A developer in Las Vegas is seeking a "loan" from the federal government of $4.9 Billion to build the DesertXpress, a high speed train, from Victorville, California about 85 miles Northeast of Los Angeles to Las Vegas 190 miles away. Supposedly, this project would create 32,000 jobs so that gamblers can speed to Las Vegas, once they drive to Victorville, at 150 miles an hour on the train for $75 round trip. Let us hope that this crony capitalism is never funded because it is a ridiculous waste of money.
As a Nevada resident, I would love to see jobs created to help end the Obama/Reid Depression in Nevada; but this scheme is about as stupid as it gets. Republicans in Congress are cool to the idea. Even Socialist Senator Dirty Harry Reid of Nevada won't say whether he thinks the loan is a good idea or not and no wonder. After the $527 million Obama Solyndra scandal and other green government loans gone bad, what politician in his right mind, even Harry Reid whose mind is questionable, is going to back this stupid deal that will never pay for itself in a hundred years, if ever. Let me tell you why.
Las Vegas is about 300 - 350 miles from most parts of Southern California. Victorville, the proposed point to catch this high speed train is therefore about 100 - 150 miles from where most residents of Southern California live, or about half way to Las Vegas. Why would anyone drive through bumper to bumper traffic to get to Victorville before catching this train. If someone was going to drive, they would go the rest of the way rather than presumably paying to park their cars in the middle of no where when parking in Las Vegas at all hotels is free. Besides, it is only a four - five hour drive in total.
Further, there are five airports in Southern California, all within 30 - 45 minutes of where most people live, offering cheap airfares to Las Vegas. It is only a 45 minute flight. Once in Las Vegas, there is no need for a car since there is a monorail connecting various hotels, cheap taxis, or walking along the strip is even feasible since the weather is usually good.
The very notion that anyone would propose a plan for a high speed train connecting Southern California to Las Vegas, when California is bankrupt, inner city public transportation in Southern California is totally ineffective, freeways in Southern California are in continuous grid lock, Nevada is trying to deal with a huge budget deficit and the United States has a $15 Trillion National Debt, just demonstrates that there are people in our country, including in government, that are delusional and always scheming to feed at the trough at our expense. Besides, the federal government is already funding a high speed train connecting Northern and Southern California, at a cost of Billions of dollars, that is another stupid idea for many of the same reason listed above, when Amtrac, the nation's passenger rail system, is bankrupt. Go figure.
In the mean time, Yucca Mountain, 100 miles from Las Vegas in the middle of no where, intended to be the nation's nuclear waste repository, which could instead be used to reprocess nuclear waste rather than for storage, that cost the American people $13 Billion sits empty because politicians of both parties refuse to recognize that nuclear energy must be part of our nation's energy picture if we are ever to become energy independent.
A nuclear industry in Nevada would create thousands of permanent jobs, not temporary jobs building a high speed train that will require huge government subsidies from the day it begins operations. Further, Yucca Mountain would generate Billions of dollars for the state of Nevada to fund schools and valuable infrastructure instead of boondoggles and be a service to our nation, not just gamblers from Southern California.
Honestly, this Blogger is often disheartened by the fiscal insanity and stupidity we see on a daily basis in our country. But hope springs eternal as we recognize that we must take back our country in 2012 and 2014 by sweeping Socialists, including President Obama, out of office to return to Constitutional Government by pushing back 100 years of Socialist creep. In the mean time, call, write, or e-mail your Congressman and Senators and tell them not one dime for the DesertXpress boondoggle, or they can start packing now. If it is such a good idea, the private sector, including casino operators in Las Vegas can build this high speed train with their money. Otherwise, these crony capitalists need to keep their sticky fingers out of our pockets.
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