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In late-stage talks, Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., pressed for $8 billion to construct high-speed rail lines, quadrupling the amount in the bill that passed the Senate on Tuesday.
Reid's office issued a statement noting that a proposed Los Angeles-to-Las Vegas rail might get a big chunk of the money.
A levitating train between LA and Las Vegas has been a priority of Reid's for some time now. Glad to see that the "politics of usual" isn't being played in Washington any longer. Some change we can believe in...:
The train is meant to ease traffic on increasingly clogged Interstate 15, the main route for the millions of Southern Californians who make the 250-plus-mile drive to Las Vegas each year.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., praised passage of the law, saying the MagLev project "will safely and efficiently move people between Southern California and Las Vegas."
I like the idea, although I also feel this kind of investment could be first put on similar project(s) to connect two or more business centers. Airline industry will hate it, however.
This is exactly the kind of thing we voted the Democrats and Obama in to do. It creates jobs, increases efficiency, reduces dependence on foreign oil...
This is the platform Obama won on, and this is what those of us that voted for him expect. Investment in the U.S. is a good thing.
Building a new fast train is a sensible idea, but here? I see you're in Sacramento, NewToCA, so maybe you'd know - is LA-to-LV an especially clogged corridor in the SW? (It's empty in music videos! ) How will people get around once they disembark - rent a car? By the time this train would be completed (in 10 years? 20 years?) how will the water situation be in NV - will people be moving out?
This seems earmarky to me...the ghost of Bugsy Siegel....
Building a new fast train is a sensible idea, but here? I see you're in Sacramento, NewToCA, so maybe you'd know - is LA-to-LV an especially clogged corridor in the SW? (It's empty in music videos! ) How will people get around once they disembark - rent a car? By the time this train would be completed (in 10 years? 20 years?) how will the water situation be in NV - will people be moving out?
This seems earmarky to me...the ghost of Bugsy Siegel....
The interstate between Vegas and LA isn't nearly as heavily traveled as other routes I have frequently taken, such as I-95 between Philly and Washington DC, or I-70 between Columbus and Indy, or I-71 between Columbus and Cleveland.
This posting a couple of years ago, by the late MoMark, really explained very well how fast folks really drive on the I-15 "jetway":
Reid's pet project gets funding under an economic stimulus bill - how is that changing Washington? This type of spending should stand on it own merits as an appropriations bill.
Reid's pet project gets funding under an economic stimulus bill - how is that changing Washington? This type of spending should stand on it own merits as an appropriations bill.
The interstate between Vegas and LA isn't nearly as heavily traveled as other routes I have frequently taken, such as I-95 between Philly and Washington DC, or I-70 between Columbus and Indy, or I-71 between Columbus and Cleveland.
This posting a couple of years ago, by the late MoMark, really explained very well how fast folks really drive on the I-15 "jetway":
Great post from MoMark - thank you! I've never been out there, but if I ever were to go, from all the movies and Joan Didion (and Stevie Wonder) I've internalized I feel I'd be able to say, "Bakersfield. Just like I pictured it."
The lights of Primm I'd love to see! The most beautiful images of the nightscape of Las Vegas that I know of are near the opening of Leaving Las Vegas - cant find a clip of only that montage at youtube.
I would think Southern Calif is in far more dire need of a fast train or two or three than a shuttle for the gamblers
I would think Southern Calif is in far more dire need of a fast train or two or three than a shuttle for the gamblers
The mayor of Las Vegas will be expecting an apology from you.
That is my only problem with this proposal. I would love to see development of high speed rail and it deserves to be a part of the infrastructure package, but Sen Reid seems more focused on giving a gift to his state. There are places that need such infrastructure a lot more than does the desert.
Hopefully, this is the beginning of a change in policy for mass transportation - something this country needs to initiate and begin addressing. I don't particularly like the connotation of an 'earmark' that accompanies it - but there's always at least one congressperson's state that benefits from legislation. And, it *will* doubtless put people to work, which is the intended thrust of the stimulus package.
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) How will people get around once they disembark - rent a car? By the time this train would be completed (in 10 years? 20 years?) how will the water situation be in NV - will people be moving out? 
