Green Bay Newspaper Praises Wisconsin Gov.-elect Scott Walker for 'Killing High-Speed Rail'

In a Tuesday editorial under the headline "Killing high-speed rail shows fiscal restraint," the Green Bay Press-Gazette praised Wisconsin Gov.-elect Scott Walker for keeping his campaign promise to hold the line on spending, even though it means losing $810 million in federal funds to build a new rail line from Madison to Milwaukee.

The editorial says opposition to the rail line was a major part of Walker's platform, that "with a substantial biennial budget deficit now estimated as high as $3.3 billion looming, our state can ill afford to invest in such a project. Federal stimulus dollars would have paid for construction of the line, but Walker said operating it would have cost the state $7.5 million per year."

The newspaper acknowledged it wasn't so sure Walker should risk losing so much federal money -- but admits it's sure of one thing: "... these are tough fiscal times, and this isnt the last difficult choice that will have to be made in an unforgiving economic climate."