WASHINGTON POST: …High-speed rail was once a central part of Obama’s vision for government — one in which the nation’s infrastructure, schools and health-care systems would be modernized to meet the challenges of globalization and expand the middle class.
But the abandoned Wisconsin rail project, and several others around the country, illustrate just how difficult — and incomplete — the effort has been. Even as he managed to get the federal government up and running again this past month, Obama’s larger project of redefining what government should do has been stymied bysteady Republican opposition and public disenchantment with political leaders. Andchronic problems with the rollout of provisions of the new health-care law have made Obama’s sales pitch even harder.
While the high-speed project has made a tangible difference already in some parts of the country, key regions will be left out. In both the upper Midwest and Florida — two key planks of the president’s initial vision — residents find themselves without a viable high-speed option — and the manufacturing jobs that come with it… (more)
