I think all you have to do is read in the report that Tea Party Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is given as a positive example of turning down money for high speed rail. In reality he will go down in history as simply making a political statement to conservatives in his state and nothing more. This wasn't high speed rail, but an extension of Chicago-Milwaukee Hiawatha service to his own state capitol in Madison. What Walker did was turn down $810 million in federal funds to build the line in order to not pay the annual $7.5 million state subsidy in operating costs. It was also a chance to say no to Obama. This is about as anti-passenger rail as you can get. I also see conservative congressional members can't wait to put Amtrak on the chopping block for massive cuts/elimination.

Ostrum