LogFAQs > #986459489

Voidgolem posted...

now, that's not entirely true. There was also a colossal amount of money from the coal and automotive industries

Yes, but it wasn't uncommon to see Republicans support high-speed rail back in the day.

For example, the 2004 Republican Party platform actually specifically supported the "development of a high-speed passenger railroad system". Many prominent Republicans, such as Newt Gingrich and even their evil mastermind Paul Weyrich, were actually pretty big supporters of high-speed rail and transit projects.

Of course, once the Obama administration actually included money for high-speed rail in the 2009 stimulus bill, the Republicans suddenly became opposed to it. Republican obstructionism has always been a problem of sorts but it really took off after Obama came into office - they opposed common sense ideas that were originally their own just because Obama supported them. Republican governors and state legislatures literally turned down free money from the federal government to help their poorest citizens get healthcare just because they didn't want Obama getting credit for it...incredibly depressing.