High-speed rail initiative derailed as part of budget compromise

Introduction

President Obama’s high-speed rail initiative has gone off the tracks as part of the budget deal struck with Republicans.

Details of the agreement released Tuesday showed that high-speed rail financing for this year had been eliminated, and some question remained about financial commitments made earlier.

Obama had sought to spend more than $50 billion to make rail access available to most Americans over the next quarter century. New Republican governors and Republicans in Congress called it a boondoggle.

IWatch News wrote earlier about Washington’s Newest Gravy Train: High-Speed Rail