Supremes fast-track oral arguments on high-speed rail lawsuit
by Dara Kam | March 2nd, 2011The Florida Supreme Court ordered oral arguments tomorrow at 3 p.m. on a lawsuit filed by two senators against Gov. Rick Scott over his nixing of a high-speed rail project.
The suit, filed by Sens. Thad Altman, R-Rockledge, and Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, accuses Scott of overstepping his authority when he rejected $2.4 billion in federal stimulus funds for a Tampa-to-Orlando rail project already approved by the legislature and his predecessor Charlie Crist.
Scott argued in his response that it was his privilege to turn down the money and that, at best, the court could order him to spend the $130.8 million already appropriated by the legislature for the project “to build a few miles of railroad for no apparent purpose”
If they did that, the “Court will have created the high-speed railroad to nowhere,” Scott’s response reads.
Tags: Arthenia Joyner, Florida Supreme Court, High-speed rail, Rick Scott, Tea Party, Thad Altman
March 2nd, 2011 at 5:08 pm
So who can confirm that what Scott says is true? Does the DOT have a requirement that he must approve the use of funds? It will be curious to find that now that he has staked his position, whether or not the Feds will change their own rules about his approval, predicated of course that what Scott says is correct.
March 3rd, 2011 at 1:42 pm
To the tune of Jimmie Rogers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbzc77Tz6PA
The original:
Waiting for a Train
All Around The Water Tank, Waiting For A Train
a Thousand Miles Away From Home, Sleeping In The Rain
i Walked Up To A Brakeman To Give Him A Line Of Talk
he Says: If You’ve Got Money, I’ll See That You Don’t Walk
i Haven’t Got A Nickel, Not A Penny Can I Show
he Said: Get Off, You Railroad Bum And Slammed The Boxcar Door
he Put Me Off In Texas, A Place I Surely Love
wide Open Spaces ‘round Me, The Moon And Stars Above
nobody Seems To Want Me Or Lend Me A Helping Hand
i’m On My Way From Frisco, Goin’ Back To Dixie Land
my Pocket Book Is Empty And My Heart Is Filled With Pain
i’m A 1000 Miles Away From Home Just Waiting For A Train
The parody:
Waiting for a Bullet Train
All around the Sunshine State, waiting for a train
Two billion dollars to build our home, flushed right down the drain
We walked up to the Captain, to see if he would talk
He says I got no money here, so you might as well just walk
We won’t spend a nickel, not a penny shall we owe
He said piss off you liberal scum and he slammed the limo door
He put us off in Florida, a place we surely love
Sunny skies, and ocean tides, and laws that he thinks he’s above
Most people seem to want it, and that we need a helping hand
Someday we’d go from Tampa, all the way to Disneyland!
You say the laws we passed are empty, and we must feel the pain
As you cut your taxes for the rich, we’re still waiting on a train!