“That would be a lot better if I could do that,” McCormick said of the potential bullet trains.
“(Now) it takes out almost half my day at least to travel.”

The $53 billion proposal gained a bit of revitalization to the tune of about $8 billion as part of Obama’s 2012 budget recommendations released Monday. The $53 billion is an amount the president hopes to funnel to the project during the next 10 years.

The recent proposal revives what appeared to be a dormant project first announced by Obama in early 2009. The last substantial milestone for the Midwestern corridor — which would include a line from Detroit to Chicago — occurred when former Gov. Jennifer Granholm and eight other governors pledged to support the project in summer 2009.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Snyder did not return calls Tuesday seeking comment on the governor’s stance on the high-speed rail proposal.

But Obama’s plans for funding in 2012 might be derailed by the U.S. House., which last week issued a proposal to cut $100 billion in spending for the remaining fiscal year, set to end in September. Among those cuts was the entirety of Obama’s 2011 request for $1 billion for the high-speed rail project, which would have been added atop $8 billion in stimulus funds.

Members of the Republican-led House have been critical of Obama’s 2012 budget proposal.
U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, said although the high-speed rail line ultimately would be beneficial to the state, timing and money are against the project.

“Michigan should determine its transportation and infrastructure priorities with its roads and bridges in such dire need of repair right now, not Washington,” Rogers said.

“Our country cannot afford such grand, multi-billion dollar projects as it continues to operate under a massive deficit and record amounts of debt.”

Others, though, believe a high-speed rail would be instrumental in lifting the U.S. and state out of dire financial straits.

State Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing, said some of the nation’s largest — and wisest — investments have been related to transportation and infrastructure, such as the Erie Canal and the National Highway System.

In the short and long term, building the high-speed line would create jobs and generate money for the economy, Meadows said. It also would reduce the country’s dependence on oil and would benefit commuters.

“I think it makes a lot more sense than the stimulus packages we’ve had in the past,” Meadows said of the high-speed rail’s potential economic impact. “It shows you’re committed to an improving economy and, again, it puts a hell of a lot of people to work. I think it’s the right time to do this.”