Republican Governors-Elect Cut Thousands of Jobs Before They're Even Sworn In

by Derrick Braziel · 2010-11-12 06:20:00 UTC
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Just hours after winning office, Republican governors-elect have managed to do the unthinkable. John Kasich of Ohio and Scott Walker of Wisconsin have already begun the process of terminating thousands of potential jobs slated to be created by federally-subsidized passenger train projects.

"Passenger rail is not in Ohio's future,'' Kasich said at his first news conference after defeating Gov. Ted Strickland last week. "That train is dead."

Kasich was referring to the $400 million project to restore passenger rail between Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland, along the 3C  corridor. If completed, the project would help restore Ohio's crumbling infrastructure while also providing a rail service that would serve an estimated 480,000 travelers in its first year of operation.

In Wisconsin, Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi has said that his state will suspend work on an $810 million Milwaukee-Madison rail line after Governor-elect Walker similarly vowed to derail the project. Walker pledged throughout his campaign to "kill the train," saying it would cost the state too much money without helping enough people.

Kasich had previously called the 3C corridor train the "dumbest idea" he had ever heard. Like Walker in Wisconsin, he said he believed the money could be better used elsewhere. Tell him that money can't be spent any better than putting Ohioans back to work!

Maybe I was born on another planet, but how is putting more than 8,200 people to work a "dumb idea?" Especially when Wisconsin and Ohio are ranked 18th and 41st respectively in unemployment rates? Wisconsin has told 300 designers, engineers and consultants in Milwaukee to pack their bags.

Advocates of the 3C plan in Ohio have been outspoken in their disagreement with Kasich. Kenneth Prendergast of All Aboard Ohio wrote that "derailing 3C is akin to shunning a lifeboat in the face of this looming, iceberg-sized threat to our delicate economic security."

In the name of "responsibility," these Republican governors-to-be are sacrificing much needed funding that could be used to revitalize dilapidated neighborhoods. They're being irresponsible by shunning opportunities to put Americans to work.

Photo credit: Kat...

Derrick Braziel works as a development fellow at a nonprofit organization in Indianapolis.

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