the biggest problem here in FL is that SunRail is being pitted against HSR....Sen. Paula Dockery is making an issue out of the CSX deal because her husband, C.C. Dockery wants HSR....then he throws a fit and resigns from the committee because the Governor won't come out in favor of HSR.
Unfortunately, the Feds may see our "lack of support" for coimmuter rail as a sign about our potential support for HSR...or vice versa.
Yes, the biggest problem here in FL is that Sunrail is being pitted against HSR.
Here are the possibilities:
1. We can do both
2. We can do either one
3. We can do just Sunrail
Clearly the powers that be in Florida have decided to only consider 3.
That is limiting our options, and certainly not in the public interest. In the interest of jobs in Florida, we must pursue all options!
The beauty of the $2 stimulus monies is that it doesn't require state matching funds,............besides,..........who would favor getting $300 million from the federal government over the possibility of getting $2 billion?
?
For those of us who care about Florida jobs
it certainly is enraging to let the possibility of getting $2 billion slip through our hands, for no other reason than political grandstanding on sunrail.
Already we've missed out on $2.2 billion federal funds for education ( states that have been gutting their state education funding since 2006, like Florida, did not qualify to use federal education stimulus funds,..... as these funds were not meant to replace state funding, rather they were supposed to supplement state funding, in order to be a true stimulus).
