The Cost of Speeding into the 21st Century

    I would love it if we could take our Transportation secretary up on his desire to make the U.S. "the world leader" in high-speed rail. High-speed rail is faster than most Amtrak trains. You don't have to wait in ticket lines (but maybe if it got popular, you would) like you do with planes. It can offer better accomodations, even private bedrooms.

   Bottom line, you want to provide the most-advanced and luxurious service you can to your citizens. This is the 21st Century, and you want to grab at every technology it offers. Hey, if we could go even further and speed into to the age of the Jetsons, we would.
   President Lyndon Baines Johnson started us on the quest for high-speed rail, and we continue to pursue it. It was part of his "Great Society" vision.
   Alas, alas. All this might be too expensive. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg’s proposal would add more than $4 trillion to the federal debt. All this while carrying less than 2 percent of the nation’s passenger travel.