http://www.streetsblog.org/2009/06/24/the-high-speed-rail-numbers-game-is-13-billion-and-110-mph-enough/

High-speed rail is one of the Obama administration's most prized policy goals, with $13 billion getting earmarked in the coming year alone to help break ground on up to 11 proposed regional corridors. But what will the U.S. get for its money? A lively Senate hearing yesterday attempted to answer that question. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D), the co-chairman of Building America's Future and an unabashed high-speed rail evangelist, urged senators to shrug off their post-bailout reluctance to approve large spending projects. The White House's $13 billion commitment, Rendell argued, is only a down payment on a workable system. "We can't do infrastructure on the cheap," Rendell said. "We have to find the political courage to find a way to pay for it."