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BREAKING: Rick Scott Wins

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  March 4th, 2011 at 12:18 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that Governor Rick Scott can reject high-speed rail funds from the federal government.

Scott had decided to decline high-speed rail funds for a Tampa to Orlando line and two state legislators sued him.

The Florida Supreme Court had put the bipartisan lawsuit filed Tuesday on a fast track because LaHood had given Scott until Friday to accept the money.

Scott, an outspoken critic of the stimulus program, has said he believes the rail project would put Florida taxpayers on the hook for billions in cost overruns and operating subsidies.

State Sens. Arthenia Joyner, a Tampa Democrat, and Thad Altman, a Viera Republican, disagreed and sued Scott.

They said overruns and subsidies would be the responsibility of the private company contracted to build and operate the system and argued state law gave Scott no choice but to accept the money.

As soon as the court’s decision was announced, Scott telephoned U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood and said Florida was formally rejecting the funds.

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COMMENTS

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  • fpete13527

    Everyone I know is ecstatic about this here and everyone I know has put enormous amounts of work into this fight.

    The Florida grass roots Tea Parties movement deserve enormous acknowledgment for their work.

    Gov Scott deserves enormous acknowledgment for his courage and integrity.

    RedState deserves enormous acknowledgment for standing with us and empowering Scott’s election.

    As far as I’m concerned, we could not ask for a better Gov than Gov Scott.

  • NeoKong

    “They said overruns and subsidies would be the responsibility of the private company contracted to build and operate the system and argued state law gave Scott no choice but to accept the money.”

    Anybody with a brain can see what a money sucking boondoggle this would be. Construction would take three times as long as they say it would.Hundreds of millions would go just for attorney fees and hundreds of millions more to buy up property and access and easements and all sorts of stuff before a single scoop of dirt was ever excavated.
    The corruption and the theft would be astronomical and it would all end up being paid for by the taxpayers of Florida.

    All people have to do is look at the Big Dig in Massachusetts. It cost six times the original projection and went years over schedule. Guys were becoming millionaires just for trucking dirt back and forth.
    Now that it is done there is a whole perpetual govt. agency just to manage it. All high paying state jobs with pensions and benefits courtesy of the taxpayer.

  • Aaron Gardner

    I hope the rest of the GOP Governors are drinking tigerblood as well.

    ;)

  • bcochran1981

    ….THANK YOU RICK SCOTT!!! And to repeat what has become the RS Battlecry, ELECTIONS MATTER

  • Darin_H

    Absolutely ecstatic when Scott beat out Sink, and this is why. We’d have been stuck with billions of the overrun costs had she been elected.

  • earlgrey
  • edwyrd

    there is already a money sucking AMTRAK train that plies the tampa/orlando route. the trip takes an hour. the high speedrail would cut it to 1/2 an hour!

    so let me get this right… billions of construction dollars, a permanent gov bureaucracy, years of construction and imminent domain litigation to cut 1/2 hour off of a commutee that maybe 1/100th of 1% of floridians will ever use???!!!

    this is a perfect example why you should never let a lib think!!!!

  • bcochran1981

    I can’t even pretend to speak for “most floridians.” And I haven’t seen any sort of poll on it. As for my limited circle of friends and family, we’re all pleased by this result.

  • monkeysauce

    Thanks to Mike Haridopolos for being the first FL leader to refuse more tax dollars for rail. Scott joined him and together they killed this Obama pork project dead.

  • lgbpop

    ” ‘I know that states across America are enthusiastic about receiving additional support to help bring America’s high-speed rail network to life and deliver all its economic benefits to their citizens,’ LaHood said in a statement.”

    Right. There isn’t, nor will there be any high-speed trolleys, which really is what light rail is – most estimates are said to be between 65-80 mph, which on I-4 puts you in the far-right lane with the snowbirds. Furthermore, local and state pols couldn’t care less about passenger rail (not if they can say “Amtrak”) but they want the one-time infusion of federal IOUs to augment the state IOUs they’ll be paying bills with.

    Can’t these fools see that what works in a congested, built-out Europe with its short distances between cities stopped working here 75 years ago once self-propelled automobiles were perfected? Who wants to be stuck having to behave themselves on public transport on someone else’s schedule – or worse, be on a train with a bunch of misbehaving, ill-mannered thugs – when one can drive by oneself more quickly, more directly and when one chooses to? The government subsidies needed to operate these systems will be mind-boggling. The certainly WON’T be any private entity running one, not unless they can extort a king’s ransom annually from the state it’s located in. Why? Because no sane businessman would have the gall to charge what the overhead would require when divided amongst the handful of environmentalists who’d ride it to spite someone else. And, if union labor is used, you can guarantee cost overruns.

    Scott is to be commended for his foresight. Those pols from Tampa, Lakeland and Orlando are whores willing to drop trou for any government money, no matter how much it will cost them in the long run. I hope this incident costs them their jobs!

  • caboose

    Are the two democrats who filed the law suit, native flordians, or are they northeastern transplants?

  • stormbringer

    and this project would have been a horrible mistake for the state. Thankfully, Rick Scott is doing what he promised; rein in spending. There is not much mentioned in the media about how much the maintenance of this system would have cost, but many millions (hundreds of millions), would have been the responsibility of FL taxpayers, just as will SunRail in central Florida, and Tri Rail in South Florida.

  • johnt

    and hissy fits, replete with cries of racism, in the White House.
    The last being the all purpose reaction to everything now days.

  • citruscon

    A great conservative tag team effort led by Haridopolis and Scott. Now if we could just knock Nelson out of the picture, we won’t have to deal with all this drama over billions of $$$ that don’t need to be spent on trains to nowhere.

  • Locked and Loaded

    the 0 administration chalks up another L. Pile on, I say, and give ‘em some more.

  • Locked and Loaded

    the 0 administration chalks up another L. Pile on, I say, and give ‘em some more.

  • Shayelyn

    Arthenia Joyner is a Democrat from District 18 in Tampa and was born in Lakeland, Florida. Thad Altman is a republican from District 30 and was born in Macon, Georgia. His reelection site states he has lived in Florida for over 50 years.

  • Shayelyn

    Arthenia Joyner is a Democrat from District 18 in Tampa and was born in Lakeland, Florida. Thad Altman is a republican from District 30 and was born in Macon, Georgia. His reelection site states he has lived in Florida for over 50 years.

  • Michael Dugas

    This project was another money hole for Florida tax payers.
    So far I am glad I voted for Rick Scott. Keep up the good work Governor.
    And fellow Floridians……remember to let the guy know, through email and phone, that you appreciate his firm stance on this issue.

  • Shayelyn

    and friends and family also in Florida could not be happier. There has never been a project that ended up costing what was originally stated (more) and it has never been completed on time (late). I live just south of Tampa and there is nothing that would make me hop a train to go to Orlando. If I’m going to Orlando, I want my car with me. Yes, I hold my breath each time I travel I4 but I can count on one hand the backups I’ve been in in about 20 years. I’m guessing this project really was not for residents anyway but for tourists. Of course, Gov Scott is getting blasted for turning down 24,000 jobs in this economy. His answer response to that was spot on as well.

  • Shayelyn

    and friends and family also in Florida could not be happier. There has never been a project that ended up costing what was originally stated (more) and it has never been completed on time (late). I live just south of Tampa and there is nothing that would make me hop a train to go to Orlando. If I’m going to Orlando, I want my car with me. Yes, I hold my breath each time I travel I4 but I can count on one hand the backups I’ve been in in about 20 years. I’m guessing this project really was not for residents anyway but for tourists. Of course, Gov Scott is getting blasted for turning down 24,000 jobs in this economy. His answer response to that was spot on as well.

  • uselogic

    sucking on the government gravy train or not. Or whether they think Florida papers are unbiased sources of information.

    Amost all folks with any sense of self-reliance love that Scott is shaking things up. He may not be the most media friendly guy in the world but considering the daily invectives hurled by Florida MSM, that’s just fine. Libs and the media down here and portray him alternately as Hitler, Beelzebub, Skeltor… or GW Bush.

  • uselogic

    sucking on the government gravy train or not. Or whether they think Florida papers are unbiased sources of information.

    Amost all folks with any sense of self-reliance love that Scott is shaking things up. He may not be the most media friendly guy in the world but considering the daily invectives hurled by Florida MSM, that’s just fine. Libs and the media down here and portray him alternately as Hitler, Beelzebub, Skeltor… or GW Bush.

  • clearasday

    Fifteen Republican Florida state senators joined U.S. Senator Bill Nelson in opposition to the governor. Altman is a long-time Republican and resident of Brevard County, Florida, otherwise known as the Space Coast, I believe he suffers from a common affliction of many politicians in that they are unable to resist the temptation of shiny, new “toys” at taxpayers’ expense.

  • carolina

    I didn’t realize there were this many sell-outs in the state senate. I have a good friend who has been very concerned about the Nelson attemp to end-run Gov Scott. He is very active in FL politics…… and I’m sure he will assist in getting the speedbaggers defeated in the next election. (he worked for Jeb Bush, and for Rubio from day one)

  • clearasday

    It just occurred to me, Bill Nelson got to ride on the space shuttle Columbia as a U.S. Representative from the Space Coast back in 1986, just before the Challenger accident.That’s why he’s often called a former astronaut, even though he’s a lawyer. Perhaps that explains his desire for a “space shuttle on land” in the form of a bullet train?! Perhaps there is a personal relationship between Altman and Bill Nelson, as they are both come from the same part of Florida, which could explain why Altman was the Republican face in the bipartisan lawsuit.

  • lgbpop

    “Space shuttle on land?” That explains everything. It can’t get off the ground by itself, but requires massive amounts of external assistance to become airborne; once off the ground, it goes around in circles….

    I’d be curious to see if it could travel safely at its intended speed during our daily tropical summer downpours, as well. For now, at least, we’ll be spared the prospect.