"Deal? What deal?"

That's what Strickland essentially said to Senate Republicans as he forced through phase 2 of the 3-C Slow Speed Choo Choo - the $25 million to be spent on planning and design of the project.

Yesterday, in lieu of the Governor backtracking on his promise in the Transportation budget to make each 3C-related Controlling Board vote require a supermajority of 5-2 rather than 4-3, the motion passed by partisan vote and the spending was approved.

Don't forget, the $25 million in taxpayer dollars that's being spent won't even pay for half of the design of the project. That means at the end of this supposedly 9-month long study, we still will be missing a majority of what is needed for its completion. The cost could be $400 million, it could be $700 million - we simply won't know.

Despite spending $25 million.

This train isn't even close to hitting the tracks and it's already a boondoggle.

This is a major project that will require a permanent and unquestionably large investment at the state level each year in order to keep the empty trains moving. If the Governor so desperately wants to make this project happen, why can't he at least make sure it's done right? Why must he make even something like this a partisan fight?