Friday, February 12, 2010

Walker Boards The Crazy Train

Scott Walker, apparently feeling the heat from a recent poll that shows him in a virtual dead heat with Tom Barrett, has decided it was time for him to do some political grandstanding again.

This time his chosen target was the high speed rail that will be coming to Wisconsin, thanks to a large sum of money coming from the federal government.

Walker's advisers must be sleeping on the job if they thing this is going to be a winning topic for him.

Walker does not have a good history of consistency when it comes to taking money from the federal government. He tried to do the same sort of grandstanding with federal stimulus dollars, until the County Board firmly pointed out that he didn't know what he was talking about and was able to get some money for the County, which is going to good uses. Of course, after griping how bad the stimulus dollars were, he took full credit for it in his latest State of the Campaign speech. Walker's flip-flopped on this issue alone so many times, I don't think that even he knows where he stands on the issue anymore.

Walker also ended up getting derailed when Mayor (soon to be Governor) Tom Barrett outwitted and outmaneuvered Walker regarding the federal transit money that was languishing for 17 years.

Walker uses the same tired, old arguments that have been proved to be false allegations time and time again:
  • The train's not faster than driving (Well, yes, yes it is. But it doesn't surprise me that Walker might not know that, since its been year since he's driven himself anywhere.)
  • There won't be enough riders (Even though ridership on the Milwaukee-Chicago line is up again)
  • That it will cost too much (What? Highways are now paid for in pixie dust? I am sure this part has to do with campaign donations from the road builders.)
Apparently, Walker's bright idea on how to fix the transit problem is to have his rapid bus transit system go all over the state. He is not off to an auspicious start though, since his first attempt at that is tens of millions of dollars for a rapid bus that goes to an empty field.

Walker simply does not understand the importance of a good transit system has for businesses or the economy, period. Not only that, but Walker has a history of not having a firm grasp on the concept of economic development either.

Whether Walker has boarded the crazy train or is just that clueless is anyone's guess. But whatever train Walker and his team is riding on, it has surely jumped the tracks on this issue.

4 comments:

  1. I will admit that I agree with you that Walker needs to change his tune regarding transit. He needs to look beyond the bus system and start looking at other options. However, I think he's right to oppose this high speed rail line, at least until we get some more answers. First of all, is this going to be an extension of Amtrak's Hiawatha line that runs from Chicago to Milwaukee, or is it going to be a completely different train? If people are going to have to change trains in Milwaukee to get to Madison, then just scrap the whole idea, because it's not going to work. Second, if this gets extended all the way to Minneapolis, where are the stops going to be, and will it really be faster and better than driving?

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  2. Maybe Scotty should worry about the things he's accountable for in his current taxpayer-funded job instead of trying to teabag his way to success through idiotic symbolism.

    http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/84247542.html

    Funny how things go down the drain when you're negligent and destroy morale, isn't it? It's sorta like infrastructure, except with people.

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  3. Oh, don't worry Jake. You know I damn well aren't going to let that one pass.

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  4. Coop!

    Welcome, sir!

    I agree that those answers need to be known, but to just come out and oppose something without knowing the answers is mere political grandstanding, and showing that he does not have a firm grasp of the issues.

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