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Republicans Still Bashing Train from Disneyland to Las Vegas Idea
In this image made from video, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal delivers from Baton Rouge, La. the Republican Party's official response to President Barack Obama's address to a joint session of Congress (AP Photo/APTN Pool)
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This is going to get old fast. In response to Barack Obama's big "State of the Union" like speech last night, the Republicans, via Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, had sharp criticisms of the President and stimulus bill including trying to reduce the MagLev train between Anaheim and Las Vegas to "bridge to nowhere" levels:
While some of the projects in the bill make sense, their legislation is larded with wasteful spending. It includes $300 million to buy new cars for the government, $8 billion for high-speed rail projects, such as a "magnetic levitation" line from Las Vegas to Disneyland, and $140 million for something called "volcano monitoring." Instead of monitoring volcanoes, what Congress should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington, D.C.
First of all, there's no guarantee that the project will get some funding. Secondly, Anaheim, Las Vegas and everything between on the proposed train route is not some playground for the SoCal and Sin City heathens--these are working cities with real people who need jobs and transit options. Speaking from a regional commuter train perspective, a trip from Anaheim or Palmdale to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles would be minutes compared to the hours it currently takes on the freeways today.
This isn't about party hopping between the two international tourist meccas (and what's so bad about good tourism anyway?). So please, stop using this fictitious and silly symbol to sell your point of view, it's weak.
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