Remember how the Republicans and John Kasich made light of the rail plan during the campaign last fall? Kasich, the Republicans, and the other backward thinking GOP governors who turned down the rail money may not admit it in public, but they really messed up.
Washington Post:
The Obama administration on Monday announced the reallocation of $2 billion in its signature transportation program to create a national high-speed rail network, including $795 million for upgrades that would permit speeds of 160 mph in parts of the Northeast Corridor.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood made the money available to other states this year when Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) opted not to accept funds that had been allocated to build high-speed rail between Tampa and Orlando.....
...Scott and two other Republican governors elected last year — John Kasich of Ohio and Scott Walker of Wisconsin — rejected high-speed rail money, saying they feared their states would be saddled with any cost overruns....
While those other states will create thousand of jobs, and see massive economic development, Kasich and his caveman political party are still trying to turn the clock back to the 1850's. Will we ever see new jobs in Ohio?
Here is some additional information to support the fact that the Kasich administration is stuck in the past:
Dispatch:
The Ohio Department of Transportation has erased talk of an "integrated network" of roads, rails and other modes of travel in the Kasich administration's first rewrite of policies that guide state-funding decisions....
.....ODOT also has rescinded a Strickland pledge to share $50 million annually with Ohio's public-transit agencies.
The policy revision proposed for the state's Transportation Review Advisory Council retains an old pledge to consider all modes of transportation for state funding, but it doesn't mention passenger rail specifically, as the Strickland administration's last update did....
Why would the Kasich administration put more emphasis on building roads? Is it their way to reward their campaign contributors? In a recent article in the Dispatch, it was announced that Kokosing Construction Company got a contract for road construction. What ties does the Kokosing Co. have with Republicans and Kasich? I'm so glad you asked.
According to Influenceexplorer, Kokosing (owners, employees + families, + PACs) is a major contributor to the Republicans (1989-2010: $721,539 to Republicans). Kokosing (owners, employees + families, + PACs) also helped finance the Kasich-Taylor campaign to the tune of $38,615.
It seems the only people who will benefit from the Kasich administration will be his campaign contributors and his rich friends.