Florida Gov. Rick Scott Rejects Federal High Speed Funds

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:

"I'm a pretty independent fellow," Alexander said. "Unless he had my children in handcuffs or something, I don't think he can get much leverage on me."

When the Senate budgetary committee chair from your own party is saying this it might be time to start exercising a little caution, Gov.

To the contrary. All of the old rules have changed in Florida and it's no longer business as usual. The "Senate budgetary committee chair" should consider the political downfall of Charlie Crist, since after all, Sunrail was Crist's baby. Out with the old, in with the new. Alexander should remember that Crist succumbed to an improbable primary challenge.

goodnightjohnwayne wrote:

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:

"I'm a pretty independent fellow," Alexander said. "Unless he had my children in handcuffs or something, I don't think he can get much leverage on me."

When the Senate budgetary committee chair from your own party is saying this it might be time to start exercising a little caution, Gov.

To the contrary. All of the old rules have changed in Florida and it's no longer business as usual. The "Senate budgetary committee chair" should consider the political downfall of Charlie Crist, since after all, Sunrail was Crist's baby. Out with the old, in with the new. Alexander should remember that Crist succumbed to an improbable primary challenge.

And now rejecting the HSR money will be Scott's downfall.

morris&essex4ever wrote:
And now rejecting the HSR money will be Scott's downfall.

Doubtful. There really isn't a core constituency for a commuter rail start-up in Orlando, or even for the stillborn HSR connection between Tampa and Orlando airport. The user base just didn't exist. Similarly, it's hard to imagine who would have used these system. After all, you look at the demographic of afluent business travelers who frequent the Acela. That demographic doesn't exist in Florida. Similarly, consider the demographics of commuter rail users in major Northeastern urban centers. That doesn't exist in Orlando, hence the minuscule, virtually insignificant, projected ridership of Sunrail.

In a state like New York, you have a constituency for the MTA, despite all of the universal grumbling about the waste and inefficiencies. In Florida, you only have a very minor base of commuter rail and mass transit users, mostly in Miami, and since that electorate isn't competitive, it doesn't matter.

Scott's lawyer admits he gave Fla. Supreme Court wrong info in high-speed rail argument - Palm Beach Post
Florida Gov. Rick Scott's lawyer to Supreme Court: My facts were wrong on high speed rail - Breaking News - BradentonHerald.com
Florida high speed rail wrong figures: Gov. Rick Scott's attorney admits giving wrong figures in arguing against high speed rail money - OrlandoSentinel.com
From the Palm Beach Post article,

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott’s legal counsel Thursday told the Florida Supreme Court that he made an inaccurate representation on the amount of money already spent on the state’s high-speed rail project — a key detail that may have helped cinch the governor’s victory in a constitutional tug-of-war.

In a two-page letter to Chief Justice Charles Canady, Scott's general counsel, Charles Trippe, acknowledged he misrepresented a central fact in arguments last month supporting the governor's rejection of $2.4 billion in federal funds for the project linking Tampa with Orlando. ...

Now, however, it looks like the ruling may have hinged on a misstatement by a top Scott official.

Trippe blamed the Florida Department of Transportation for giving him bad information, in his letter to Canady.