Thread: Midwest in the house?! (wanna train!)

The administration gathered eight governors, including Gov. Pat Quinn, for a roundtable at the White House on Wednesday. Interviewed at the White House afterward, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a former Illinois congressman, noted that Obama and his chief of staff, Chicagoan Rahm Emanuel, have taken an intense interest in the rail initiative. He suggested that that would work in favor of substantial financial support for a Midwest network.

Obama and Emanuel made funding for high-speed rail a priority in negotiations over the economic stimulus package. In addition to the $8 billion secured in the economic stimulus, the White House has asked for another $5 billion over the next five years.

“This is the president’s initiative,” LaHood said. “I mean he and Rahm personally saw to it that Congress included $8 billion for high-speed rail. And I don’t want to answer to the president why we’re not doing something in the Midwest.”

According to transportation experts, the Midwest bid also will merit support because of Chicago’s central role in the nation’s overall rail and other transportation networks.

“Based on the conversations I had with the governors today, I think [the Midwest] will have as good a proposal as any that we will receive,” LaHood said. “Everyone will have a reasonable chance.”

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