Are Republicans Attempting To Create An American Train Wreck To Advance Their Partisan Agenda?

When I was growing up in Brooklyn and on Long Island, I always had the idea that Florida was like a second home for everyone I knew. My first big trip alone was when I was 13 and I hitchhiked to visit my grandparents in Miami Beach over Easter. By electing a deranged ideologue as governor, Florida voters just decided, in effect, to give all the Northeast snowbirds a big wet kiss and a thank you for all the money they've spent in the Sunshine State over the years. Rick Scott vetoed the high speed rail system and the 2 billion dollars allocated for it and Monday the Obama Administration announced where all that money-- and all the jobs that money will create-- is going instead.

Rail riders along the California coast and the Boston-Washington "Northeast Corridor" are set to reap much of the benefits from $2 billion that Florida policymakers had earlier rejected for high-speed rail development.

The Obama administration on Monday announced the reallocated funding, part of its push to spur environmentally friendly transportation and modernize the nation's infrastructure that's supported partly by the 2009 economic stimulus package.

Fifteen states and Amtrak will receive the money to back 22 high-speed intercity passenger rail projects. Among other things, the funds will be used to improve speed and service in the Northeast, add faster rail lines in the Midwest and help spur more efficient train service between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Nearly $300 million will be spent to reduce major delays for trains coming in and out of Manhattan-- the nation's busiest passenger rail junction. Within the next four years, high-speed rail advocate Petra Todorovich estimated trains between New York and Philadelphia will routinely move at 160 mph because of a host of upgrades aimed at improving "train speeds, capacity and reliability."

...Supporters insist the emphasis on faster rail transportation is a necessary investment in the country's economic competitiveness. Critics contend it's little more than a massive boondoggle that is contributing to skyrocketing federal deficits while providing few proven benefits over the long term.

Scott's decision this winter to reject what eventually worked out to $2 billion in federal funding for the Orlando-to-Tampa plan surprised a number of observers. This came after the Obama administration pulled another $1.2 billion in funding from Ohio and Wisconsin after their newly elected GOP governors vowed to kill high-speed rail projects that were under way.

LaHood portrayed those cases Monday as relatively rare exceptions, noting that the Transportation Department received $10 billion worth of requests for the $2 billion available.
"Who says America does not have a pent-up demand?" he asked.

Amtrak officials note that they set a new annual ridership record of more than 28 million passengers for the last fiscal year.

The plutocrats who fund the Republican Party-- and the Blue Dogs-- simply do not want to pay for American infrastructure. They have their own private planes anyway and they don't see America as a worthwhile investment. Whether it's Medicare, transportation, education, or infrastructure, the rich refuse to pay their share and they have the political muscle to get their way but financing conservative politicians to do their bidding. It was heartening to hear Harry Reid tell Boehner-- who's demanding more tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires by cutting spending-- to start his jihad by cutting $2 trillion in taxpayer subsidies for Big Oil. Obviously that's off the table for the Koched-up GOP.

An amendment on March 1st to repeal taxpayer-funded subsidies to Big Oil. The amendment would have prohibited large oil companies from receiving certain tax breaks, like the domestic manufacturing deduction in the 2004 international tax law. Repealing these tax breaks would save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars over the next decade. 100% of House Republicans voted no.

Slimy Blue Dogs who feed at the same corruption-filled troughs as the Republicans crossed the aisle and voted with them against cutting off taxpayer subsidies for Big Oil. Among the most corrupt of the Blue Dog bribe takers who voted with every House Republican on March 1 were:

Jason Altmire (Blue Dog-PA)
John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA)
Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK)
Dennis Cardoza (Blue Dog-CA)
Ben Chandler (Blue Dog-KY)
Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)
Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT)
Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR)