John Mica (R) To Obama On High Speed Rail; “I’m The Best Cheerleader”

Orlando Political Press ^ | January 26, 2011 | Tom Tillison

[SterlingSilver]

As Barack Obama was exiting the House Chamber at the conclusion of last night’s State of the Union address, a very interesting exchange was captured on camera between the President and Republican John Mica (FL-7), Chairman of the Transportation Committee.

Mica can be seen in the middle of a group of Democrat lawmakers clamoring for Obama’s autograph, standing next to Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA20), a huge high speed rail supporter who’s lobbying hard for the project in California.

As Obama approaches Mica, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to Obama’s immediate right and Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) directly behind him, the Forida Congressman extends a copy of the evening’s program toward the President and they have the following exchange...

[SterlingSilver]

At a time when the country is buried in debt, Federal spending remains out of control and the Republicans are laboring to try to craft various ways to reduce the national debt and get the Federal budget under control, there are proponents of money sucking High Speed Rail Projects that still don't get it. WE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY FOR THESE BOONDOGGLES!

John Mica (R-FL7) Chairman of the Transportation Committee, has been dancing around this unpopular issue in Florida, leading many to believe that his position on HSR is not really favorable.

In an unguarded moment last night however, he got caught speaking the pesky truth about where he really stands... He considers himself the best cheerleader for HSR.

Mica = a real RINO

[WOBBLY BOB]

no Mica,that was Willie Green.

[US Navy Vet]

CRAM IT Mica, YOU inflicted the TSA AND the “Homeland””Security” Dept on US. Swive(look it up in the dictionary) You RINO!

[11th Commandment]

So all the new Governors immediately axed all high speed rail programs.... but Obama thought it would be a good idea to promote... what a maroon.

[WOBBLY BOB]

High Speed Rail Goes Loco

California’s high speed rail project could be shaping up as the awesomest catastrogeddon of 2011.
The California High Speed Rail Authority is committed to breaking ground on a leg of the train that will serve passengers between the unincorporated town of Borden and the half-incarcerated town of Corcoran.
Whether you call it the train from nowhere or the train to nowhere, nobody will be riding it even when it’s done. That’s not libertarian cant: The actual plan for the $4.15 billion leg is that upon completion it will sit idle until other sections of track are completed.
Nobody likes this plan.

http://reason.com/blog/2010/12/03/high-speed-rail-goes-loco

3 Reasons Why Obama’s High-Speed Rail Will Go Nowhere Fast

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xyUg4J7Sf8

[UCFRoadWarrior]

John Mica used to be one of the best American Conservatives in the GOP....now he has gone full Al Gore Liberal Globalist

Part of the agenda of the Free Trade Communist/UN/Globalist crowd is to take people out of their cars and put them on “mass transportation”

We do not need high speed rail....we cannot afford it.

[Hodar]

Gotta disagree - Mica is not the 'Best Cheerleader'

May I offer an alternative choice?

[Doc Savage]

Fire him! Point blank!

[B4Ranch]

>>John Mica used to be one of the best American Conservatives in the GOP....now he has gone full Al Gore Liberal Globalist.<<

This year at the SOTU address, we had dozens of members of Congress who chose bipartisan seating showing the American viewers that in fact the US Congress is now a one party membership. Yes, that’s what I said. The US Congress is a ONE PARTY membership. ONE PARTY membership is Communist Party.

How long will it take before the rest of the nation, and the supposedly conservative media recognizes that the Republic has become a memory. A subject for the history books.

[FreeAtlanta]

Blank? What’s the point?

Yeah, he didn’t learn anything from 2010. I hope someone good runs against him in the primary.

[livius]

Actually, he’s not. I’m not sure exactly what this refers to; just last week he said there was absolutely no reason for the Orlando-Tampa high speed rail and he was going to do everything to get it defunded.

There’s nothing wrong with HSR in general, if it connects places that are reasonably far apart where a sufficient number of people want to go and need to get there quickly (between two large but distant cities, for example); but almost all of these HSR projects are nothing but pork, and there’d be no ridership if they got built.

Mica is very much behind the idea of a Jacksonville to Miami coast passenger rail, which I think is a great idea. It’s not HSR, however, because it needs to make a fair number of stops - but it would be a lot faster and easier than driving.

I think they just got Mica in an out of context remark.

[Wuli]

Florida needs high speed rail as much as Orlando NEEDS another theme park, which is nil.

If the theme park industry in Orlando is unsatisfied with the number of flights coming in and out of Orlando’s airport and thinks they can get THE NATION’S taxpayers to help get travelers flying into Tampa/St.Pete shipped into and out of Orlando on high speed rail, their nuts.

They can build it themselves. I’m sure Disney could do it if it wanted to and make a profit (if it was run FOR Disney on Disney’s terms).

[KevinDavis]

There is a mode of transportation that is bit faster than rail.. It is called a car..

[livius]

Actually, it’s not faster, we pay a fortune in taxes for highways, the government taxes gas up one side and down the other...and Mica wants the high speed rail to be supported by private investors, not the government. The government, incidentally, builds the highways.