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ABOUT THAT "DISNEYLAND" TRAIN.
Pro-Publica confirms: Jindal's scaremongering about high-speed rail from Las Vegas to "Disneyland" has nothing to do with what is actually in the stimulus bill:
The $8 billion is for high-speed rail corridors that would connect far-flung cities. Suspicion has swirled around this provision after funding was dramatically increased from the original House and Senate bills during final negotiations. Republicans have targeted Sen. Harry Reid, R-Nev., who was in those negotiations and has advocated in the past for a high-speed rail between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The train isn't in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, but it could be one of several projects seeking a piece of the pie. Even so $8 billion isn't enough to pay for even a single bullet train, according to The New York Times.
By the way, a train from Vegas to L.A. is actually a great idea. Think of all the DUIs it would cut back on!
--Dana Goldstein
COMMENTS (7)
"The $140 million goes to the U.S. Geological Survey for a series of construction and repair projects that includes "steam gages and seismic and volcano monitoring systems,"
Volcanoes, are those still around:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7900775.stm.
Do we need another chapter in someone's cryptic coffee table book entitled
No one could have predicted....
Posted by: red | February 25, 2009 12:29 PM
All reasonable observers must agree that -- cost issues aside -- the idea that there could be a magnetically levitating train from Disneyland to the Las Vegas Strip is TOTALLY AWESOME.
Posted by: alkali | February 25, 2009 12:42 PM
Think of all the DUIs it would cut back on!
I heard the plot of (Railway) Cars 2 is about the economic deprivation caused by small towns not getting any revenue from speeding passers-by.
Posted by: ndm | February 25, 2009 1:07 PM
I've always been baffled as to why conservatives are against everything HSR. It seems to be more than just spending.
Posted by: Daniel | February 25, 2009 1:39 PM
Dan, i think it's because it becomes harder to deny technological advances and the aura of scientific discoveries that run counter to the teachings of jesus or joe when there's a bullet train running near the compound or other rural areas.
Posted by: red | February 25, 2009 1:48 PM
I am all for it. If I could jump between Disneyland and Vegas quickly it would kill 2 vacation birds with 1 stone.
Posted by: Disney Links | February 25, 2009 5:50 PM
I've been on that freeway when it was bumper-to-bumper, stop-and-go traffic from Las Vegas to Barstow (where I got off) and beyond. Six hours later, traffic was still backed up at Barstow. That train's long overdue.
Posted by: terry in AZ | February 25, 2009 11:54 PM