GOP wants to rescind HSR money already allocated!

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Recission Act has been introduced as a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to rescind $12 billion allocated under the stimulus law (formally the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) but not yet spent. This includes any and all money for high-speed (California and Florida) and "higher-speed" (everyone else who got money) passenger rail projects that hasn't already been spent or contractually committed by Amtrak or the states.

The 27 co-sponsors are all Republicans, and key sponsors include Jerry Lewis and Charlie Kevin McCarthy of California. I don't know whether to laugh or weep. :angry2: Apparently, the "ideology is more important than bringing public works projects to my own state" disease is spreading from Wisconsin and Ohio. And yes, I know this thing won't pass both the Senate and the White House veto pen, but its a concrete sign of how politicized the issue of rail has become. The days of "there's no Republican or Democratic way to build a sewer line" are gone. hboy:

I wasn't aware of the fact that the economy had recovered sufficiently to no longer need the stimulus!

No way in hell the President signs it.

Just announced: Salaries frozen for Federal Employees for TWO YEARS!!We waste more in a weeki in the two worthless Republican wars overseas than this will save in two years! Sounds like they are all running scared after the tidal wave election, Me too! doesnt get democrats elected! President Obamam sounds more like Bill Clinton everyday, the best Republican president ever! Let them walk or sit in gridlocked traffic seems to be the republican mantra! :wacko:

John Bredin said:

And yes, I know this thing won't pass both the Senate and the White House veto pen, but its a concrete sign of how politicized the issue of rail has become. The days of "there's no Republican or Democratic way to build a sewer line" are gone. hboy:

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Don't underestimate their power to "not fund" it in any of the constant federal budget revisions. That doesn't require a bill to be passed.

The original Act remains technically enforced, but when everyone realizes that a check will never be issued, they tend to not do any of the work.

jim hudson said:

President Obamam sounds more like Bill Clinton everyday,...

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Wow, let's all pray it is true.

Bill Clinton managed what no recent Republican President (including Reagan, Bush, and little Bush) has yet achieved. Not only a balanced budget, but a $236.4 Billion budget surplus! :wub:

FY2000 seems so long ago.

You won't have high/higher speed rail so long as either major party is against it. The more the Democrats try to fund improved passenger rail the more the GOP moves to block and reverse it. I believe this is the primary issue governing Amtrak's future, despite all the diversionary talk about insignificant minutia that we usually debate on here.

Ryan said:

I wasn't aware of the fact that the economy had recovered sufficiently to no longer need the stimulus!

No way in hell the President signs it.

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Many (including most Republicans and even some "blue dog" Democrats) believe the stimulus has done more to harm the economy than to help it. If they can convince Pres. Obama that that is the case, and that his (and their own) chances of re-election in '12 depend on them voting for severe budget cuts, including rescinding spending on the stimulus, high-speed rail, etc., the conservative views may well prevail.

DET63 said:

Ryan said:

I wasn't aware of the fact that the economy had recovered sufficiently to no longer need the stimulus!

No way in hell the President signs it.

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Many (including most Republicans and even some "blue dog" Democrats) believe the stimulus has done more to harm the economy than to help it. If they can convince Pres. Obama that that is the case, and that his (and their own) chances of re-election in '12 depend on them voting for severe budget cuts, including rescinding spending on the stimulus, high-speed rail, etc., the conservative views may well prevail.

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Most of the spending cannot be rescinded, it's already either been spent or at least released to the states. Pulling the funding now would leave states essentially like NJ is right now, with a hole in the ground that can't be used.

Now perhaps they could get the $1.2 Billion from Ohio & Wisconsin undone and pushed into debt reduction, but that's not even going to make the slightest dent in the $13+ Trillion deficit. Even worse, we'll spend several million just in expenses on Capitol Hill and at the White House undoing that funding.

Its almost sad to see the pro-rail people in Ohio being broken by Kasich, his hard and fast stance on the issue threatens to crush any opposition before it becomes an issue in his office. They're basically pleading with him to use it in any way, whether its donating it to local transit or letting NS and CSX upgrade the line any way with or without Amtrak.

The stance of the people in Wisconsin and Ohio has to match that of their bull-headed leaders. No compromise.

That's the fault of the people who voted for him. If we keep electing people who are anti-rail we will never get anywhere.

Its not their fault. The issue wasn't his stance on rail, Kasich would have gotten elected regardless of his stance on the damn train. There are many people who voted for him for other reasons (reasons I can't fathom) but are asking him to reconsider the train. I believe there was a petition going around for awhile, "GOP for 3C" or something.

It didn't phase him.

ALC_Rail_Writer said:

Its not their fault.

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Whose fault is it?

DET63 said:

Ryan said:

I wasn't aware of the fact that the economy had recovered sufficiently to no longer need the stimulus!

No way in hell the President signs it.

Click to expand...

Many (including most Republicans and even some "blue dog" Democrats) believe the stimulus has done more to harm the economy than to help it. If they can convince Pres. Obama that that is the case, and that his (and their own) chances of re-election in '12 depend on them voting for severe budget cuts, including rescinding spending on the stimulus, high-speed rail, etc., the conservative views may well prevail.

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Those people have no basis in reality and no clue what they're talking about.

Ryan said:

DET63 said:

Many (including most Republicans and even some "blue dog" Democrats) believe the stimulus has done more to harm the economy than to help it.

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Those people have no basis in reality and no clue what they're talking about.

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I'm not sure there's any way to really know what a politician truly believes. When it came to the stimulus the one takeaway I had was that I really don't understand how our financial system works anymore (or doesn't work). Was the stimulus necessary? Was it a success? A majority of economists seem to think so. But without a control to compare it with I'm not sure how to prove them right or wrong. At the very least I wouldn't put much if any faith in what a career politician has to say about it. None of what they've said so far has sounded very convincing to me (either way). I'm extremely disappointed with how both of the last two administrations have acted but I still thank my lucky stars the crazy old flip-flopper and the delusional half-governor weren't able to win election to the highest office in the world.

daxomni said:

ALC_Rail_Writer said:

Its not their fault.

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Whose fault is it?

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You can't "fault" anybody in a political race. If you want to blame the people of Ohio that's fine, but many Ohioans didn't vote for him and *shock and awe* the majority didn't vote at all!

It's funny when we talk about "the people" it is an abstract concept. Don't treat it like a concrete until it is one. You can blame "the people that voted for John Kasich for reasons pertaining to the 3C corridor" or even better "the person who gave John Kasich the idea that being bull-headed on this issue was a good thing" (who is likely John Kasich himself, but we'll never know), in either case you still can't bring that person to me to assess blame.

You're using your God given right to futility.