White House To Rick Scott: We'll Spend Florida's High-Speed Rail Money Elsewhere

WASHINGTON -- In a bit of political hardball, the Obama administration on Wednesday said it would send $2.4 billion in stimulus money to other states should Florida Gov. Rick Scott not back down on his rejection of the federal government's national high-speed rail project.

Speaking just hours after Scott announced he was abandoning the project due to cost concerns for the state, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney relayed the president's preparedness to simply send the allocated money to other locales rather than, say, use it to lower the federal deficit.

"We think that is an unfortunate decision," Carney said. "This goes right to the essence of what we have been talking about here. There has been a lot of bipartisan support for the need to create the kind of modern infrastructure in this country that will enable us to compete. High speed rail is very much a part of that and we will make sure that that money is used elsewhere to advance the infrastructure and innovation agenda that is essential for economic growth.

"We believe that the money that is allocated for high-speed rail as part of the Recovery Act is essential to the infrastructure agenda that this president has," Carney added later. "Again, it is part of the president's priority and it is essential to us to build an infrastructure that allows us to compete in the 21st Century."

Carney's posture, delivered during his inaugural briefing, isn't the first time that the specter of one state building its own high-speed rail system on another state's dime has been raised. Shortly after Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wisc.) took office he declined to accept federal money for Wisconsin's rail system upgrades. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) responded quickly by affirming that New York would gladly take the un-cashed checks.

All of which has caused Democrats in Florida to lash back at their newly elected governor for his conservative braggadocio.

"It's eating our seed corn," said Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), referencing the colloquialism that when times are tough, and one is hungry, you're supposed to plant seeds for crop, not eat them.

Scott's argument against high-speed rail is that it is prohibitively expensive for the state, with cost overruns potentially forcing Florida to fork over $3 billion in matching funds. But those numbers, supporters of the project say, are drastically overstated if not pure fantasy.

The federal government has already put aside $2.4 billion in stimulus funds for Florida's portion of the national project. In state, supporters have spent $66 million to build a high-speed train between Orlando and Tampa. Nelson's office, meanwhile, has said that the state would only be on the hook for another $280 million and that the senator was in the process of looking at alternative ways to raise the money to alleviate Scott's concerns.

UPDATE: Sure enough, on Wednesday, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) released a statement urging the Obama administration to redirect the more than $2 billion in high-speed rail funds from Florida to New York:

Florida's loss should be New York's gain. Other states may not be ready to unlock the potential of high-speed rail, but it is a top priority for upstate New York. We can put these funds to use in a way that gets the best bang for the buck. The administration should redirect these funds to New York as quickly as possible.

Comments

[texasrodeoqueen]

09:56 AM on 03/05/2011

Someone please tell me how it is Martha Stewart went to Federal prison and house arrest for lying about a stock trade and this multi Felon become FL Gov?

[Brybenj]

10:45 AM on 02/25/2011

Can't wait for that money to get here to Maryland! Bmore to NYC in less then 3 hours is going to be great! Must suck to live in Florida though all them teabagger and casual racist.

[Matthew Larsen]

05:38 PM on 02/24/2011

I am completely deflated and once the housing market comes back up will be looking to leave a state that would elect a crook like Scott, and then peacefully stand by while he throws away thousands of jobs all for what reason?? Because he doesn't want to appear like he's taking Obama's money? It's not him taking the money, its the state, the workers that would have been hired for this project would then put that money back into the state through food, gas, rent, mortgage, sales tax, etc.

I just think the election of 2010 will go down as the The Beer Hall Putsch. Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Florida are all going to witness robber barons creating monopolies, income gaps greatly increased, corrupt government contracts and a gradual development towards pre-protest middle east style economies, where it becomes next to impossible to rise from lower classes.

"What do you need rail for, just go buy a Mercedes. Oh, you can't afford one? Guess your a leach then and a waste of time, now get back in the salt mines, there's no such thing as workers rights anymore, all ways are the CEO's ways."

[maryann226]

06:29 PM on 02/21/2011

I thought Jeb Bush was the worst governor,that we have had in florida but in the first month,Rick Scott has proven he is just as bad.Rick Scott should be in prison but here in florida you can buy an election.

[Jim Milks]

10:57 AM on 02/21/2011

I'd say to hold on to the money and send it to Ohio–after we wise up and throw our own bought-and-paid-for Republican governor out of office in 2014, but who am I kidding. This is the state that had a felon as a sitting governor (Republican Bob Taft) and where the current Secretary of State was dogged by residency issues during his terms in the state legislature–and was elected anyway (look up Husted, John). And now, just four years after Taft and a single-term Democratic governor later, we're back to having a Republican governor who worked for Lehman Brothers. Enough said.

[ub52209]

02:27 AM on 02/21/2011

Give the money to California, we can reduce the smog and energy consumed in the thousands of car trips and flights between southern California and the Bay Area everyday. Not building a high speed rail network is so short sighted, like saving money by not fixing the roof of your house. Everyone that has traveled to Europe knows it's the way to go!

[Thomas Nagano]

07:48 PM on 02/19/2011

Almost s half a century ago: (revised from a earlier post) [We've got to ask where is the Government Of (the) Past vision for the future, or is it "Nuclear Winter" caused by "Global Warming." ]

"The Tōkaidō Shinkansen (Japanese “Bullet Train”) started service almost 50 years ago, in 1964. It is the world's busiest high-speed rail line. Carrying 151 million passengers a year as of March 2008. The trains has transporte­d more passengers (over 4 billion, network over 6 billion) than any other high speed rail in the world. It’s slow at about 210 km/h (130 mph), some of the new trains run over 350 km/h, that over 200 miles an hour...wit­hout a major accident.

And let's talk about what's happening with high speed rail in China...[in constuction, more high speed rail than the rest of the world combined] " - TK

[rnorthro14]

02:47 PM on 02/19/2011

I would love to have high speed rail in Colorado along the front range from Ft. Collins through Boulder and Denver to Colorado Springs and perhaps even down to Pueblo.

[WeCanDoMore]

12:40 PM on 02/19/2011

How about a little "faith" that we can solve our problems while still maintaining our humanity? There are many ways to skin a cat, btw.

Some folks simply say, don't spend money while we are in debt. That is simplistic and short sighted. How about we create an infrastructure that creates jobs and a strong economy not in the next 5 minutes, but in the next monts and years. Is that soooo hard to understand? Geesh. Everyone knows, you have to spend money to make money. Obviously, we also eliminate waste too.

There are many paths to success. Why take the plan that creates the most pain, when many smart people say there are other ways, that don't hurt the poor and middle class? The fact that GOP won't tax billionaires says it all. How about we bring our tax policies back to what they were when we were thriving? Oh dear, it might take a zero out of the Koch bros bank account. Do these boys have no shame?

[CarolW2]

06:18 PM on 02/28/2011

And with jobs, people spend for essentials and more. Jobs also increase the tax base. The states and federal treasuries begin to see an increase in money.

It just amazes me that billionaires like the Koch's will spend untold millions trying to get their way and convince the rest of us that they are paying too much in taxes. Their taxes would probably be a fraction of what they have spent trying to buy politicians and convince those without any money that they, the Koch's, are on the side of the little guy.

[WeCanDoMore]

12:32 PM on 02/19/2011

We voted O in in a landslide because we want his vision to become our reality. The people who are not happy, largely, are not happy because he has not been able to accomplish more of it, not less. And this minimization is all due to GOP deliberately trying to thwart the will of the people for the personal gain of their handler masters. FL has a slime Gov. Get rid of him ,and then you will get your jobs . . .

[Ron Booth]

11:59 AM on 02/19/2011

OK, let's say we redirect the $2B from Florida to Colorado so that Colorado can finish its Light Rail system.

Next, in about 5-10 years whoever is governor of Florida will be whining that the Federal government left them behind while helping to move the rest of the country forward and he/she will be standing there with their hand out.

Oops but too bad, that stimulus money got spent back in 2009-2012 and its long gone, since then the fed has been streamlined and now if Florida want to play catch up they are on their own to figure out how.

The interesting part will be that in that future Florida there will no doubt be a GOP candidate screaming that the Dems short changed Florida a decade earlier when in fact it was their own Republican governor that screwed them.

[adrian nyu]

09:21 AM on 02/19/2011

So, Rep Gov are turning away funds that would strengthen America's infrastructure, and at the same time create jobs and income for states? How Un-American is that? Well done Govenors, well done, and good luck getting reelected! Talk about out of touch, unbelievable!

[dickandrusharecowards]

07:41 AM on 02/19/2011

The ONLY reason the Thief is against the high speed rail is it's Obama. Has nothing to do with money jobs or tax. He is anti Obama anti health care....unless it's the one he can rip off of course.
Scott for President? No Scott for friggin prison !

[chillwind]

07:42 PM on 02/18/2011

Florida Governor Rick Scott: Healthcare Bill Opponent, transportation infrastructure opponent, healthcare-businessman perpetrator of Medicare fraud.

[Donnat]

06:36 PM on 02/18/2011

Use it to fund Planned Parenthood, healthcare and enforce EPA rules....if Obama can take it away, he can put it where he wants it!! Suck it up, Florida.