Leadership, Strategic Blueprints, Views on News • August 4th, 2009

The trains from Spain

by Chris Lato

A 47-million dollar, no-bid contract for trains from Spain gets the approval of the Joint Finance Committee. Even legislative Democrat leaders are expressing some misgivings over the way the Doyle administration handled this one - yet are doing little to actually challenge it.

Republicans like Rep. Robin Vos are sounding off, but it doesn’t matter much. The die is cast, the deal is done.

All this in the face of evidence that the state originally planned to do a competitive bidding process, then decided it was too much bother. Also, other companies had expressed interest in the project.

The fallout, if any, will be interesting. Is this just what politicians do, therefore we’re done thinking that any of this matters?

The question of numbness to the process comes at a time when government has shown an alarming propensity to act fast, under as much cover as possible, to railroad (pardon the pun) massive spending through the minimum number of channels. It’s being done in the guise of ‘crisis’ - that is, we must act immediately or risk irreparable harm to the state/nation.

We’re seeing it at the federal level - the ‘cash for clunkers’ program comes to mind, along with the notion that health care ‘reform’ must pass at the speed of light, otherwise America will collapse. A few months ago, that gambit worked as hundreds of billions of dollars flew out of Washington with little initial scrutiny or oversight.

The last two elections pointed to a growing desire for change of some sort, and the recession is leaving folks feeling battered, a bit defeated. We have problems and stresses close to home that we’re worried about, with business closings, job losses and salary reductions - so who cares what the politicians in DC and Madison are up to?

Opportunistic politicians recognize this malaise, and see this as a chance to seize the agenda.

And yet… The recent rise of ‘town hells’ suggests people are recognizing the limits and hazards of government unbound. And despite the efforts to demonize protestors as nothing more than right-wing crackpots, all this loud protesting is serving a useful purpose - to slow things down, to force scrutiny, to question those who insist they have absolutely nothing but your best interests at heart.

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