That comes from a statement made today by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in announcing that the U.S. Department Of Transportation has awarded 15 other states and the District of Columbia $2 billion which had been designated for Florida's high-speed rail project that Gov. Rick Scott turned down by killing the project which was decades in the making.
When asked if Gov. Scott would be sorry that he turned the money down, LaHood said: "we're way beyond that."
There's only one person in Florida that didn't want high-speed rail, and there were thousands of people that did want it. There's a lot of disappointment in Florida, but we're well beyond that now."
Scott turned down the money along with the thousands of jobs it would have created, in spite of his campaign promises to create jobs, which have yet to come to fruition. Scott has used numerous excuses to justify turning down the money. Among them, he proclaimed the project was a "boondoggle" that would cost the state money, when in fact studies showed it would have made a profit even sooner than expected.
His office also claimed that turning down the money aided in saving the country from a government shutdown, a ridiculously false claim which a member of his own party charges is proven wrong by the announcement today:
State Sen. Thad Altman, R-Viera, says news today that 15 states are splitting the $2 billion that had been designated for Florida's high speed rail project was yet another blow to Gov. Rick Scott's argument to decline the money.
"The governor is either intentionally lying or it's malfeasance," said Altman, who unsuccessfully sued to stop Scott from blocking the federal cash.Altman pointed to a press release Scott sent in April taking credit for helping prevent the federal government shutdown. Scott said his rejection of the money allowed Congress to cut high-speed rail funding, which was part of the budget deal to avoid a shutdown.
Scott's spokesman, Brian Burgess, said it was "indisputable" that Scott's decision to turn down the money helped. "It made it a lot easier," Burgess said.
But Altman says the news today is proof Scott's statement was wrong. "This is the final piece of misinformation," he said."This is almost propaganda," Altman said. "It's all proven to be false and as a result we've lost money for would have been the most modern transportation system in America, if not the world."
"He intentionally ignored the facts to make a political point," Altman continued. "It was a political move to prevent the president from having a project awarded to Florida.
"In his disdain for the president and his zeal to make him look bad, he was even willing to hurt the people of Florida."
Yes, all of the above. Oh, and don't forget about kissing the rings of the Tea Party, the Reason Foundation, and the Koch Bros. But sure, I'd say Altman has him pegged.
Indeed, LaHood is right. There are thousands of people who wanted high-speed rail, both in the state of Florida, and in the other states lucky enough to have officials who have the good sense to recognize a good thing for their state when they see it: a good investment and a job creator. Two things Rick Scott clearly doesn't understand or care about. If you need convincing, just take a look at his budget and at what his Republican controlled legislature did in the past couple of months. They merely continued with the farce that throwing tax cuts at bg business will solve all problems when it will merely put Florida further into the red and drive people away to, say states that have rail service. And jobs.
States that will reap the benefits, like these.
Watch Ray LaHood's statements here:
