“Nobody wants this boondoggle and if they try and shove it down our throats, they'll lose the power they so crave.”
One would think, but I have seen in person just the opposite. West of Houston, our State Senator Armbrister announced his retirement. The area is strong Republican, so the real and only race was in the Republican primary. Gary Gates ran on a very conservative, limited government platform, with a campaign mostly funded by himself [he has successful businesses]. His opponent was Glen Hegar, a very crafty politician who knows how to play the conservative game. Hegar received money and, more importantly, significant endorsements for a few main reasons, one of which is that Hegar would not oppose the highway plan, and Gary Gates campaigned strongly against it. At campaign stops, Gates would have large graphs and articles much like this one trying to educate the public. In the end, Hegar won. One day, Hegar will be a US Congressman.
Unfortunately, most of the public is not aware enough to see something like this. The current politicians who will benefit from supporting will be long gone before the average voter realizes that it will cost him $200 to visit relatives across the state—with the money going to a private monopoly!