Obama/Biden announces $53B high speed train project

N

newguy05

Are those guys out of their fucking mind?

I am a huge fan of infrastructure projects as a way to stimulate the economy/employment. But in our current situation where the BASIC functions of society - police/fire forces, teachers, and schools are getting cut by as much as 50% all over the country, how do you justify spending 53BILLION on a stupid train system, imagine how many schools/teachers you can hire with that kind of money.

Although our train system sucks it's still functional, there are far better places to put that 53B. It made sense for china to build their modern high speed trains because their previous train system was order of magnitude worse to nonexistent, not to mention over there 1.3 billion people travel by train each year where as in the US it's mostly by cars and air.

At least invest it in the nation's crumbling powergrid/utilities instead, to handle the load of electric cars that are surely coming in the next decade.

What a fucking joke.

Washington (CNN) -- The Obama administration is proposing to spend $53 billion over the next six years to help promote the construction of a national high-speed, intercity passenger rail network, Vice President Joe Biden announced Tuesday.

The proposal represents a significant expansion of the $10.5 billion already spent on high-speed rail expansion since Obama entered office, including $8 billion in the 2009 economic stimulus package.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters potential funding sources for the plan will be outlined in the president's proposed budget, which is scheduled to be released next week.

President Barack Obama said in last month's State of the Union address that he was setting a goal of giving 80 percent of Americans access to high-speed rail within 25 years.


The proposed new investment -- including $8 billion in the upcoming fiscal year -- would accompany a streamlined application process for cities, states, and private companies seeking federal grants and loans to develop railway capacity.

"There are key places where we cannot afford to sacrifice as a nation -- one of which is infrastructure," Biden said in a written statement. There is a pressing need "to invest in a modern rail system that will help connect communities, reduce congestion and create quality, skilled manufacturing jobs that cannot be outsourced."

Biden, who commuted regularly by train between Washington and his home state of Delaware during a 36-year Senate tenure, has been a prominent advocate for railway travel and, more specifically, Amtrak.

A new high-speed rail investment, however, may face a cool reception in the new, more Republican Congress.

GOP leaders have called for more spending cuts in the wake of spiraling federal deficits.


Obama has also called for more fiscal responsibility, proposing in his State of the Union address a five-year freeze on non-security discretionary spending.
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i'm a huge fan of funding education and protecting our communities......but not funding the pensions which have almost bankrupted my state!

i think high speed rail is the way to go....and frankly should have started much earlier.
 
i hate when they do stupid projects and we really should learn to spend wiser. i do think this is a good idea if done right though. we need better public transportation. we need more solar projects. we need to break away from oil because it will only become more costly as other economies grow.
 
A high speed rail if anything like other countries would still cost as much to ride as a plane for the ticket. I remember when I needed a flight from Amsterdam to Paris and the Eurorail ticket was 94 euros. A plane ticket was also 94 euros. Basically Obama wants to build a rail system for people that are afraid to fly.

Of course, if the government knows something we dont...like oil is going to run out for sure in the next 15 years or something like that, then yeah...53 billion is a good investment.
 
Funny. The US has over 50,000 defective bridges like the one that collapsed a few years back in the midwest. But they need a high speed train to shuffle bureaucrats around in.

Go USA!
 
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