From the LVRJ: Two leading Republicans have urged the Obama administration to reject a $5.5 billion loan to build a high-speed rail between Las Vegas and Southern California, saying the deal is a bad gamble.
“The risks to the taxpayers from financing this project are untenable,” Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama wrote to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in a March 6 letter.
Ryan is chairman of the House Budget Committee, and Sessions is the ranking GOP member on the Senate Budget Committee. Their argument was based in part on a 70-page report, released in August by the libertarian Reason Foundation, critical of the project being advanced by XpressWest.
The Federal Railroad Administration has been evaluating an XpressWest application to finance most of the 185-mile rail line between Las Vegas and Victorville, Calif. The total cost of the project is $6.9 billion.
The Reason Foundation challenged XpressWest’s ridership and revenue projections, stating “there appears to be little or no prospect for the Victorville-to-Las Vegas train to generate sufficient fares and commercial revenues” to repay a federal loan. http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/government/republicans-request-denial-federal-xpresswest-loan
This choo-choo is one of the worst ideas to hit the valley in a long time. Considering Harry Reid supports the hell out of it (You got to think what Reid has at stake in this), you know this is bad policy.
It would be nice if the Nevada Republicans would take a stand against this stupid project.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment