Before the State of the Union speech began last night, and much to my chagrin, we learned that Ohio will in fact be awarded $400 million in stimulus dollars to begin construction of the 3-C Rail Corridor.
This rail system, once built, will shuttle Ohioans by the tens of tens from Cleveland to Columbus, from Columbus to Dayton, and Dayton to Cincy….
…in 6.2 hours…
…and averaging 39mph.
Additionally, Ohioans are against the plan by a margin of 11 points according to this past weekend’s Ohio News Poll.
In other words, there is no overwhelming demand for it. If there is no overwhelming demand for it, any Econ 101 student can tell you there is no foreseeable way this new project can be anything less than a total failure – costing Ohio taxpayers countless millions of dollars far into the future.
Clearly, Ted Strickland believes he can use this project to his benefit in this year’s election. But with the majority of Ohioans already shown to be against it, it’s far from an easy sell.
Ohioans recognize that just because Strickland is happy to use $400 million in federal dollars, that it’s still their money.
And Strickland may regret begging for this choo-choo.