The folly in Bill Richardson’s rail-runner is that Albuquerque and Santa Fe are connected by a high speed stretch of I-25. The private sector had already addressed the need with a low cost shuttle bus service between the two cities. Coincidentally, the cost of Bill’s toy train is a half-billion bucks, about the same size as this year’s state budget deficit.
Mr. Graham is correct when he says that the fetish for public transportation amounts to a religion. Had we used the money to build a statue of Gaia, at least we wouldn’t be forced to subsidize this boondoggle in perpetuity. So where is the establishment clause in the First Amendment when you need it? Meanwhile, teacher salaries in Santa Fe were frozen this year to address the deficit. You can count my salary increase denied as an ancillary cost. Thank you, Mr. Richardson.
