Wisconsin's railphobic Governor-elect Scott Walker is in day fourteen of his self-inflicted, post-election high-speed rail cancellation debacle, and today rolled out the third iteration of his attempted extraction from said mess.
It's a classic shell game. Where's that little pea now?
Walker rejected the train even though the feds were paying 100% of the Milwaukee-Madison construction and 90% of the operating expenses - - a pittancethat left Walker's position indefensible.
So then came the escape plans: which would stick?
First Walker said the train funding could be diverted to state highway and bridge programs. That was shot down.
Then he suggested the funding be used for other train projects in the state - - a feint designed to mollify people who were organizing raillies against him and even putting their case onan embarrassing billboard.
Today's escape plan - - a bill by Republican deficit hawks in the Congress that would give anti-rail governors the power to return their high-speed grants to the Treasury.
All the details are at my blog, and this posting.
Also an online petition set up and circulated on Facebook by One Wisconsin Now, a progressive advocacy group. It has a 501-C-3 and 4 board (Full disclosure: I sit on its C-3 board).