Kirk Votes Against High-Speed Rail Funding

By Kevin Robinson in News on Jul 27, 2009 4:00PM

When he isn't warning Chinese government officials of the duplicitous ways of the current White House administration, Mark Kirk has been fairly vocal about how we should handle the current economic downturn. Kirk, who is running for the U.S. Senate Seat that is up for grabs next year, has been a critic of how the money in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is being spent. One of those key criticisms is that there is too much "social spending" and not enough focus on infrastructure spending. Few would disagree that capital spending on transit and buildings has a direct impact on putting people to work. And the debate over social spending - such as student loans, extended unemployment benefits and education spending - is as valid as the divide between fiscal conservatives and their counterparts in the progressive camps.

What's curious, then, is Kirk's vote, along with Congressman Peter Roskam, to try and strip $4 billion in federal funding set aside for a national high-speed rail network from a larger transportation and housing bill. If Kirk is serious about the need to both stimulate the battered economy and invest in infrastructure (as he's said he does), then it seems counter intuitive to try and hobble a program that's got states in several regions nationally working together to formulate plans for high-speed rail hubs. Moreso when you consider the jobs that would be created from having to build such a network, let alone the long-term economic impact such a network would have on regions that are hubs, or are connected to such a network. As Adam Doster at Progress Illinois points out, it may be worth asking Kirk and Roskam why a program that would create so many economic benefits for the midwest isn't worth funding.