Florida Gov. Scott Rejects Federal Funding for High-Speed Rail; Gets Sued!

[FrankRep]

http://thenewamerican.com/images/stories2011/11aFebruary/rick-scott.001.jpg
Gov. Rick Scott (R) (http://www.rickscottforflorida.com/), Florida Governor


Florida Gov. Rick Scott's response to rail lawsuit pending (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_florida_high_speed_rail%3B_ylt%3DAorOhFIhfbriAU _D3OhfaSKs0NUE%3B_ylu%3DX3oDMTN1aTRxMGg0BGFzc2V0A2 FwLzIwMTEwMzAyL3VzX2Zsb3JpZGFfaGlnaF9zcGVlZF9yYWls BGNjb2RlA21vc3Rwb3B1bGFyBGNwb3MDNQRwb3MDMgRwdANob2 1lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX2hlYWRsaW5lX2xpc3QEc2xrA2ZsYWdv dnNjb3R0cw-)


Associated Press
Mar 2, 2011



The Florida Supreme Court is awaiting a response from Gov. Rick Scott to a lawsuit challenging his refusal to accept $2.4 billion in federal money for a Tampa-Orlando high speed rail project.

The Republican governor has until noon Wednesday to reply to the bipartisan suit.

State Sens. Arthenia Joyner, a Democrat, and Thad Altman, a Republican, claim Florida law gives Scott no choice but to accept the stimulus funding.

Scott says he won't do it because Florida taxpayers may be stuck with billions in cost overruns and subsidies.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says a revised plan for local management of the project would absolve the state of liability. LaHood has given Scott has until Friday to accept the deal.


Related Articles:

2011: State Governors Take Lead in Rejecting President’s High-Speed Rail Plan (http://thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/politics/6391-state-governors-take-lead-in-rejecting-presidents-high-speed-rail-plan)

Florida's Rick Scott is the latest governor to reject President Obama's $53 billion high-speed rail boondoggle.

2011: Obama Administration Proposes $53 Billion for High-Speed Rail (http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/tech-mainmenu-30/energy/6320-obama-administration-proposes-53-billion-for-high-speed-rail)

On February 8 Vice President Joe Biden unveiled an Obama administration plan to spend $53 billion over the next six years to develop a high-speed passenger rail system that would link the nation’s larger cities. The proposed spending would be added to the $10.5 billion the administration has already spent on high-speed rail since Obama took office, including $8 billion poured into his 2009 “economic stimulus package.”

2011: Proposed California High-Speed Train Faces Criticism (http://thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/politics/6324-obamas-proposed-high-speed-rail-program-faces-criticism)

President Obama has proposed spending $8 billion for a bullet train program, which will serve as only a down payment for the $53 billion over the next six years.


2010: Federal Mass Transit a Big Flop (http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/economy/commentary-mainmenu-43/5068-federal-mass-transit-a-big-flop)

California, with 10.5 billion of federal help, wants to build an 800-mile high-speed rail system from Anaheim to San Francisco. The overall 13 corridor project could easily cost 200 billion. by Bruce Walker

2010: Amtrak and the Railroads (http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/history/american/3612-amtrak-and-the-railroads)

Amtrak and its lobbyists at the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) recently invited us to commemorate the third annual National Train Day on May 8. Supposedly celebrating “America’s love for trains,” the day could not boast a more ironic host than the railroad nobody rides. Worse, Amtrak’s sponsorship was as shameless as Dracula’s funding a fashion show concentrating on décolletage: The government that owns Amtrak has sabotaged, subsidized, and sucked the life from American railroads since the industry’s inception.

[newbitech]

ridiculous. what I am hearing here in Tampa on this is that many businesses want this, but they only want it if the taxpayer pays for it. much like the sports teams around here. people want it, but don't want to put up the money!

on the flip side, there is a large and growing vocal group who don't want their tax dollars spent on something they won't use. High Speed Rail doesn't work in a flat spread out state like Florida where public transportation fails due to the distance between travel points. It's just not cost effective to ferry people from point A to point B when point B is only a way point to points C-Z.

[american.swan]

They shouldn't build this. The only reasonable way to do it would be to build the train as a "cheaper" option to flying. Therefore it would have to be built to compete with airlines. The government won't do that and flying around the US isn't THAT expensive, so WHO would ever use it? If there are a few LONG routes where flying is too expensive and this train "could" compete it should be built there. LA to Seattle might be an expensive flight, so the high speed rail might be able to compete, I don't know. My gut feeling is the usa doesn't need any speed train.

[nobody's_hero]

The governor seems like he's looking at long-term costs.

People just don't get it. These things have to be maintained. Are people willing to commit their incomes to maintaining a railroad that loses money faster than Amtrak on a good day? Of course they aren't. But it doesn't phase them, because they just dump the costs off on the next generation.

[Elwar]

So far I like everything Rick Scott has done.

[angelatc]

IF there was any value to this, Disney would have done it already. A train from the beaches to their parks seems like an awesome idea, but they don't want people going to the beaches instead of their parks.

[s35wf]

I think scott is doing the right thing. Highspeed rail from OIA/orlando to disney, then tampa will be a failure. Not enough business for it from orlando to tampa.

Now if it was a course from orlando to miami that would be much more profitable & useful.

And as far as the "mouse" goes, tell them if they want a train from oia to their parks...extend their f*cking monorail & build the track themselves! The damn rat eats way tooo much cheese already and destroys all the little guys out there without the very large deep pockets!

[specsaregood]

The Florida Supreme Court is awaiting a response from Gov. Rick Scott to a lawsuit challenging his refusal to accept $2.4 billion in federal money for a Tampa-Orlando high speed rail project.
...
...
Scott says he won't do it because Florida taxpayers may be stuck with billions in cost overruns and subsidies.

Well I have a problem non-FL taxpayers paying being stuck with the initial cost. And as far as overruns, that is pretty much a sure thing.

[FrankRep]

Update:

Florida high-speed train project derailed; Court rules for Scott (http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/03/04/florida.high.speed.rail/index.html)

CNN
March 5, 2011



The Florida Supreme Court ruled Friday that Gov. Rick Scott can reject $2.4 billion in federal money that would have funded a proposed high-speed rail system in the state.

The governor had made clear that he would reject the money, but two state senators -- a Democrat and Republican -- took him to court over that decision. They argued that he would overstep his executive authority and violate Florida's constitution if he did not accept the money, but the state's high court disagreed.

The court decision clears the way for Scott's administration to focus on projects other than high-speed rail, the governor's spokesman, Brian Burgess said.

"The governor is gratified that the court provided a clear and unanimous decision," Burgess said. "He is now focused on moving forward with infrastructure projects that create long-term jobs and turn Florida's economy around."

[ronpaulisthetruthhere]

Yeah and we have to borrow money from china to build this high speed rail.

[KramerDSP]

So far I like everything Rick Scott has done.

I don't like Rick Scott, but I can agree with him on this one.

[RPIdeaMan08]

as long as it's mostly federal money it's fine to do, but I live in Orlando and would use it to get to work.