April 05, 2006

Railroad to Nowhere?

Mississippi lawmakers have slipped $700 million into an emergency Iraq/Katrina appropriations bill for a railroad that has already been repaired at a cost of $300 million. In fact, the rail line, owned by CSX, has been fully operational since January.

Why would they want to spend the $700 million then? State officials want to buy out the rail line for the purpose of tearing it up and relocating it elsewhere to make room for waterfront development. This has been something that local developers have been pushing for years, but it only recently regained steam following Katrina.

The plan to tear up the track isn't real popular with CSX either. They're negotiating with state and federal officials, and the $700 million price tag was largely determined by the railroad.

"We rebuilt that line across the Gulf Coast as quickly as possible because it's a critical artery for us," said CSX spokesman Gary Sease. "It serves our purposes. It meets our customers' needs. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it."

The big backer of this plan is Senator Trent Lott. When confronted about this wasteful project, he attacked the "pork busters." (emphasis mine)

"I'll just say this about the so-called porkbusters. I'm getting damn tired of hearing from them. They have been nothing but trouble ever since Katrina," he said. "We in Mississippi have not asked for more than we deserve. We've been very reasonable."

Does Senator Lott think that spending $700 million to buy and tear up a railroad that they just spent $300 million on to get into working order is "reasonable?" I think he's just mad that there are people (such as Senator Coburn) who are asking questions about how taxpayer money is being spent.

Comments:

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Mississippians have been screwed by its politicians for many years. The number of malpractice lawsuites in the past is astonishing. Also, Someone like Baptist Hospital needs to move into the North MS area and give North Mississippi Medical Center a run for its money.

It isnt a "Railroad to nowhere." It's a railroad to the politicians pockets at the expense of taxpayers who get no ride.

Posted by: at April 5, 2006 02:46 PM

So in the wake of Katrina, Lott et al want to clear out the railroad to make room for more waterfront development...that we can all bail out next time it's destroyed by hurricane. Hmm.

Posted by: amyc at April 5, 2006 04:33 PM

Just follow the money and I'm sure you'll find Lott associated with the developers either directly or thru campaign donations.

Lott can save everyone a lot of trouble and grief before the next hurricane. Don't develop anything and write a check directly to his buddies in Miss.
Get paid by the government not to build like getting paid not to grow corn.

Posted by: Rick Forman at April 5, 2006 09:19 PM

The first comment was made by me. I got POST happy and forgot to fill out the appropriate info.

Posted by: Creative Liberty at April 6, 2006 11:14 AM

where is the map or the aerial photo?
Lets see what it is.

Posted by: bigL at April 6, 2006 02:11 PM