect Kasich (Ohio) and Walker (Wisconsin) to federally supported white elephant high-speed rail projects in their states means that the Bernanke-printed dollars just flow somewhere else.  The Hood just announced this afternoon which other states will get more taxpayer-coerced support for their malinvestment projects.  Here from the US DOT news release:
The $1.195 billion originally designated for those high-speed rail projects in Wisconsin and Ohio will now be used to support projects in the following states:California: up to $624 million
  • Florida: up to $342.3 million
  • Washington State: up to $161.5 million
  • Illinois: up to $42.3 million
  • New York: up to $7.3 million
  • Maine: up to $3.3 million
  • Massachusetts: up to $2.8 million
  • Vermont: up to $2.7 million
  • Missouri up to $2.2 million
  • Wisconsin: up to $2 million for the Hiawatha line
  • Oregon: up to $1.6 million
  • North Carolina: up to $1.5 million
  • Iowa: up to $309,080
  • Indiana: up to $364,980
Economic agitprop continues to flow from The Hood's news organs:
“High-speed rail will modernize America’s valuable transportation network, while reinvigorating the manufacturing sector and putting people back to work in good-paying jobs,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “I am pleased that so many other states are enthusiastic about the additional support they are receiving to help bring America’s high-speed rail network to life.”
Both incoming governors had asked the Federales to invest the money instead in road improvements; alternatively Kasich urged the money be used to pay down the federal budget deficit.  The Hood said, in essence, "Fuck you, I'm handing this political money out."

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