President Obama and the Blueprint for building the big thing

The comedian Lewis Black said during one of his many stand up routines that the best way to get the economy running and back on track is to “build a big thing” and it appears as though the President is paying attention.

President Barack Obama announced the Obama administrations "Vision for High Speed Rail" and plans to build federally funded High Speed rail systems in 10 likely areas of the nation today.

The areas are to include New York, New England, Pennsylvania, California, the Pacific Northwest, and the Midwest.



The heavily congested and highly traveled corridor between DC and New England could be getting a major retro fit and getting an accelerated boost in travel options from as far north as Boston.

Chicago would be the hub of the Presidents proposed Midwest Regional Rail system. This system would have arms spanning from Madison Wisconsin, St Lois Missouri and Detroit Michigan.

At an event held near the White House today President Obama said about his high speed rail plans: "My high-speed rail proposal will lead to innovations that change the way we travel in America. We must start developing clean, energy-efficient transportation that will define our regions for centuries to come,"

President Barack Obama had stated while on the campaign trail leading up to the elections that he would support a national network of high speed passenger trains.

The funding for the projects would come in part from the $8 billion that was earmarked for improvements to the rail systems in the recent $787 billion stimulus package. Another portion of the funding would come from the Obama administrations 2010 fiscal budget which allocates an additional $5 billion to the high speed rail concept.

I wondeer what Lewis Black thinks about this concept?