Obama to Announce $8 Billion High-Speed Rail Plan After State of the Union Speech
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
By Julie Pace, Associated Press
Washington (AP) - A day after delivering a State of the Union address aimed at showing recession-weary Americans he understands their struggles, President Barack Obama intends to award $8 billion in stimulus funds to develop high-speed rail corridors and sell the program as a jobs creator.
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden plan to announce grants for 13 major corridors during a town hall meeting in Tampa, Fla., Thursday, the president's first public appearance following his speech to the nation. It's an attempt by the White House to show that getting Americans back to work is the president's top priority and that he has a plan for how to do it.
The president's visit to the region means Florida's proposal for a high-speed line connecting Orlando and Tampa is likely to receive funding. California's proposal for an 800-mile-long rail line from Sacramento to San Diego and a nine-state proposal in the Midwest are also considered strong contenders.
The $8 billion in funding for high-speed trains and other passenger rail projects is part of the $787 billion recovery act. Besides the 13 corridors receiving grants, a White House official said several smaller awards will be made for improvements to existing rail lines. Overall, 31 states will receive funds.
The official said the projects are expected to create or save tens of thousands of jobs in areas like track-laying, manufacturing, planning and engineering, though there is no time frame for how long it will take for those jobs to develop. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak ahead of the president's announcement.
Though the White House is quick to point out that the economy is no longer on the brink of a depression, as it was when Obama took office, stemming the free fall hasn't translated into job growth. The unemployment rate has hovered near 10 percent for several months, while Obama's approval ratings have dropped.
Getting Americans back to work is a theme that is expected to play prominently in Obama's State of the Union address. He's expected to talk in the speech about recovery act projects that will be getting started in the coming weeks and months, though the high-speed rail awards won't be announced until Thursday's event.
It's common practice for presidents to head out of the nation's capital following the State of the Union to reinforce their message. In Obama's first post-speech stop in Florida, he'll face a populace where more people disapprove of his performance than approve -- 49 percent to 45 percent, according to a new Quinnipiac poll, the first time the numbers there have shifted in that direction since Obama's election.
Even experts who favor high-speed rail question whether the awards Obama will announce Thursday can turn into the job generators the administration is hoping for. Because the U.S. has never had the kind of bullet trains found in Europe and Asia, there are no U.S. engineering companies or manufacturers with experience in high-speed rail.
Anthony Perl, who heads the National Research Council's panel on intercity passenger rails, said that means much of the technology will have to be purchased abroad.
At a rail manufacturing conference last year, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said more than 30 foreign and domestic companies have promised to establish or expand operations in the United States if they are chosen to build high-speed lines.
Still, high-speed rail experts say that if the administration spreads the $8 billion among more than a handful of projects, none of the projects will get enough money to get up and running.
"If they want this money to have an impact they are going to have to give a lot to a few states," said lobbyist Tim Gillespie, who represents two large French rail companies.
Methinks that if having high speed rail were a salable proposition in this country then there would already be one. Look at Amtrak, it's heavily subsidized by the feds, yet it's never made a profit. Where are the thousands of miles of track that used to exist in this country prior to the 1950s? Oh yeah, the trains that used them couldn't compete with cars and trucks, so they all but became extinct, and the few corridors that remain are subsidized by the feds even though they're privately owned. And where will His Majesty find land to build these magical tracks on? Some eminent domain sleight of hand perhaps? That's the only way I can think of that could procure the needed miles of land at least cost, and it's happened before back in the early days of the rail barons. While we're pondering this concept, exactly who will benefit from this scheme? Urban areas don't have the room for anything but the railhead stations, and no need for the service since they already have multiple sources of transit. So who will be using these trains that won't be able to get you from place to place nearly as fast as an airliner? Bear in mind that trains just can't compete with planes in long distance travel. A quick search of Expedia netted me a flight from Indianapolis to LA for $236 round trip and take 5 hours at 400 MPH, the train at $.35 per mile would cost $726 and take 14 hours at 140 MPH. It might beat my car to Point B, but my car could damn well do it much cheaper. I'm also inclined to think that developing a high speed rail system will require substantially more funding than a paltry $8B, here's an estimate: http://http://www.infrastructurist.c...k-like-spains/
Exactly, I see another Gov. Cash Cow in the makings, when are they going to learn that the gobberment needs to stay the heck out of the private sector!
You can have an underwear bomber in a train just as easily in a plane, and with miles and miles of track he would not even have to put it in his underwear to be the most effective. I can't say that such a disaster would scare people away from taking the train, because even after 8 billion is spent I don't see too many people wanting to take the train in the first place.
Why does Obama think people want him to be their employer when any assistant manager at a 7/11 knows more about business than he does?
C. Davis
__________________ Am I greedy because I don't want to give you what is mine?
or
Are you greedy because you want to take what is not yours?
$ 8 Billion for High-Speed rail.
