Here's a good example of why America is so angry with its government.
Joe Szabo of the FRA is the head guy for the federal high-speed rail program. Here he's giving a speech about HSR at a conference and telling his audience -- and us -- "This is a state driven program - it’s up to the states to determine what their vision is . . ."
What the hell does that mean? It can't be a State paid-for program, that's for sure. Does this mean he's prepared to throw money at any state with a HSR fantasy and cover all the costs? And if not, then what?
He's worried about moving a lot more people around the country. Does he have a plan for doing that? And if not, why not? Should the states be devising plans (their vision, as he calls it) for moving all those people around the country?
He's also saying that there are not enough dollars; that's why they are so competitive. So, now he is pitting the states against one another. I guess that's what Obama means when he says we have to be more competitive!
Szabo is eager to take the dollars away from any state that won't do what he says (I thought it was a state-driven program. Isn't that what he said?), like Wisconsin or Ohio, and give them to more HSR friendly states, like California. It's the state's vision all right, unless the Department of Transportation doesn't like it, or doesn't like the politics of that state.
Wouldn't you think that if there isn't enough money, they shouldn't even start this fiasco?
If these dollars were candy, and a bunch of little kids were hanging around to get some, and there wasn't enough candy to go around, wouldn't that be considered very cruel, if not downright heartless? What kind of a game is this? Is this any way for a federal agency to implement a program as complex and expensive as this?
What I want to know from everyone else is, where's the outrage?
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Federal Rail Administrator Szabo: Loss Of Wisconsin Won’t Slow Midwest High Speed Rail
Posted on January 25, 2011.
The Federal Rail Administrator, Joe Szabo, is telling the TRB conference the loss of Wisconsin won’t really affect the Midwest high speed rail network.
Szabo “This is a state driven program — it’s up to the states to determine what their vision is. The population will be 70 million more people in the next 25 years…how do you plan to move ‘em? The dollars are so hotly competitive that if one or two states decide this isn’t a part of a vision there are dozens of states that have decided it is part of their vision….At this point there’s enough work to be done to build out that midwest plan…Illinois is moving forward, Michigan is moving forward, the plan is going forward to build Chicago to Milwaukee. Others will clearly be clamouring for their leg.”
Adds Roy Keinetz: “Don’t confuse the short term with the long term.”
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