"High-speed rail to moderate-speed rail to moderately low-speed rail"

The Illinois DOT has reached a deal with Amtrak and Union Pacific for rail improvements between Saint Louis and Chicago ObamaTown.  (You knew they would.)  Cost: $1.1 billion.  Once complete, the new service will allow travelers to get between the two cities 10% faster!

But some Illinois citizens haven't lost there senses:

Kristina Rasmussen, executive vice president for the Illinois Policy Institute, which opposes high-speed rail, said the project is a waste of taxpayer money.

“Four and a half hours?” Rasmussen said. “Man—it’s like we went from high-speed rail to moderate-speed rail to moderately low-speed rail. Sometimes, good government involves stopping and realizing that the path you’ve been going down isn’t the right direction and moving on with other things. In this case, we may be at that point.”