Wisconsin Advances High-Speed Rail Plan .

[Joanne98]

Source: WSJ

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle's administration quietly signed a deal with the federal government over the weekend committing the state to spending the full $810 million in federal money granted for a high-speed passenger-rail line between Milwaukee and Madison.

The agreement could make it more difficult for Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, the Republican candidate for governor, to stop construction of the rail line if he is elected. Mr. Walker made the train a key issue in his campaign, even setting up a website, NoTrain.com, dedicated to the issue. In polls, Mr. Walker has been leading his opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, a Democrat who supports the high-speed rail line.

Jill Bader, a spokeswoman for Mr. Walker, criticized the weekend move as "a quiet, secret deal in the middle of the night." The Wisconsin transportation department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

If he wins the governor's race Tuesday, Mr. Walker won't be able to automatically redirect the federal stimulus funds earmarked for the train. He would have to persuade Congress to let him use the money for something else—he would prefer to spend it on repairing roads and bridges—or the state would have to return the grants. Putting more money under contract makes it more expensive for Wisconsin to renege on the project.



Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704462704575590550329340266.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[PeaceNikki]

1. The teabaggers are in full on freak the fuck out mode over this.

So... we have that going for us.

[madrchsod]

4. that means there will be more room on the trains for normal people!

[PeaceNikki]

5. lol

And here I thought Rebecca Kleefisch was gonna drive us all around in her minivan negating the need for it.

[Owl]

2. Glad to hear!

[midnight]

3. Crap for the state to be so worried that we will not be able to keep the Gov.

mansion, but Great job to Gov. Doyle who has had to work under the contraints of these uncertain times. Thank you Gov. Doyle....

[CLANG]

6. Looks like a win win for Wisconsinites!

If Barrett wins, we get high speed rail, If Walker wins we get our roads and bridges fixed. They would have had to fix them anyway so we just take the money we would have spent on roads and bridges and spend it on high speed rail!