Scott Walker Rejected $12 Million Of The Specific $150 Million In High-Speed Rail Funds He Now Wants

This takes gall, but gov walker has plenty of that! The hypocrisy of the repiglicans and tea-baggers just goes on and on, and they just expect people to accept it....
WASHINGTON -- Millions of dollars of federal funding for specific high-speed rail services that Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) is now requesting were included in the initial batch of grants he rejected for the state of Wisconsin, a federal official tells The Huffington Post.
On Tuesday (29MAR11), Walker appeared to abruptly reverse tone and course by asking the Department of Transportation for $150 million in grants to help pay for high-speed rail improvements. While campaigning for the post he now holds, Walker made a big show of calling for the rejection of more than $800 million in federal funds that had been awarded for Wisconsin, calling it wasteful, if not unneeded, spending.
Inconsistency, the governor’s office insisted, this surely was not. The $150 million in funds Walker was now requesting were for improvements to the Hiawatha line -- between Milwaukee and Chicago – which, the governor stressed, was more popular and profitable. The previous batch of money was for a line between Madison and Milwaukee, which, because it was new, would have had cost overruns and required additional state obligations.
A Department of Transportation source, however, says that while the majority of the $800-million-plus in funds set aside for Wisconsin was for the Madison-Milwaukee rail, a small but not insignificant chunk was for improvements to the Hiawatha line.
“They received $12 million to upgrade and lay new track on the Hiawatha line between Milwaukee and Chicago,” the DOT official said.
A call to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation was not immediately returned.
Walker, it should be noted, was not responsible for Wisconsin’s initial application for high-speed rail funds. That would be his predecessor: Democrat Jim Doyle. But he also did not have to reject the full $800-million-plus package upon coming to office. The $12 million set aside for the Hiawatha line could, theoretically, have been kept and used for the purposes that Walker now wants.

That it wasn’t kept earned Walker early plaudits among fellow, self-proclaimed fiscal conservatives. But it also put Wisconsin in its current predicament, in which it is one of potentially dozens of states petitioning the Department of Transportation for a chunk of the $2.4 billion that the state of Florida gave up when its governor, Rick Scott, rejected high-speed rail.
According to the DOT official, all applications for that money, including Wisconsin’s, are due this coming Monday (4APR11).

Rick Scott Rejects Obama Administration's Last-Ditch Pitch On High-Speed Rail 4MAR11

SO stupid, but a bonus for other states.........Hey Florida, how's that tea-bagger thingy working out for ya????
WASHINGTON -- Putting a formal end to attempts to satisfy his concerns with the project, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) has rejected a last-ditch effort by the Department of Transportation to build a portion of a national high-speed rail system in his state.
Scott had what an official described as a "not long" phone conversation with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Friday morning, informing LaHood that he would continue to refuse $2.4 billion in federal funds for the project. The money will likely now be available to other states.
LaHood met with Scott earlier this week while he was in Washington for a conference of governors, attempting to satisfy Scott's concerns with the project following his rejection of it the previous week. At that time, Scott had insisted that overruns could end up costing his state more than $3 billion.
That meeting set the end of the week as the deadline for Scott's final answer to LaHood. Scott relayed during a 9 a.m. call Friday that he was not budging.
"[The Governor] spoke with US DOT Secretary LaHood this morning and informed him that Florida will focus on other infrastructure projects and will not move forward with any federal high speed rail plan," Scott spokesman Brian Burgess said.
The move puts Scott at odds with a bipartisan group of lawmakers in his own state, including several who launched a longshot lawsuit against the governor in an attempt to secure the money without his approval. That suit was dismissed on Friday morning.
Shutting down the project may also put Florida at a severe disadvantage against other states who now stand to benefit from Scott's refusal of the rail funds.

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A senior official with the Department of Transportation told The Huffington Post that DOT "now plans to evaluate our options for making this $2.4 billion available to states eager to develop high-speed rail corridors, where the business case is strong, in regions across the United States."
New York, California, and several other states have already petitioned LaHood's office for Florida's funds.
"The Obama Administration's bold high-speed rail plan will not only create jobs and reinvigorate our manufacturing sector in the near term, it is a crucial and strategic investment in America's future prosperity," LaHood said in a statement. "I know that states across America are enthusiastic about receiving additional support to help bring America's high-speed rail network to life and deliver all its economic benefits to their citizens."

Not So Fast: Future For High-Speed Rail Uncertain 12NOV10

THE ignorance of these governors elect is astonishing, especially with the high unemployment rates in their states, the uncertainty of any unemployment extensions from this Congress and the fact that Talgo already has 40 employees in Milwaukee with plans to increase their workforce to 125, all making high-speed trains.....good paying American jobs that can only increase in numbers as more rail lines are added and passenger loads increase. Now that is all at risk.......if the voters of Ohio and Wisconsin are looking for someone to complain to and blame I hope they realize all they have to do is look in a mirror. For more on this see my earlier post on this blog 'NEW GOP GOVERNORS KILL $1.2 BILLION IN HIGH-SPEED RAIL JOBS' 6NOV10

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Courtesy of Talgo Inc. High-speed-train manufacturer Talgo plans to produce its Series 8 passenger cars, shown above in a rendering, in Milwaukee. Wisconsin Gov.-elect Scott Walker says he will turn down federal funding for high-speed rail, putting Talgo's new Milwaukee factory and jobs at risk.

High-speed rail may be among the casualties of last week's midterm elections.
The governors-elect of Wisconsin and Ohio say they will reject hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding intended to start up new high-speed passenger rail service in their states, even though the projects require their states to pay nothing upfront. Florida's governor-elect may do the same.
The moves to oppose the Obama administration's efforts to get high-speed trains whisking through some parts of the country appear to be the first of many fights between Democrats and newly elected Republicans who campaigned on promises to rein in spending.
And even states such as Illinois that want high-speed rail and tout its benefits could face a day of reckoning with the changing of the guard on Capitol Hill.
Rep. John Mica (R-FL), who is in line to be chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, says he wants to re-examine all $10 billion worth of high-speed-rail grants already awarded around the country.
High-Speed Rail Is 'Dead'
"That train is dead," announced Republican John Kasich at his first press conference as Ohio's governor-elect. "I said it during the campaign: It is dead. We are not gonna have it." Kasich has said he will reject $400 million in federal funds meant to establish passenger rail service from Cleveland to Columbus and Cincinnati.
In Florida, Republican Gov.-elect Rick Scott suggests he might not take $2 billion for high-speed rails linking Tampa to Orlando and Miami.

Enlarge Jay LaPrete/AP Ohio Gov.-elect John Kasich (left) answers questions during a news conference. Kasich says he will reject $400 million in federal funds meant to establish high-speed passenger rail service from Cleveland to Columbus and Cincinnati.

Jay LaPrete/AP

Ohio Gov.-elect John Kasich (left) answers questions during a news conference. Kasich says he will reject $400 million in federal funds meant to establish high-speed passenger rail service from Cleveland to Columbus and Cincinnati.

And Wisconsin's Republican Gov.-elect Scott Walker says he will turn down more than $800 million in federal funds for high-speed trains between Milwaukee and Madison.
"The bottom line is, right now, I've seen no scenario where the taxpayers of the state of Wisconsin aren't gonna be on the hook for millions of dollars," Walker says. "And to me, unless there was an ironclad agreement that showed me otherwise, I'm not interested, and I think the majority of voters made that very clear in the election."
Riding the wave of anti-big-government sentiment that swept them into office, Walker and other Republicans have been slamming the Obama administration's stimulus-funded high-speed-rail projects around the country as $10 billion in boondoggles that would benefit too few travelers.
"Maybe it's time for the administration to reconsider the billions of dollars spent on high-speed rail," Walker says, "and instead, put those funds into the use for roads and bridges, not only [in] Wisconsin, but across the country."
The Answer Is, 'No'
Walker and Kasich wrote to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood asking that they be allowed to repurpose the funds. But LaHood's response is, "No."

Web Resources

MAP: High-Speed Passenger Rail Projects (Oct. 28, 2010)

In letters to both governors-elect, LaHood points out their states already received hundreds of millions in stimulus funding for roads and bridges, and that this money can only be spent on high-speed rail.
Rejecting the high-speed-rail funds could prove to be quite costly to the incoming governors and their states' taxpayers, and not just in the thousands of jobs that killing the rail projects cost.

That train is dead. I said it during the campaign: It is dead. We are not gonna have it.

- Ohio Gov.-elect John Kasich on his state's high-speed rail projects

In Wisconsin, for example, if Walker turns away the federal funds, his state's taxpayers will be on the hook for close to $100 million in costs already incurred and in improvements that must be made, which the federal funding would have paid for, according to outgoing Gov. Jim Doyle's office.
Doyle adds that the state would only be required to pay an estimated $7.5 million subsidy to help operate the trains between Milwaukee and Madison, and that amount could be reduced by additional federal funds and if ridership exceeds expectations, as it has in neighboring Illinois.
Ohio's share of operating funds is estimated to be $17 million once Amtrak service would be established in the "3C" corridor, between Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland. But if the state rejects the federal funds, Ohio might be required to pay the $25 million already being spent on studies of the proposed rail line.
If the new governors do not want the federal funding, LaHood says the money will be reallocated to other states that want improved, cleaner and more efficient transportation options and the thousands of jobs the high-speed-rail projects would create.
Already, officials in New York, Illinois and California are trying to put dibs on the more than $3 billion Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin might give up.
Workers In The Middle
Caught in the middle of the backlash are workers for companies such as Talgo, a manufacturer of high-speed trains that just opened a new plant, bringing jobs to Milwaukee.

NPR Special Series

On The Fast Track? Sept. 4, 2009

According to spokeswoman Nora Friend, Talgo will have 40 employees by the end of November, and it plans to hire up to 125 positions. Friend says the company is now faced with telling its workers they might be out of jobs when the trains they are making now are completed.
"If we don't have any more orders, then as a business entity, we have no choice but to shut down the facility," Friend says.
A Dream Off The Rails?
Downtown Chicago's Union Station is already a busy commuter hub, but Rick Harnish, executive director of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, has dreams of something quite busier.
"In my dream, this station is completely replaced," Harnish says, "and it's replaced with a facility that's on par with the new station in Guangzhou, or the new station in Beijing."

More On Train Travel

For Amtrak Riders, It's All Aboard Despite The Cost

The Northeast corridor is wildly popular. But fares -- especially on the Acela -- are pricey.

With a boost from the Obama administration's stimulus package, Union Station was on its way to becoming the hub of a high-speed-rail network linking several Midwest cities, says Harnish.
"You could get from [Chicago] to any major city in the Midwest within three hours," Harnish says.
But those dreams of fast trains full of passengers zooming through the Midwest might soon be knocked off the rails.

Solar Panels on the White House and in the Desert, 36 Billion Gallons of Biofuels, and Cleaner Trucks 29OKT10

UPDATES on renewable energy, conservation, and high speed rail. Click the links for more information.....

Building a clean energy economy in this country is one of President Obama’s top priorities.  As National Energy Awareness Month - a national effort to underscore how central energy policy is to our national prosperity, security, and environment – draws to a close, I wanted to highlight some of the events and announcements from the Administration that are helping us build a clean energy economy.
We’re installing solar panels on the White House, building the largest solar energy power plant in the world on our public lands, and proposing the first-ever greenhouse gas and fuel efficiency standards for heavy-duty cars and trucks.  All told, the Administration held and made over 140 energy-related events and announcements this month.  Below are just a few of the highlights, but you can see the full calendar of events here.

• Solar Power and the Clean Energy Economy. President Obama kicked off the month by highlighting a revolutionary new solar power plant in California that will employ 1,000 people and power nearly 140,000 homes.  The plant is possible because of the President’s investments in the clean energy economy.
• Empowering Defense through Energy Security. The Department of Defense and the Navy hosted events to discuss how they can turn their energy use from a strategic and operationalliability to a key strength for the men and women of our armed forces.
• Solar Panels on the White House. At the Green Gov Symposium in Washington, DC, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality Nancy Sutley announced that solar panels and a solar water heater will be installed on the roof of the White House residence this spring.
• Cleaner Trucks, Buses and Vans. The Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency announced the first-ever proposed national standards for greenhouse gas emissions and fuel efficiency for heavy-duty trucks, vans and buses. 
• Ramping Up Solar Power on Public Lands.  In October, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced a series of six new solar power projects on public lands including the first-ever solar power plant on public lands and the largest solar power plant in the world.
• You Asked, Chu Answered. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu answers your questions on making your home more energy efficient.
• 36 Billion Gallons of Biofuels. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack outlined the steps USDA will take to reach a national goal of producing 36 billion gallons of biofuel a year in the United States by 2022, with 21 billion gallons coming from advanced biofuel production.
• Building More Sustainable Communities. The Department of Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Housing and Urban Development joined forces to support communities who are providing Americans more housing choices, make transportation systems more efficient and reliable, and support vibrant neighborhoods that attract businesses.  This is good for our communities, our environment and our economy.
• Preparing for and Responding to Climate Change. The Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force released a report with recommendations that will help strengthen the Nation’s capacity to prepare for and respond to the risks associated with climate change. 
• Historic Investments in High Speed Rail. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that 54 high-speed rail projects in 23 states will receive a combined total of $2.4 billion to continue developing America’s first nationwide program of high-speed intercity passenger rail service.  These investments will ease our reliance on foreign oil and reduce our nation’s carbon pollution.

Since taking office, President Obama and his Administration have invested over $90 billion in clean energy technology through the Recovery Act, advanced new fuel-economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars, light trucks and heavy duty trucks, and lead by example by cutting the federal government’s own carbon footprint.  But there is still much work to be done.  We will continue to invest in clean energy technologies and energy efficiency to create jobs and compete in the global marketplace.

Sincerely,
Carol Browner
Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change

New GOP Governors Kill $1.2 Billion In High-Speed Rail Jobs 6NOV10

THE STUPIDITY OF THESE DECISIONS IS BOTH BREATHTAKING AND NOT UNEXPECTED. Both states have high unemployment, these projects would create jobs both in the construction of the rail lines, the trains, and in the operation of the lines and support services , provide a much needed alternative to air travel and the projects are paid for by the federal government. They are delivering to their electorate just what they promised (see my earlier post 'ARE TEA-PARTIERS BEING TAKEN FOR A RIDE?' 30OKT10). They are ideologically opposed to government investment for creating new jobs. I guess they are waiting for the wealthy in this country to begin creating jobs with their bush era tax cut money they have been receiving during this recession.....

Govs. elect John Kasich (R-OH) and Scott Walker (R-WI).

Republicans who were elected on Tuesday are beginning to deliver on their campaign promises to kill America’s future. Within hours of declaring victory, the incoming tea-party governors of Wisconsin and Ohio stood fast on pledges to kill $1.2 billion in funding for high-speed rail in their states. The funding, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will revert to the federal government for investment in other states — unless Republicans in Congress are able to kill that, too. Walker warned he would fight President Obama to keep the Milwaukee-Madison link killed “if he tries to force this down the throats of the taxpayers.” Kasich — who called the high-speed rail project linking Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati “one of the dumbest ideas” he’s ever heard — used his victory speech to announce, “That train is dead“:

Scott Walker, the incoming governor of Wisconsin, for instance, vowed on Wednesday to carry out a campaign pledge to kill a proposed high-speed rail link between Milwaukee and Madison, part of a larger project to create a high-speed rail corridor across the upper Midwest, from Minneapolis to Chicago. The project was to be fully paid for with $810 million in federal stimulus funds. Mr. Walker said he wanted the money spent on roads, although under the terms of the grants, such a use of the funds is prohibited.
The newly elected Republican governor of Ohio, John Kasich, who ousted Ted Strickland, a Democrat, has also reiterated a campaign pledge to kill a $400 million stimulus-funded rail project in his state. “Passenger rail is not in Ohio’s future,” Mr. Kasich said at his first news conference after the election. “That train is dead.”

In addition to their ideological opposition to creating new jobs through government investment, both Walker and Kasich question the reality of climate science, like other new Republican governors threatening clean energy projects across the nation.