Obama Administration Has Short Term Memory - Tampa-Orlando High Speed Rail?
It seems that so many people applauded the Obama Administration for what I would call a pilot project to build high-speed rail in the United States.
The first major project slated to be completed would be a rather simple one; building a high-speed rail track from Tampa to Orlando.
It's a very short distance for a high-speed rail, and it would need very easy to build because it's quite flat.
They could even run it right down the center of the freeway without too much trouble.
However, it seems that the Obama administration either doesn't know, or seems to have a short-term memory.
If you will recall, the Desalination Plant in Tampa Bay was a complete fiasco.
The project went bankrupt twice, environmentalists made it almost impossible to complete, and it was way over budget when it was completed.
Worse, the plant is far too small to do much good.
It would need to be almost 10 times larger to even make a dent in the water needs of Tampa Bay area.
Of course, that's quite typical in what happens when government tries to micromanage and modernize infrastructure projects.
The reality is they are very good at it, and by the time you throw in the environmentalists, and all their lawsuits challenging every single line in the EIR or environmental impact report you can see why there were so many cost overruns.
Likewise, it ought to be noted that Jeb Bush decided that putting in high-speed rail from Miami to Orlando and from Orlando to Jacksonville.
With another line going from Tallahassee the state Capitol down to Tampa to Orlando was pulled out of the budget because the state of Florida could not afford it.
Likewise, they were very worried that it would become a terrorist target, which is probably correct.
In looking at the high-speed rail project, which was part of the stimulus package, it probably won't ever get built, or completed, and if it gets started, and it is forced to completion, it's going to cost taxpayers a huge amount of money.
And even when it's completed it only goes such a short distance, it really doesn't make sense anyway.
Now then, I am all for modernizing the United States of America and bringing us into the 21st century, however I just wish we had politicians that would do it right, and get the right advice, and the right advisors to actually make it happen.
And to do something that was meaningful.
Please consider all this.
The first major project slated to be completed would be a rather simple one; building a high-speed rail track from Tampa to Orlando.
It's a very short distance for a high-speed rail, and it would need very easy to build because it's quite flat.
They could even run it right down the center of the freeway without too much trouble.
However, it seems that the Obama administration either doesn't know, or seems to have a short-term memory.
If you will recall, the Desalination Plant in Tampa Bay was a complete fiasco.
The project went bankrupt twice, environmentalists made it almost impossible to complete, and it was way over budget when it was completed.
Worse, the plant is far too small to do much good.
It would need to be almost 10 times larger to even make a dent in the water needs of Tampa Bay area.
Of course, that's quite typical in what happens when government tries to micromanage and modernize infrastructure projects.
The reality is they are very good at it, and by the time you throw in the environmentalists, and all their lawsuits challenging every single line in the EIR or environmental impact report you can see why there were so many cost overruns.
Likewise, it ought to be noted that Jeb Bush decided that putting in high-speed rail from Miami to Orlando and from Orlando to Jacksonville.
With another line going from Tallahassee the state Capitol down to Tampa to Orlando was pulled out of the budget because the state of Florida could not afford it.
Likewise, they were very worried that it would become a terrorist target, which is probably correct.
In looking at the high-speed rail project, which was part of the stimulus package, it probably won't ever get built, or completed, and if it gets started, and it is forced to completion, it's going to cost taxpayers a huge amount of money.
And even when it's completed it only goes such a short distance, it really doesn't make sense anyway.
Now then, I am all for modernizing the United States of America and bringing us into the 21st century, however I just wish we had politicians that would do it right, and get the right advice, and the right advisors to actually make it happen.
And to do something that was meaningful.
Please consider all this.