National Public Radio reported last week on how newly-elected Republican governors are pledging to reject federal funding for high-speed rail. Rejecting rail doesn’t just mean more congested roads, more reliance on foreign oil, and more polluted air. It means that in Wisconsin, Gov.-elect Scott Walker may kill jobs in his own state:
Caught in the middle of the backlash are workers for companies such as Talgo, a manufacturer of high-speed trains that just opened a new plant, bringing jobs to Milwaukee.
According to spokeswoman Nora Friend, Talgo will have 40 employees by the end of November, and it plans to hire up to 125 positions. Friend says the company is now faced with telling its workers they might be out of jobs when the trains they are making now are completed.
“If we don’t have any more orders, then as a business entity, we have no choice but to shut down the facility,” Friend says.
The story also highlights the DC media’s nonsensical coverage of the national jobs picture. All you hear from pundits is that Obama isn’t doing enough to create jobs. But in this & other instances, Republicans are proactively working to block President Obama & Democrats in Congress from creating jobs.
UPDATE: Matt Yglesias wonders if the White House has a plan if the GOP resorts to all-out deliberate economic sabotage.
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