Definitely not the statement the governor wanted to make:
Governor Doyle Statement on High Speed Rail
MADISON – Governor Jim Doyle today issued the following statement:
“Secretary LaHood today advised me that because of Governor-elect Walker’s adamant opposition to
the rail project, the $810 million awarded to Wisconsin will now be allocated to other states.
“This is a tragic moment for the State of Wisconsin. Our team worked hard to win a national competition to make us a leader in high speed passenger rail. We were positioned to be not only a center of the line, but to be a manufacturing center as well. Now we are moving from being the leader, to the back of the line.
“Eight hundred and ten million dollars that would have gone to create thousands of jobs in Wisconsin will now create jobs in other states. Bogus arguments that this money can be used for roads have been proven false. As Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota continue to work on the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative, the connection of Chicago to Minneapolis will avoid Wisconsin. Milwaukee, Madison, La Crosse, Eau Claire and other Wisconsin communities will lose the benefit of those connections. Together with many others I have worked hard to move Wisconsin into the future. I obviously am deeply saddened to see us take a major step backward.”
And here's Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner's reaction:
It is to the Wisconsin taxpayers’ benefit that they will no longer be required to pick-up the additional tab for a high-speed train that the majority of residents will never ride. However, with our nation facing a nearly $14 trillion debt, it is an absolute mistake for the federal government to redistribute $808 million from Wisconsin to other states, instead of returning that money to the U.S. Treasury Department and using it to help pay down our deficit, as I’ve called for in legislation I introduced in Congress.
From Robert Kraig, executive director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin:
Wisconsin High Speed Rail on Brink of Disaster
Walker’s Actions Will Cost Wisconsin Thousands of Family Sustaining Jobs
Milwaukee: The U.S. Department of Transportation has decided to pull high speed train money from Wisconsin and Ohio.
“This is a devastating blow to Wisconsin’s economic recovery,” said Robert Kraig, Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “Scott Walker’s actions amount to economic treason. He is literally giving away thousands of family sustaining jobs to other states in the middle of the worst jobs crisis Wisconsin has faced in decades.”
“This is also a devastating blow to the re-development of Milwaukee’s north side,” continued Kraig. “The Talgo high speed train plant is the leading edge of re-development of a blighted industrial area that once provided 8,000 family supporting jobs. It is appalling that this economic hope is being snatched away from Milwaukee,” Kraig concluded.
