High Speed Rail Protestors

Protesters question high-speed rail in the face of budget deficits


Story Discussion By Mary Ann Ford
mford@pantagraph.com
Posted: Friday, January 29, 2010 9:00 pm


 Not everyone at Friday’s news conference supported spending $8 billion for high-speed rail.  Several people gathered at the Amtrak station held signs and even made negative comments while Sen. Dick Durbin was speaking. They questioned projections of economic growth from high-speed rail spending and the wisdom of spending so much money in the face of mounting state and federal budget deficits.
“I’m really upset,” said Jeff Strange of Bloomington.While officials say the money will help produce jobs and bring economic development, Strange said similar systems in other countries don’t work and taxpayers end up paying.  In addition, he said, the claim that a $1 billion infusion will produce 20,000 jobs is based on freight rail, not high-speed passenger rail.

Don Tolan of Minonk held a sign that read: “Quit spending my money, my kids’ money, their kids’ money, their kids’ money, their kids’ money.” “I’m tired of politicians spending money like there’s no limit,” he said. “We’ve doubled our deficit in one year.”

Plane or train?  Laura McNeil of Normal also held a sign, but not to protest high-speed rail.
“I’m bothered by the fact they’re here to promote Amtrak but they didn’t ride the train,” she said.

Gov. Pat Quinn, Durbin and several other officials at the conference flew from Chicago to Alton and then to Normal to talk about the $1.2 billion the state received from the high-speed rail stimulus plan President Barack Obama unveiled Thursday.

McNeil said riding the train would be much cheaper — something the state should be thinking about in the midst of its budget. “Last year, my kids got $4,000 in MAP grants,” she said, referring to the state’s Monetary Award Program for college students. “This year, they got nothing.”

Quinn and Durbin said using the plane was a matter of scheduling. “I’m the governor of Illinois,” Quinn said. “I can’t spend all my time on one thing.” Quinn said besides spreading the message about high-speed rail Friday, he also had to work on the state’s budget.