Texas Gov race heating up into a true horse race:
Perry: A well polished guy with great hair and smooth rhetoric,looking to be a pres. candidate in 2012 and no new real solutions. 39% and losing ground in the polls.
KBH: A Beltway insider with great experience with pork and earmarks /challenging emcumbent
Medina: A smart verbally articulate pistol packin lady from Wharton who wants to repeal state property taxes,seal the border with mexico,Ranchers and property owners are paying attention to her platform, She is gaining ground fast ,challenging emcumbent also,
Bill : A ex mayor from Houston
Farouk. A millionaire who will work for a buck a year
H Speed Rail Construction Jobs,Transportation,Roads, bridges,?? not happening here,yet?
Didnt really want a company from Spain running toll roads in Texas.
Tx DOT is nearly broke again,a billion dollar accounting error recently.
gas tax at 20 cents, sales tax declines,
We have a nearby interchange that was funded once, TXDOT messed up the fed environmental apps twice pulled the money for another project respent it ,
Tx Dot condemmed commercial property that has been vacant for years.
then says they cant fund it, but can toll it now,Tax payers money gone for a different project.
"Local residents say it is double taxation"of a major commuter roadway that was funded,
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 4 Comments
A High-Speed Rail Reality Check for Texas
by Elana Schor on February 3, 2010
Despite data backing up the White House's assertion that politics played no role in high-speed rail decision-making,
Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) waging a re-election bid against a GOP primary challenger as well as the Democratic mayor of Houston -- wasn't shy about complaining after his state received less than one-hundredth of the $1.8 billion in rail stimulus it had requested.
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A map of Texas' "T-bone" rail proposal. (Photo: TX Comptroller)
This is not the original Trans Texas Corridor Project proposal .
As a Perry spokesman put it to the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram:
Considering we only get back 70 cents on every dollar we send to Washington for highways, we've learned to hope for the best and expect the worst.
The only money Texas got was for Amtrak, so it appears the federal government is protecting its own. Texans got shortchanged again.
Given that Texas transport officials have acknowledged the weaknesses in their funding plan, which lacked the necessary environmental studies to move forward with a "T-bone" rail system linking Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, and San Antonio, one would think Perry's administration might have kept its expectations low.
But any federal official looking to gauge Texas' depth of commitment to building bullet trains wouldn't have to look further than Perry himself. When asked for his stance on rail, the governor told the Dallas Morning News:
I am supportive of efforts to establish rail in Texas, but it would be premature to ask voters to set up a fund for high-speed rail before we even know whether it would work. ... We need to first determine if High Speed Rail is feasible and then take responsible steps for financing.
Not quite a vote of confidence, particularly after Perry vowed to reject White House stimulus aid and later turned around to accept federal funding.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood drove the point home today, saying that
uneven leadership -- not politics -- hurt Texas' chances at high-speed rail money.
Roll Call had the key quote:
“If Texas had its act together, they would have gotten some high-speed rail money,” [LaHood] said. “There is no connection having to do with politics or a vote because many Congressmen and Senators who voted against the [stimulus] bill got a boatload of money and were at the front of the line to cut the ribbon.”
Indeed, central Florida took home $1.25 billion in rail stimulus grants even as GOP Rep. John Mica, who represents the Orlando area, criticized the Obama administration's process and voted against the stimulus law.
WASHINGTON — U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood blamed Texas officials Wednesday for the state's failure to win federal aid for a high-speed rail system linking its major cities.
“If Texas had had its act together, it would have gotten some high-speed rail money,” the Obama administration Cabinet official told reporters.
Thirty-one states shared $8 billion in rail grants from the 2009 economic stimulus package last week. The only money Texas received was a $4 million grant for planning a project in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
“We based our decision on where the money could be well-spent and jump-start opportunities around the country,” LaHood said.
Must have ‘act together'
“Unless a state or region has its act together, with (local) money, with a good plan that connects things, they're not going to be in the high-speed rail business,” he said.
Citing Florida as an example, LaHood said the Sunshine State presented a detailed plan for construction, a long-term business plan, a united front of Democratic and Republican lawmakers and a legislature and governor that authorized an expenditure of state tax money to ensure that the project was completed.
He also praised Midwestern states, where Democratic and Republican governors worked across party lines to develop a sound regional proposal.
Texas Transportation Department spokesman Chris Lippincott said the amount of money Texas received was “not a surprise.”
He noted that dollars given out from the economic stimulus pot went to “shovel-ready” projects such as the Tampa-Orlando line in Florida.
Texas needs “more funds and more time to be shovel-ready,” he said.
Texas transportation officials, elected leaders and private-sector figures have been talking for years about several potential high-speed rail corridors linking the population centers of Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Waco and Dallas.
Planning to continue
Texas will continue with “planning and environmental work which the US DOT has encouraged us to do,” Lippincott said.
Gov. Rick Perry's office declined to comment.
LaHood, a former Republican congressman , denied that partisan politics played any role in the selection process.
“We don't make decisions based on how somebody votes,” he said.
LaHood compared the current status of American high-speed rail to the highway system at the beginning of the interstate construction boom of the 1950s.
“We're at the starting point for high-speed rail,” he said. “The people want this.”
His advice to states like Texas, New York and Georgia: “Get your act together.”
Diana Carlton of the Washington Bureau contributed to this report.
richard.dunham@chron.com
HS Rail Jobs Could employ thousands in Texas?
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