Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who is sometimes overshadowed by the astonishing failure of Rick Scott of Florida, has no shortage of his own failures in the great white north.
One year ago today, Scott Walker ensured that Wisconsin would not benefit from nearly a billion dollars in funding for rail projects which would have created jobs and added tremendously to the state economy.
It was a year ago today that Governor Walker formally rejected those [$810 million in railroad] funds, celebrating a victory over “boondoggle train to Madison”
The Capital Times today looks back on that decision, detailing the fallout:
– Wisconsin is under contract with Spanish rail concern Talgo to build a $53 million service center in Milwaukee, the cost of which would have been covered by the federal grant. State Republicans are currently considering defaulting on the agreement rather than pony up, allowing the facility to be built in Chicago.
– As is now well-known, the Walker administration had to go crawling back to Washington earlier this year to request back $213 million of the original funding for upgrades and maintenance to the Hiawatha line. The request was denied.
– In the absence of federal help, the state has already shelled out $25 million for temporary maintenance of the line, again the costs of which would have been covered by the original grant.
Walker's rejection of federal funds not only deferred the benefits of those funds to other states, but also ended up costing Wisconsin more to maintain current projects than it otherwise would have.
Not coincidentally, the greatest number of job losses in the nation last month were in Wisconsin, wherein the state posted double the amount of job losses as the next state on the list.
Governor Scott Walker continues to be one of the greatest campaigners Democrats could ever hope for.
via Defend Wisconsin