Congress shuts down high-speed rail funds...

[Chelsea Nelson]

Article Link:

http://www.planning.org/news/daily/story.htm?story_id=166064894

 

This article discusses the shut down by Congress by 298 votes against versus 121 votes for funds to build a high-speed rail in New York from Buffalo to the Albany area.   Obama sought $8 million dollars for the project and he received nothing due to the conclusion that the high-speed rail program was to costly for a time where or budget should be tight. This article also discusses the amount of money spent on this particular project already.  The high-speed rail in the city of New York has already received modifications that add up to the sum of $456.5 and with $161.7 million of it targeted for upstate. 

All that being said,  I think that the decision to decline the President's request for $8 million more dollars going towards the building of the high speed rails was an extremely smart resolution.  At the end of the day we only have so much money and if we continue to spend, spend, spend, then we are headed towards even worse fiscal circumstances.  When we choose to just say yes to everything that is proposed then nothing actually gets done and people are forced to do things they are unable to do. 

The article also outlines that the place in which the high-speed rail was intended to go was not a place of severe traffic.  There were engineers that had suggested a better alternative to where the program had said to build.  Once again we are in $15 trillion dollar of debt, we cannot afford to sit around and build "high-speed" rails when we can barely stay afloat.  I'm glad that the Congress was able to see this and make the correct and highly logical decision to abstain from handing out money for unneeded things.  

So what do you think? Did Congress make the correct decision in shutting down the high-speed rail funds?  Should they have accommodated President Obama's $8 million dollar request?