As Wisconsin's new Governor-elect works to pull the coffin-lid shut on Wisconsin's middle class and fully enable corporate socialism, here's another excellent reality-based post by James Rowen on the importance of Wisconsin's participation in regional and national economic development:
Lost in the rhetoric and misstatements about the Madison-Milwaukee train is that it is a segment of a network of trains connecting Chicago and the Twin Cities, and eventually a portion of a truly national rail system.
It makes no sense to excise Wisconsin from the line. Check out this map of the Midwest plan, and remember that it will connect to routes service other regions, too.
It will make the state an inaccessible economic backwater.
Short-to-medium length trips are not always available by air; often airports are distant from central business districts or other job centers, and last-minute air travel can be pricey.
And many people - - the elderly, the young - - do not drive, do not own a car or have access to one. Rail opponents, often suburbanites, need to realize that not everyone has a minivan.
The rail system is intended to fill in these gaps, providing connections among businesses, universities and tourist destinations not easily served by aviation.
Trains also offer a working environment not replicable inside a car.
Modern trains are fast, wi-fi-equipped, comfortable and imminently practical.
A new national rail network makes an infrastructure investment that fills a need, puts people to work and was to be made available in Wisconsin at no construction cost, and an annual operating charge statewide of about $60,000 a month. A bargain, as I said a few days ago.
As the scribe Wisconsin State Journal philosopher scribe used to say, "What could be more fairer?"
Read the rest at: The Political Environment: High-Speed Rail Is A National Economic Development Plan
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