Shuster Rejects Rail, Rejects His State And His Father's Legacy In The Process

Grand. Just grand.

The announcement was met immediately by deep skepticism from two House Republicans that could be crucial to the plan's success, raising questions about whether it can clear Capitol Hill.

House Transportation Committee Chair Rep. John Mica (R) of Florida said previous administration grants to high-speed rail projects were a failure, producing "snail speed trains to nowhere." He called Amtrak a "Soviet-style train system" and said it "hijacked" nearly all the administration's rail projects.

Meanwhile, Railroads Subcommittee Chair Rep. Bill Shuster (R) of Pennsylvania said Mr. Biden's plan was "insanity," adding: "Rail projects that are not economically sound will not 'win the future' " – coopting the slogan President Obama coined in his State of the Union address.

As Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Daily News notes, this is funny and ironic. First off, what the hell does it say for our future that the CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE thinks Amtrak is a "Soviet-Style Train System." Really Congressman Mica? Hence, this is why Amtrak is on the House Republican Study Committee's "cut list," and why I can't help but think that Transportation policy in the United States may be doomed for quite some time. I presume that the only thing we might even get, and it's a big "might," is more highways, and a continuing addiction to driving in America, and mass consumption. With that said, Congressman Mica is the less ironic of the two, even if it is ironic that our House of Representatives has a Transportation Chairman that hates Amtrak.

Shuster's father was considered the "king of pork" in his day, grabbing every transportation dollar he could get his hands on, and building roads that literally don't go anywhere, like the one above pictured. Bud Shuster, the legendary ex-Congressman grabbed the money for I-99 and other projects like it because he understood that building infrastructure creates jobs now, and in the future. Now, it appears clear that Young Shuster is not his father, fair enough, and we're not going to blame him for his father. Maybe he believes his father was wrong about job creation from good infrastructure. Fair enough. His negative attitude about rail appears to be foolish to me. He represents Altoona, famous for, yes, trains. While high-speed rail is popular and thriving in the western United States, Shuster doesn't think it's worth it though. He's the CHAIRMAN of the SUBCOMMITTEE ON RAIL on the Transportation Committee. Yup, he basically doesn't want his subcommittee to do much I guess.