Bill Breitsprecher’s View: “ Frank Patton/GLBT RR Caught in Another Lie!”

Tonight, I heard Wisconsin Railroad Commissioner Yash P. Wadhwa, PE,
discussing current railroad issues facing Wisconsin.  He was remarkably
under-informed and sometimes entirely misinformed about Great Lakes Basin
Railroad – this should not surprise anyone as the state’s Railroad
Commissioner is a political appointed position that is little more than a
public relations dog-and-pony show.
He directly stated that GLBT acknowledges it will cost $12 Billion to
build – 50% more than Frank Patton has stated repeatedly at all public
meetings.  Interestingly enough, during a question-and-answer period,
Wadhwa would not reveal what he is paid as Wisconsin’s Railroad
Commissioner.  Wadhwa is a frequent contributor to the campaigns of Gov.
Scott Walker and other Republicans and ran unsuccessfully for the Assembly
in 2008.
Also – I am disappointed that some have tried to make Wisconsin Rep. Amy
Loudenbeck out to be a “hero” fighting GLBT.  Nothing could be farther
from the truth.  Not only has she not done a thing to directly challenge
GLBT in any meaningful way, but she is the Chair of a Study Committee on
the Preservation of Burial Sites.  This is a sham committee that has
nothing to do with preserving burial sites.
In fact, the law she is championing will ALLOW construction projects like
Great Lakes Basin Railroad to streamline the process of developing burial
grounds.  Southern Wisconsin has many mounds and pre-historic burial sites
that go back to at least the Woodland period (500–1000 CE).  While she
will not admit it, without Loudenbeck’s work undermining current laws that
protect these sites, it would not be possible for Frank Patton to meet his
construction schedule because:
1.  It is a sure-thing that evidence of Native American villages and
burials will be found in Southern Wisconsin.
2.  Current laws demand construction be stopped and then an archeology
survey needs to be done to fully document the site, doing extensive
excavations to recover any artifacts.
While many believe that Loudenbeck is acting on behalf of Wingra Stone and
Redi-Mix, a Madison-based construction and concrete company locked in a
legal fight with the Ho-Chunk since 2014 over burial mounds located within
a Wingra quarry in Dane County, in fact she is also promoting a critical
piece of legislation that will enable Frank Patton to develop GLBT RR
without any responsibility for archeology preservation.  Patton cannot
build GLBT in a timely manner and within his projected costs if he has to
follow current Wisconsin law.
Frank Patton has not been honest about GLBT – but be careful, he has
allies that are playing both-sides of the fence for their own political
gain who are:
1.  Talking out of both sides of their mouths while working
behind-the-scenes to help Patton and the interests behind him.
2.  Giving lip-service to local groups that want to stop GLBT.  Loudenbeck
is a typical politician that grandstands in public with constituents, but
is actually working for business interests that are not even in her
district.
Bill Breitsprecher
Publisher, Great Lakes Basin Rail News & Views
608.556.2062 (cell)