High-speed rail debate keeps chugging along

The two major GOP candidates for governor confidently maintained in their final debate this week that they could stop the planned high-speed rail link between Madison and Milwaukee and redirect the money.
The assertions came in response to a debate question from La Crosse citizens centered on the economic development potential of rail in the Coulee region if an extension ran through western Wisconsin on the way to Minneapolis.
Mark Neumann went so far as to say that any of the $810 million in federal money he could pull out of the rail project would go to tax cuts, not more government programs. Neumann sought to contrast that with Scott Walker’s stand that the money would be better spent on roads and bridges and he’d seek a federal waiver to redirect the funds.
The claims by Neumann and Walker that they could stop the project come despite the declaration by Gov. Jim Doyle’s transportation secretary that more than a third of that money will be committed to the project by year’s end. Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi, appearing on “UpFront with Mike Gousha,” a statewide TV newsmagzine produced in conjunction with WisPolitics.com, said they’re not slowing down the project as the November election looms.
“We’re not going to sit still; this is a federal project,” Busalacchi said Sunday on “UpFront with Mike Gousha.”
See the entire debate, which aired from the new Marquette Law School on Wednesday night: http://www.wisn.com/video/24765457/index.html.
See WisPolitics.com debate coverage: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=207759
– WisPolitics.com