In the Wall Street Journal on Saturday, February 13 there was an editorial titled “High-Speed Spending.” This discussed the dubious financial dynamics of a long-proposed “high speed” Orlando-to-Tampa rail project.
I also heard of a proposal to do a similar project between St. Louis and Chicago.
I have lived in the Chicago area for most of my life and have never heard anyone expressing a desire to have faster transportation (or such a “high speed” rail option) between St. Louis and Chicago. Yet, in this case, as in the Orlando-to-Tampa case, the proposed “high-speed” rail project would cost billions of dollars.
If we are looking to spend money on infrastructure, perhaps it would be wiser to spend on our existing infrastructure, which is literally crumbling. Estimates to fix our existing infrastructure range into the trillions of dollars. These estimated figures are rapidly growing.
Examples of wasteful deficit spending are innumerable, unfortunately. In my opinion, we, as a nation, are not in a position to waste any money at this point.
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SPX at 1102.12 as this post is written
I agree completely. Our government spending should first maintain public services and public infrastructure and while doing so learn from experience to make our public services and infrastructure more efficient and more durable. Only when we have a budget surplus should our government be spending our hard earned tax dollars on adding new and uneeded excessses such as high speed trains. Since our nation currently has an enormous budget deficit and national debt I do not forsee our nation having a budget surplus any time in the near future.