Covered at Reason 24/7: Republicans Look to Block LA to Vegas Rail Loan
A study by the Reason Foundation (the nonprofit organization that publishes this site and Reason magazine) has been cited by Congressional Republicans trying to block a $5.5 billion federal loan to build high-speed rail from Southern California to Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Journal-Review notes:
Two leading Republicans have urged the Obama administration to reject a $5.5 billion loan to build a high-speed rail between Las Vegas and Southern California, saying the deal is a bad gamble.
"The risks to the taxpayers from financing this project are untenable," Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama wrote to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in a March 6 letter.
Ryan is chairman of the House Budget Committee, and Sessions is the ranking GOP member on the Senate Budget Committee. Their argument was based in part on a 70-page report, released in August by the libertarian Reason Foundation, critical of the project being advanced by XpressWest.
The congressmen also cite another report from Congressional Research Service that said high-speed rail projects rarely ever earn enough revenue to cover the construction and operational costs.
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