High speed rail

A high speed rail system is the latest and greatest promise from the lips of the "Messiah." The rail system from Tampa to Orlando will provide 23,000 jobs. When will this happen? How soon will construction start on this project - one year, two years, three years? What is the time line for all these fabulous jobs?

Biden stated that everything is ready to go. All the land has been purchased. All the permits have been applied for. All the survey work on the routes has been done. So there are no pre-construction jobs out there. So how long before construction begins?

The money from the federal government won't pay for it all, so where is the rest of it coming from? I feel someone putting their hand in my pocket. They say the 'public' will pay for building the system, and then the riders will pay for operation of the system. Really? Will enough riders be found to pay for operations with only four stops from start to stop?

There is one other project that we can look to for information. We all have heard of Amtrak. I think we all know how well that has worked out. We pay, with our taxes, for this system with "bailout" funds every year. They have never met their operation costs with rider payments. The cost is comparable to flying when you are going from Miami to Washington. So why would any person sit on a train for a day instead of taking a four-hour trip start to stop, including check in and baggage claim, on an airplane? The answer is "no one in their right mind."

This is merely another sucker play to try and get votes in this year's elections. Listening to and reading some of the responses to reporter questions, it will probably work. There are still people out there who will believe anything the "Messiah" says.

Gerald Lesmeister

Weeki Wachee