Hypocrisy Watch! Louisiana To Seek Funds For Passenger Train!
By anniepa
@anniepa (27955)
United States
March 3, 2009 1:27pm CST
You may remember these words from Governor Bobby Jindal's Republican response to President Obama's speech to the Joint Sessions of Congress last week:
"While some of the projects in the bill make sense, their legislation is larded with wasteful spending. It includes ... $8 billion for high-speed rail projects, such as a 'magnetic levitation' line from Las Vegas to Disneyland."
He may not have been entirely accurate in this statement, as in much of the rest of his highly panned speech, since there haven't yet been any funds allocated for this line from Vegas to Disney but there is an $8 billion "pot" for rail projects. Apparently Jindal's state wants its share of this "wasteful spending":
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/louisiana_to_seek_new_orleansb.html
BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's transportation department plans to request federal dollars for a New Orleans to Baton Rouge passenger rail service from the same pot of railroad money in the president's economic stimulus package that Gov. Bobby Jindal criticized as unnecessary pork on national television Tuesday night.
The high-speed rail line, a topic of discussion for years, would require $110 million to upgrade existing freight lines and terminals to handle a passenger train operation, said Mark Lambert, spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.
(End of excerpt)
Any thoughts on this example of hypocrisy? Or is it somehow NOT hypocrisy when a Republican does it...
Annie
2 people like this
7 responses
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
3 Mar 09
Is that true? Do you have links to it? I know you're not one to make up numbers so I really want to know which republicans were introducing pork. I already know that the recent spending bill had plenty of pork introduced by Arlen Specter including $70,000 for A+ for Abstinence. I figured the porkulus bill had pork for the three republicans that supported it, but I didn't hear about any pork introduced by the republicans who voted against it.
I do believe rail lines would fall under infrastructure. I'm not against such things personally so long as there is a demand and the community actually uses it. Sadly, rail lines are known for losing money. I don't think Amtrack has made a profit in almost 30 years.
1 person likes this
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
3 Mar 09
It sure sounds like hypocrisy to me. We'll wait and see how Jindal responds to this. It looks like he hasn't signed off on anything and before such a request goes through he has to approve it. There have been cabinet members before who wanted something that the governor was against so until it lands on his desk and he makes a call it might be too soon to say that he is a hypocrite.
2 people like this
@xfahctor (14118)
• Lancaster, New Hampshire
3 Mar 09
though a governor can aprove the funds or not aprove them, there is a stipulation in the bill that allows the sate legislature to go around the governor and get the funds anyway. My governor (a democrat) is one who is cherry picking the funds and says he is going to refuse the ones with long term commitments that federal funding will run out on, leaving the state to pay for it, but I'm convinced our legislature will be using the "nuke option" put in by congress to get them anyway.
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@ladyluna (7004)
• United States
3 Mar 09
It is no less an example of hypocrisy because it comes from the mouth of a Republican!
I haven't heard Gov. Jindal's response to this, though I am waiting with baited breath. These light rail projects are an abysmal failure across the nation. Not one is self-supporting. So, if Gov. Jindal sells his soul for foolish, subsidized, failed ideas, then he deserves a swift kick in the derrier -- with steel toes, no less!
1 person likes this
@albert2412 (1782)
• United States
4 Mar 09
I think it is a wonderful idea to promote passender trains. Passender trains useage will reduce gasoline consumption and thus help the environment. A train can replace the useage of a lot of cars. We need more passender trains to save money on gasoline!
1 person likes this
@Aingealicia (1905)
• United States
3 Mar 09
Annie,
You didn't get that memo that the Republican Party is exempt from hypocrisy. Remember not to long ago we had a house of unhypocritical people that were running this country.
Wow it is too funny how things work.
Ainge
1 person likes this
@Aingealicia (1905)
• United States
4 Mar 09
Annie,
I thought you would have gotten the memo seeing you are one of the most Active and True Americans I know. I don't know to many people who care enough to take people to vote and help out with the Democratic process.
Did you see my question about that Bill? I know it is silly but I have tried to understand what the heck is going on with it. If it was tabled, did it pass?
Ainge
1 person likes this
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
4 Mar 09
Now Annie, he only meant the Las Vegas to Disneyland rail line! He had a bad experience with Goofy once but that doesn't mean that a high speed rail line in HIS state...with no Goofy around...is a bad thing! 
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
5 Mar 09
Rose is always in a world all her own....
1 person likes this
@MntlWard (878)
• United States
3 Mar 09
Yeah, it seems the theory I had heard about the Republicans "officially" opposing the bill with their vote, but wanting to take credit for their input is turning out to be true. Some of the Congressmen who voted against it are bragging about what they acquired for their constituent states.
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