[OKC] From Slate: Off the Rails

[Miles, Karen]

Off the Rails


Why do conservatives hate trains so much?

By David Weigel
Posted Tuesday, March 8, 2011, at 7:30 PM ET 
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In the movie version of Atlas Shrugged, there is a scene in which Ayn
Rand's libertarian heroes defy all odds, deploy some untold amount of
private funding, and launch the fastest high-speed train in history over
rails of experimental metal. "The run of the John Galt Line is
thrilling," wrote the libertarian federal judge Alex Kozinski
<http://reason.com/blog/2011/03/03/atlas-shrugged-spectacularly-g> .
"When it crossed the bridge made of Rearden Metal, I wanted to stand up
and cheer."
That's in the fantasy world. In the real world, libertarians aren't
cheering for high speed rail but rather trying to stop it from being
built. They are succeeding. In Ohio, Gov. John Kasich campaigned against
a high-speed rail line funded by the stimulus, got elected, and turned
down the funding. In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker did the same thing,
only more so-his anti-train campaign even had its own Web site
<http://www.notrain.com/> . In Florida, the state Supreme Court has just
approved
<http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2011/03/04/rick-scott-can-keep-high-spe
ed-rail-away/>  Gov. Rick Scott's decision to reject $2.4 billion of
federal funds to build a Tampa-Orlando rail line; the state was being
asked to contribute only $280 million to finish it off. The funding was
originally agreed to by Charlie Crist, one of the Tea Party's
archenemies, so Scott's victory could hardly be any sweeter.
But it could hardly make less sense to liberals. What, exactly, do
Republicans, conservatives, and libertarians have against trains?
Seriously, what? Why did President George W. Bush try to zero out Amtrak
funding in 2005? Why is the conservative Republican Study Committee
suggesting that we do so now? Why does George Will think
<http://www.newsweek.com/2011/02/27/high-speed-to-insolvency.html>  "the
real reason for progressives' passion for trains is their goal of
diminishing Americans' individualism in order to make them more amenable
to collectivism"?
To find out why they don't like trains, go to 
http://www.slate.com/id/2287539/
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