So thankful the Brookfield train station question has been delayed

Before too much time goes by, I wanted to say, thank you Mayor Ponto, for delaying the decision on the Brookfield train station until AFTER the November election. Mayor Ponto informed the Aldermen of this delay Friday, Sept. 24th. He wrote, "I do not intend to place this matter on the Common Council agenda prior to the November 2nd election."

The Journal Sentinel article last Monday reported "Ponto said it makes no sense for the council to consider whether to endorse the station project without knowing its costs and without knowing who will be governor next year."

Mayor Ponto and I have emailed back and forth on this issue a few times. He wrote: "I must tell you that I would not recommend moving forward with a rail station in Brookfield on the information I have seen thus far." and "When we have a final proposal, I will tell the Council what I think and do so substantially in advance of the relevant meeting."

Right now we are debating if Wisconsin can afford this "free" short little rail line from Milwaukee to Madison, that will cost American taxpayers nearly $1 Billion dollars and Wisconsin taxpayers somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 Million a year to operate. (Let's see, that works out to how much per mile?)

That $10 Million a year that comes right out of Wisconsin's Transportation Fund to operate just 70 miles of track that only serves the Milwaukee/Madison area. How will our state, or country for that matter, afford the additional runs to Minneapolis, LaCrosse, KRM, and Green Bay, not to mention the other proposed rail lines in our nation? (The Wisconsin Transportation Fund was to pay for needed infrastructure like bridges, the Interstate, and Wisconsin highways that most Wisconsinites utilize, not a rail line that only a small minority will use.)

We must stop this train. It isn't a matter of wouldn't it be nice to have a train?; we simply cannot afford it! (It would be nice to have a solarium on my house too, but it costs too much.) Our state of Wisconsin is projected to be $386 Million in the hole by December 2010. We cannot afford what we now have, much less a whole new train system.

So how do we stop the train? Elect Scott Walker.

Last Tuesday, Gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker again stated his opposition to the Milwaukee to Madison train project at a press conference near the proposed Brookfield train station site. Walker affirmed he would STOP the train, should he be elected as Wisconsin's next governor. He has cited the Blue Shirt sculpture as an example of how it is possible to stop already contracted work.

We must knock "high" speed train off its rails before Wisconsin is railroaded into a new massive, wasteful spending project that we cannot afford.

In the meantime, thanks again Mayor Ponto for delaying the Brookfield train station decision.

If you have not contacted Mayor Ponto and your Aldermen, please do so.


More Reading: Brookfield Mayor delays decision on train station until after election
Mayor Ponto's September 24th memo to Aldermen
NoTrain.com

Past Posts: STOP the Obama & Doyle waste-of-money train
Walker rally made political hay, ad gained national attention

Links: Practically Speaking, Betterbrookfield, RandyMelchert, Jay Weber, Vicki McKenna, The Right View Wisconsin, CNS News, Mark Levin, Breitbart BigGovernment, The Heritage Foundation