{"id":1140,"date":"2010-10-28T11:57:51","date_gmt":"2010-10-28T15:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/?p=1140"},"modified":"2012-01-24T12:15:42","modified_gmt":"2012-01-24T17:15:42","slug":"profiles-from-the-recession-report-rail-politics-the-choice-%e2%80%94-build-or-save-our-way-out-of-recession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-program\/blueprint-america-by-program-reports\/profiles-from-the-recession-report-rail-politics-the-choice-%e2%80%94-build-or-save-our-way-out-of-recession\/1140\/","title":{"rendered":"[REPORT] Rail Politics: The choice \u2014 build or save our way out of Recession"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tom McNamara, Blueprint America<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After making headlines for weeks, yesterday New Jersey Governor Chris Christie made it official: He’s killing<\/a> the commuter rail tunnel between Manhattan and New Jersey<\/a>. The project is too expensive, he says, and his state doesn’t have the money to cover its share of the costs. The demise of the largest public works project in decades illustrates the stark political choice many voters will make next week: either spend our way out of the recession with big projects like high-speed trains and tunnels or save our way out with good old fashioned belt-tightening.<\/p>\n

Christie made his choice clear last week<\/a> with a childhood story: \u201cIn our house, when I used to go to my mother and say, \u2018I\u2019d like something new, I\u2019d like to buy something.’ My mother would look at me and say, \u2018Well, of course, Christopher, you can have that, just go in the back yard and take the money off the money tree. You know where that is, right?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The New Jersey governor is only in his first year of office and not up for reelection, yet he has been crisscrossing the country this election season endorsing Republican candidates and preaching his wildly popular brand of fiscal conservatism.<\/p>\n

In closing the story of Christopher and the money tree, he made a connection to the unchecked spending he sees today: \u201cThere is no money tree in Washington, D.C. … To me it is a moral imperative to say no to these things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does Chris Christie have his finger on the country’s pulse?<\/p>\n

Nearly two years after an economic stimulus steeped in infrastructure building promises<\/a> and $787 billion in government spending, Americans by and large have had enough. In a September 2010 Rassmusen poll<\/a>, 61 percent of U.S. voters said cutting government spending and deficits would do more to create jobs than President Obama\u2019s call last month for $50 billion more in infrastructure spending<\/a>, what\u2019s being dubbed”stimulus part two.”<\/p>\n

And while Christie isn\u2019t the first politician to take a stand against Washington, he certainly turned down<\/a> an awful lot of money: $6 billion in combined federal, regional and stimulus funds for a new and needed<\/a> (even Christie thought it was a good idea) commuter rail tunnel. In fact, for saying no, New Jersey could owe the feds some $600 million it has already spent on the project.<\/p>\n

\"NJ<\/a>

NJ Governor Chris Christie holds a Town Hall Meeting on his Reform Agenda for the state in Moorestown, NJ. Photo: NJ Governor's Office\/Tim Larsen<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s not every day a governor turns down billions in infrastructure spending. It was estimated that the project would have created 6,000 new jobs, greatly lessened commute times and increased property values for state residents. But that isn’t exactly the deal Christie walked away from. The tunnel would have left the same residents on the hook for $6 billion in projected cost overruns on top of the $3 billion the state was already obligated to pay.<\/p>\n

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, a former Republican Congressman, took an impromptu trip<\/a> to the New Jersey capitol last week to convince Christie to change his mind. But, in the end, the feds were unable to calm the governor\u2019s fears that cost overruns would trash New Jersey’s budget. Later, the DOT chief only had this to say by way of Twitter<\/a>, \u201cIs it just me, or is it hard to argue against writing the next chapter in American innovation?\u201d<\/p>\n

No train
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Apparently, it is getting easier to argue against the next chapter of American innovation, especially if it’s being proposed by the Obama administration. If elected, Republican gubernatorial candidates from Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida and California are promising to say \u201cno\u201d to federal dollars for high-speed rail. Being against massive government investment in high-speed rail isn’t hurting their chances either. The anti-rail candidates are in command in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Florida; and California is a tossup. And it\u2019s no coincidence that Christie has campaigned in all of these states.<\/p>\n

High-speed rail is one of President Obama\u2019s signature initiatives. In his State of the Union address this year, the president backed up his national rail vision by announcing that $8 billion in stimulus money would be distributed to various states, including Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida and California, to get the country\u2019s next generation of transportation moving.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bottom line is that high-speed rail is a national program that will connect the country, spur economic development and bring manufacturing jobs to the U.S.,\u201d said Secretary LaHood in a statement. \u201cIt will also transform transportation in America, much like the Interstate highway system did under President Eisenhower. It\u2019s hard to imagine what would have happened to states like Ohio and Wisconsin if their leaders had decided they didn\u2019t want to be connected to the rest of the country back then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wisconsin<\/strong><\/p>\n

More than $810 million in federal stimulus money is going to build a high-speed train line between Milwaukee and Madison. Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker has made that issue central to his campaign, even holding a \u201cStop the Train<\/a>\u201d rally over the summer. Walker argues that taking the money will forever obligate the state to spend $7 million to $10 million a year. High-speed rail will not be self-supporting, he says. His website, NoTrain.com<\/a>, runs an advertisement in which he calls the rail project a boondoggle. \u201cI\u2019m Scott Walker,\u201d he says in the video, \u201cand if I\u2019m elected as your next governor, we\u2019ll stop this train.\u201d
\n<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

Ohio<\/strong><\/p>\n

Republican candidate for governor John Kasich has promised to kill a $400 million federal stimulus project to connect Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati by high-speed rail. In a recent debate<\/a>, Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat seeking re-election, was dumbfounded his opponent would return that much money, \u201cYour position, quite frankly, really puzzles me,\u201d Strickland said.
\n<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

Florida<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rick Scott, the Republican candidate for governor, has flip-flopped on the high-speed rail line from Orlando to Tampa. In a CNN debate<\/a> Monday night, Scott said he\u2019d pull the plug on the project if the state had to pay for any portion. The next day, Scott softened, \u201cI would go through first and wait until we can see the feasibility study and see what it’s going to cost taxpayers. Then I would make the decision,\u201d he said.
\n<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

All told, after an initial $1.25 billion in stimulus earlier this year and another $800 million just this week from the feds, Florida only has to pay for 20 percent of the project.<\/p>\n

California<\/strong><\/p>\n

After an investment of $2.3 billion in federal stimulus, Republican candidate for governor Meg Whitman has maintained that the time for the $45 billion high-speed rail plan, connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles, is not now. \u201cIn the face of the state\u2019s current fiscal crisis, Meg doesn\u2019t believe we can afford the costs associated with new high-speed rail at this time,\u201d said Tucker Bounds, a campaign spokesman, to The New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, as the California High Speed Rail Blog<\/a> points out, the costs for the project are not associated with the state’s budget, and any delays could only jeopardize the stimulus money.<\/p>\n

And just this week, the feds announced that another $902 million is on the way for high speed rail development in the state.<\/p>\n

A 21st<\/span> 20th century infrastructure
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

It remains to be seen how much power fiscal conservatives will have in saying \u201cno\u201d to high-speed rail and other big infrastructure investments. These deficit hawks, demanding to know where Chris Christie’s proverbial money tree is, could stand in the way of the Obama administration’s goal<\/a> of bringing America’s infrastructure into the 21st century.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tom McNamara, Blueprint America After making headlines for weeks, yesterday New Jersey Governor Chris Christie made it official: He’s killing the commuter rail tunnel between Manhattan and New Jersey. The project is too expensive, he says, and his state doesn’t have the money to cover its share of the costs. The demise of the largest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3749,3757,7085],"tags":[8889,8890,2712,5762,8728],"class_list":["post-1140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blueprint-america-by-program-reports","category-economy-by-topic-reports","category-web-only-features","tag-2010-election-politics","tag-chris-christie","tag-high-speed-rail","tag-new-jersey","tag-transportation-desk"],"yoast_head":"\nProfiles from the recession ~ [REPORT] Rail Politics: The choice \u2014 build or save our way out of Recession | Blueprint America | PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Profiles from the recession ~ [REPORT] Rail Politics: The choice \u2014 build or save our way out of Recession | Blueprint America | PBS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tom McNamara, Blueprint America After making headlines for weeks, yesterday New Jersey Governor Chris Christie made it official: He’s killing the commuter rail tunnel between Manhattan and New Jersey. 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