Free Republic

Gov. Rick Scott is sticking to his position on high-speed rail and has rejected a plan for a coalition of local governments to take over responsibility. "I remain convinced that the construction cost overruns, the operating costs risk, the risk that we would give the money back if it's ever shut down, is too much for the taxpayers of the state," Scott told the Times/Herald. There was virtually no chance Scott would budge from a week ago, when he rejected $2.4 billion in federal stimulus funding for the Orlando-Tampa line. The decision brought howls of protest by longtime backers of...

In a nod to tea party power, Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos reversed course on a majority of state senators and his own voting record Friday by saying he supports Gov. Rick Scott's decision to refuse $2.4 billion in federal high-speed rail money. "Florida is leading by example in keeping its fiscal house in order. We must demand the same from Washington," Haridopolos, who voted for high-speed rail in December 2009, said in a letter. [snip] Haridopolos' new stance was widely interpreted in the state Capitol as an election-season play for votes in his bid for U.S. Senate — a...

Perhaps nothing so illustrates President Obama’s occasional disconnect with reality than his fervent advocacy of high-speed rail. Amid mounting pressure for budget cuts that affect existing programs, including those for the inner city, the president has made his $53 billion proposal to create a national high-speed rail network as among his top priorities.

Gov. Rick Scott has turned down more than $2 billion in federal money for a high-speed rail project that would link Tampa and Orlando. "The truth is that this project would be far too costly to taxpayers and I believe the risk far outweighs the benefits,'' Scott said this morning in a release announcing his decision to turn down the rail money. Scott said he weighed three main points in deciding to turn down the money:

Hailed as a high-speed road to the future, a jobs program and a symbol of America's dedication to innovation, President Obama proposed Monday spending $8 billion on a bullet train -- a down payment on a nationwide network that will cost $58 billion over the next six years. But in the one state where the federal high-speed rail project is underway, critics say money is being misspent, ridership studies are inflated, the route is politically corrupted and the system will never be self supporting. "They don't know where they're going to build it, they don't have a mile of right...