(Oh and we just came out of a recession so federal spending to create jobs is frowned upon even though its what helped get us out of a recession. Or something like that) :shrug:
Except that for most people the recession is far from over, and the out of control deficit, of which the federal stimulus spending that was supposed to keep national unemployment below 8% was a major part, is generally recognized to be a major factor.
It's also well established that for every immediate job federal stimulus spending creates, it destroys two or more down the line.
The bottom line, however, should be whether the project makes sense. There are many, many, many projects the federal government
could fund that would provide
some kind of positive return to the taxpayers, even if not commensurate with the cost. Given that, it makes no sense at all to relentlessly pursue a project, like the Tampa/Orlando HSR, that you know in advance will provide
no positive return.
Off the top of my head, the feds could shift some of the money to the SunRail project, perhaps accelerating some of the out-year connectors, particularly to OIA, or adding stops at points of interest with economic value, like WDW or Universal/Convention Center; or to build something similar in Tampa. In other words, something that would improve the feasibility of a rail link (if not necessarily HSR) between Orlando and Tampa at some time in the future.
