LETTER: Brightline deserves taxpayer money
In your Monday editorial, “Trump White House likely to target rail subsidies,” you write that Elon Musk stated that the federal subsidies for high-speed rail were “for practically nothing.” This is the same Mr. Musk on whom we spend billions of taxpayer dollars for high-speed rocket service to space, among other subsidies. What were those for?
How about we look at our government subsidies to corporate farmers? They benefit only corporate farmers. Or subsidies to milk producers and dairy companies that end up dumping milk down the drain or turning it into cheese to be buried until it rots. Or how we use rationed Lake Mead water to grow the alfalfa that we subsidize to those milk producers we subsidize. And, locally, how we spend our Las Vegas tax dollars to subsidize building a baseball stadium for rich team owners. Who benefits there?
Out of all the recipients of these subsidies, the Brightline rail company has a proven “track” record of successful money-saving rail systems on the East Coast, where millions benefit.