Transportation need not be a partisan issue, but Democrats are steering it that way as they reflexively attack Gov. Rick Scott's rejection of federal stimulus dollars for a controversial high-speed rail line.
Progress Florida, a "progressive" but nominally nonpartisan group, declared that Scott's decision was driven by a desire "to make President Obama look bad."
Florida Democrats, including U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown and Sen. Bill Nelson, expressed predictably partisan "outrage" and shock that the governor pulled the plug on the nascent venture.
Nelson went on to open a legal can of worms by announcing that he and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood have lawyers "researching" the idea of ramming the train through Florida without the state's approval.
Democrats, you might recall, became similarly unhinged when New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie halted funding of an $8.7 billion trans-Hudson rail tunnel.
Both Republican governors saw gaping budget deficits ahead; each took the responsible course to safeguard their state's taxpayers.
Nevertheless, the narrative scripted by Democrats and recited by credulous media outlets paints Scott as a derelict demagogue who is "killing jobs" by passing up $2.4 billion in found money.
"Im appalled by Governor Scotts shortsighted thinking and his decision to choose politics and ideology over job creation for Florida," intoned Democratic state Rep. Hazelle Rogers of Lauderdale Lakes.
In fact, Scott said he was saving money and marshaling resources for bona fide economic-development ventures that will generate sustainable employment opportunities.
Before Scott's opponents attacked his decision as ill-informed or, worse, a political stunt, the governor conducted a detailed examination of cost and ridership studies from across the country.
His analysis uncovered consistent cost overruns and overly rosy revenue projections, based on chronically low usage. Scoffing at the prediction of 3 million riders on the Tampa-Orlando train, the governor said Wednesday:
"Keep in mind that Amtraks Acela (high-speed) train in Washington, D.C., Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Baltimore only had 3.2 million riders in 2010.That markets population is eight times the size of the Tampa/Orlando market."
These are the types of studies that high-speed rail enthusiasts never bothered to read or simply gloss over because they contain inconvenient truths.
"If Republicans are serious about cutting spending, rail is an easy one because it benefits very few people," said Sharon Calvert, leader of the Hillsborough County group, No Tax for Tracks.
Yet a few key Republicans continue to carry water for the Obama administration.
PLAYING ALONG AT TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
U.S. Rep. John Mica, who chairs the House Transportation Committee, represents a swath of east Central Florida. He also represents the transportation industry, receiving more than $100,000 in contributions from railroad companies, including CSX Corp., during the past four years.
So Mica's reaction to Scott's action was predictable. He called it "a huge setback for the state of Florida."
The log-rolling nature of public-works projects is endemic to the Transportation Committee. Republicans of the RINO variety play along with Democrats to keep the money flowing.
But, in case Mica hasn't heard, voters are starting to rebel at these costly old games. The shellacking that Obama's party took in November wasn't so much a victory for Republicans as it was a repudiation of overspending by stimulus-bingeing politicians.
Mica has tried to have it both ways. Before blasting Scott's decision, the veteran congressman likened the president's call for $53 billion in additional high-speed rail projects to investing with ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff.
Mica declined an invitation from Sunshine State News to explain his seemingly contradictory positions.
Another Republican, state Sen. Paula Dockery, inadvertently made a case against the federal funding of transportation projects when she criticized Scott's rejection of rail dollars.
"Florida is a donor state for transportation dollars, receiving only 62 cents on every transit dollar and 87 cents on every highway dollar we send to Washington," the Lakeland Republican said.
Dockery went on to bemoan that LaHood "will direct these billions lost by Florida to California where true high-speed rail has the next best opportunity to succeed."
If deficit-wracked California wants the stimulus money, Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown and the Democratic-controlled Legislature in Sacramento are welcome to dig themselves an even deeper fiscal hole.
The latest studies debunk the cost and revenue figures for that state's proposed San Francisco-Los Angeles high-speed line. Instead of the purported ticket price of $55, analyses of existing HSR systems in Japan and Europe peg the cost at $190.
The only way to get the ticket price down is to pour in more government subsidies -- and that ought to be a tough sell for "conservative" Republicans anywhere.
Democrats suffer from no such ambivalence. They're angling to leverage Scott's decision to their political advantage. And they're getting help from local politicians (and provincial media) who have bought into the rail-for-prosperity mantra.
Lakeland Mayor Gow Fields opined that the Tampa-Orlando train would have brought businesses to the area.
But such bullish claims arrive without substantiation. In the real world, where Scott lives, the numbers have to add up, and there's no such thing as a free ride on Uncle Sam's stimulus train.
Though the Obama administration had allocated $2.4 billion in stimulus funds for the project, a funding gap estimated somewhere between $280 million and $1.5 billion remained (depending on who's doing the estimating). That does not include expected operational deficits.
"The question here is do the cities and counties want to be on the hook for billions of dollars when the high-speed rail does not cover costs? Do the citizens of Polk County want to assume a burden just so a few well-heeled property owners can profit from the sale of their land?" asks Robin Stublen a Charlotte County tea party activist.
The Florida Alliance and the Sons and Daughters of Liberty, representing thousands of Tea Party and 9/12 members, applauded Scotts decision "to protect the people of Florida by rejecting President Obamas Tampa-to-Orlando high-speed rail project."
The groups assailed state lawmakers, including Republicans, who touted the stimulus-fueled rail venture as "private enterprise." Grumbled one tea partier: "With thinking like that, no wonder we're broke."
NO GUARANTEES FROM RAIL BIDDERS
C.C. "Doc" Dockery, Sen. Dockery's husband and a longtime promoter of rail ventures in the state, said the Florida Department of Transportation was "assured" by prospective high-speed rail bidders that they would "bid a firm, fixed price for the design, building, operating and maintenance of the system, with no cost overrun risk to Florida taxpayers."
Yet no company officials interviewed by Sunshine State News would commit to ironclad guarantees.
Antonio Perez, president of the U.S. division of Spain's Talgo Rail, stopped short of pledging to cover all costs. "We will do our due diligence," he said.
Another global consortium involving Alstom SA of France also declined to take the pledge.
In response to Scott's action Wednesday, Florida High-Speed Rail Development Partners -- a group that includes VINCI, OHL, Alstom, and Virgin Rail -- said in a statement that it was "disappointed with the governor's decision as we believe high-speed rail has a unique potential to create jobs and spur economic development in Florida."
Scott said he could not afford to bet on unwritten corporate promises any more than he could bank on the Obama administration to cover future expenses.
"You're never sure until the end. If theres a problem in the end and its shut down, then we owe $2.4 billion back to the federal government," Scott said.
Spoiling for a prolonged political and legal fight, Nelson announced that he and LaHood "are exploring how we could keep this project going forward since the state of Florida will not participate. We have the lawyers researching it." Such a circumvention of state authority would surely fuel partisan fires as Nelson heads into his 2012 re-election campaign.
Scott maintains: "My job is to represent the taxpayers of the state. Im not comfortable with the project. Its not a project that Im comfortable will get a return on investment for the taxpayers.
The governor's analysis estimated that ongoing state subsidies for the 84-mile line could run $300 million to $575 million over 10 years.
Given the evaporation of federal stimulus dollars from Florida's schools this year, state officials have every reason to budget conservatively and to remain skeptical about Washington's ability to deliver. And yet Democrats continue to make political hay by suggesting that Scott is to blame for the K-12 funding loss caused by the lapsed stimulus.
Without relying on fleeting stimulus funds, Scott said there are projects that are more promising and less risky. With the money the state is saving from taking a flier on high-speed rail, the governor is looking at proven job generators.
"Rather than investing in a high-risk rail project, we should be focusing on improving our ports, rail and highway infrastructure to be in a position to attract the increased shipping that will result when the Panama Canal is expanded, when the free trade agreements with Colombia and Panama are ratified and with the expansion of the economies of Central and South America," Scott said.
"By capturing a larger share of containerized imports entering our seaports, expanding export markets for Florida businesses and emerging as a global hub for trade and investment we can create up to an additional 143,000 jobs, according to a recent chamber of commerce study."
Summing up his priorities, Scott concluded:
"It is absolutely critical that we make smart investments with taxpayer dollars, whether state or federal, and I believe our state will be better served by spending these funds on projects that will benefit Florida and not turn into a spending boondoggle."
If Democrats and recalcitrant Republicans truly care about jobs and the economy, it's time for them to go to work with the governor.
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
