[jeffkrol]

I mentioned this before and to be honest, I haven't decided either way on it's worth BUT I know how we win friends in this "great society"......
Scott Walker asks train maker Talgo to remain open here - JSOnline

Governor-elect Scott Walker reached out to a Milwaukee train manufacturer Friday, seeking to keep its operations in the state long-term as he advocates for stopping a passenger rail project involving the company.

"Governor-elect Walker is reaching out to leadership at Talgo to encourage them to stay in Wisconsin," Walker spokeswoman Jill Bader said Friday.

A spokeswoman for Talgo, the U.S. unit of the Spanish firm Patentes Talgo, said that Walker told company officials that his decision to stop a proposed Madison-to-Milwaukee passenger rail line is "not final................"Democratic U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore said Friday during a briefing in her Milwaukee office that other states are clearly in line to take the funds if Wisconsin turns them down. A lack of public transportation is a significant cause of the high unemployment in the central city because residents there can't reach jobs in the suburbs, she said.

"Walker has a record of being anathema to public transportation," Moore said......
But Bader said Walker hadn't changed his mind.

"Scott remains opposed to the train. He reached out this afternoon to encourage Talgo to remain in Wisconsin," Bader said. "He needs time to have discussions next week with the Doyle administration on their intentions when it comes to this project, and will continue to examine all legal options to stop the train."

Friend emphasized that Talgo has work to keep its employees busy through 2012 and would not make any layoffs immediately. The company has already hired about 40 people for its current contracts and plans to have a total of 125 on board by next year. If it gets contracts to build trains for the Milwaukee-to-Madison line and for other states, it could keep the plant in operation beyond 2012 and expand it.

"This is a very challenging process and we're in the hiring stage and we want to attract good employees from the area," Friend said.

Construction employment on the line itself was projected to peak at 4,732 jobs in 2012, with 55 permanent jobs to operate and maintain trains, stations and tracks.

Pat Goss, executive director of the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association, and Joseph Strohl, a lobbyist for the union that represents heavy equipment operators, said they knew of no major effort to try to persuade Walker to change his mind on stopping the train.

"I think Scott was very clear where he stood on this and he's also been very clear on how he stands on other transportation infrastructure," Goss said. "He's following through on the promise he made."

The Operating Engineers Local 139, which Strohl represents, endorsed Walker because of his strong support for road building.

Steve Baas, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, said there had not been a consensus among the region's business community that the project needed to go forward.

Make sure you dig into the comments....... Milwaukee's already feeling "buyers remorse"......
and.......

Guess what Wisconsin, you will NOT be getting the train money for
roads, bridges, etc. New York State has already asked for our share.
Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo is asking the federal
government to redirect $1.2 billion to New York for high-speed rail
projects.

The Democrat is asking Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to redirect
the money to New York if the governors-elect in Ohio and Wisconsin
continue with their promise to cancel the projects that were to be funded
with the money.

Cuomo says high-speed rail could be the 21st century equivalent of the
Erie Canal and New York is ready to spend the money now as a boost to
the economy.

Cuomo says thousands of jobs would be created as well as a faster route
across the state.

Ohio's incoming governor Republican John Kasich wants to scrap a high-
speed rail project in the face of growing deficits.

U.S. Department of Transportation spokeswoman Olivia Alair didn't
comment on Cuomo's request, saying only that "there is an incredible
demand for high-speed rail dollars around the country."

—Copyright 2010 Associated Press

2 years and our state will be solid (almost) blue again.......
Humorous one (of many)

Dear Talgo,

Please stay and remain in the business of building trains even though I want to stop the building of railways between the state's two largest cities.

I promised Wisconsin voters 250,000 jobs. Yet I'm ready to piss away 130 jobs in West Allis before I even take office. Never mind the jobs I will squander when I cancel all the contracts for construction jobs for the building of the railway.

Signed,
Gov. Elect Scott Walker

Vote no on Poles !
We Don't need no tele - phone poles or electricity lines here in Wisconsin.Electricity is For those folks out east. Yeah sure maybe that works in Europe or China, be we don't need that here in Wisconsin.
We've got Horse and Buggy's here and The Telegraph and that is good enough. We cant waste our children's money on a passing fancy. What we need is to have the Plank Roads sprayed for termites and re - planked.
And to pass sound Horseshoe legislation !

Vote no on Poles !

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Last edited by jeffkrol; 11-05-2010 at 05:13 PM.