Republican Govs. Blow Off Money for JobsWISCONSIN, OHIO REJECT FUNDS FOR HIGH-SPEED RAIL....
The United States has an infrastructure problem. We're currently "saddled with a rapidly decaying and woefully underfunded transportation system," which undermines our economy and weakens our position against global competitors.
A bipartisan investigation recently found that U.S. investment in preservation and development of transportation infrastructure "lags so far behind that of China, Russia and European nations that it will lead to 'a steady erosion of the social and economic foundations for American prosperity in the long run.'"__(my emphasis_JW)
The Obama administration has made infrastructure a priority. Some newly-elected Republican governors don't care.
Gov.-elect Scott Walker in Wisconsin and Gov.-elect John Kasich in Ohio campaigned on pledges to stop passenger-rail projects in their states. On Thursday, they got their wish.
http://blog.aflcio.org/2010/12/14/republican-govs-blow-off-money-for-jobs/
In two states where workers are desperate for jobs—Wisconsin, where the jobless rate is 9.4 percent, and Ohio, where it’s 9.9 percent—the incoming governors rejected $1.2 billion in federal funding for high-speed rail projects, which would have created tens of thousands of good jobs.
Republican Governors-elect Scott Walker (Wis.) and John Kasich (Ohio) have turned away hundreds of millions of dollars to build the rail lines and buy the made-in-America equipment because their states would have to share a few million dollars a year in operating costs. That’s like turning down a free car because you have to pay for gas.
Wisconsin State AFL-CIO President Phil Neuenfeldt said Walker’s rejection of the rail project is a clear indication that:
our elected leaders are putting political ideology above the needs of Wisconsin working families…15,000 family sustaining jobs were lost today, and the callous, short-sighted actions that cost our state so much will not soon be forgotten.
Says AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD) President Edward C. Wytkind:
We wonder if voters in Ohio and Wisconsin will feel buyers’ remorse when they learn that their governors want to kill 30,000 jobs.