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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alighieri who wrote (684341)	11/11/2012 5:10:40 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1571200

Train-maker Talgo sues Gov. Walker, Wisconsin By Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel Nov. 5, 2012 Madison - A manufacturer has sued Gov. Scott Walker and is claiming it does not have to turn over two new train sets that have cost the state more than $42 million. The state agreed in 2009 to buy two new train sets from Talgo Inc. for Amtrak's Hiawatha line, which runs from Milwaukee to Chicago, but Walker's administration and Republicans in the Legislature have repeatedly clashed with the firm since last year. In March, the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee voted 12-4 on party lines to reject borrowing $2.5 million for additional planning to replace a maintenance base for the trains. Walker's Department of Transportation said that vote meant the state would not be able to put the trains into service. In April, Talgo invoiced the state $4.6 million for ongoing work on the trains. It didn't get paid as the two differed over who would pay for testing the trains, and in July Talgo sent the state a letter saying it was in default and demanding that the state make payment within 30 days. The two sides held a mediation session last week but reached no agreement. Last Thursday, the firm filed a notice with the state saying it was terminating its contract with the state and on Friday filed a lawsuit in Dane County Circuit Court asking Judge Juan Colas to declare Talgo had the right to terminate the contract and properly did so. If it prevails, Talgo would get to keep the trains and the money the state has paid to it. The firm claims it is owed another $10 million on top of what it has already been paid, attorney Lester Pines said. If the firm is able to keep the trains, it will sell them to another state, he said. Talgo's chief executive officer, Antonio Perez, said in a statement that Wisconsin has "used every conceivable excuse, whether fair or not and whether lawful or not, to ensure that Talgo did not receive what it bargained for, including by refusing to pay for the trains that Talgo completed." "I don't see how any company would in the future choose to do business with the State of Wisconsin when the state has shown that it cannot be trusted to honor contracts that it signed," Perez's statement said. DOT spokeswoman Peg Schmitt said agency officials were disappointed mediation had not been successful. She said the firm had "failed to complete or test the train sets and they do not meet even basic federal standards, such as those required under the Americans with Disabilities Act." Talgo, a Spanish company with U.S. headquarters in Seattle, got a no-bid contract in which the state agreed to buy the two train sets for $47.5 million. That cost has since increased by more than $1 million because of contract changes, and the state has so far paid $42.2 million to the firm, according to the DOT. The state has expended millions more for a temporary maintenance base and planning for a permanent base, spare parts and consulting fees. The payments were made using bonds, with taxpayers ultimately on the hook for those expenditures. Legal action appeared likely after the March vote, when the DOT said the legislative committee's action meant the trains would not be used. The DOT contends not using the Talgo trains will save the state $12.2 million a year in operational costs over the next 20 years - a figure the firm has disputed. Talgo has been in the political spotlight since Wisconsin won an $810 million stimulus grant to build a high-speed rail from Milwaukee to Madison. The federal government revoked the award after Walker won election in 2010 on a promise to stop the train. The lawsuit, however, centers on the trains for the Milwaukee-Chicago line and is not related to the abandoned Milwaukee-Madison line. jsonline.com

To: Alighieri who wrote (684341)	11/11/2012 10:01:59 PM
From: Tenchusatsu	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1571200

Al, what romney and gingrich did to each other in the primaries has NOTHING to do with the left...both of these men have free will and choices... WTF are you talking about? I never said the left forced either of them to do what they did. Gingrich proved that he will say anything and do anything to advance his own political career. That included acting like a liberal when he thought it would benefit him. Like I said, Obama couldn't have asked for a better gift. Tenchusatsu