Monday, August 3, 2009

Train Facility Decision A Big Test For M7

The Spanish train maker Talgo is selling two modern train sets to Wisconsin for the Milwaukee-Chicago run and is adding a train assembly and maintenance facility in the state.

Big news.

And the biggest test to date for the business-government collaborative M7, which needs to secure Milwaukee as the new facility location.

Janesville is also in the running, and its loss of the GM assembly makes it a candidate for sure.

But Milwaukee's larger number of unemployed, more extensive infrastructure, airport and other amenities make it the better choice.

A Milwaukee location would also expose the shallowness of conservative talk radio, where Gov. Doyle's decision to work with Talgo got the routine and braindead "choo-choo lambasting."

This is about jobs and an economic shot-in-the-arm, and though understanding Janesville's situation, Milwaukee is the better Wisconsin city for that to happen.

This is the time for the M7, Milwaukee's legislators and other groups in the Milwaukee area to present a united front to the Governor and help make Talgo in Milwaukee a reality.
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6 comments:

  1. SocratesChildrenAugust 3, 2009 at 8:40 AM

    Jim, I would allow a rail factory in the Kenosha-Racine area, but only under one condition: dedicated local funding for transit and KRM.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jo Egelhoff, FoxPolitics.netAugust 4, 2009 at 5:29 AM

    And Super Steel?

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousAugust 4, 2009 at 4:01 PM

    Granted this is a rhetorical question, but why the no-bid contact with Talgo.

    Of course we know that is because that is how Jim Doyle does "business", the buck stops with him.

    As in nothing gets done until he get some money.

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  4. enoughalreadyAugust 5, 2009 at 11:59 PM

    I think Janesville should put that former auto plant to use building trains regardless of whether it gets picked for this particular project.

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  5. WilliamAugust 7, 2009 at 4:43 PM

    Anonymous ---

    You'll have to ask Tommy Thompson why no-bid contracts are allowed for rail transit only. That rule was written to the books under his watch before he bolted for the W Administration.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousAugust 12, 2009 at 10:54 AM

    I realize there is no such thing as a bad deed that can't be blamed on a Republican one way or the other.

    But the fact that no-bid contracts are "allowed" under state law does not excuse why Doyle conducted business that way.

    Doyle was also allowed to have a competitive bidding take place - he simply decided not to.

    Guess that trip to Spain was a real humdinger.

    ReplyDelete