The TC Palm: Letter: Follow the money behind All Aboard Florida

Louis Jacobs, Port St. Lucie

With daily news about All Aboard Florida, I wonder who’s behind this whole mess?

All we see is the public face of an entity that came out of nowhere, but no hint of where funding for the very significant upfront costs is rooted. It’s like the flu — lots of attention to sneezing and coughing, but no real notice paid to the virus causing the symptoms.

I got to thinking which interests would push so hard for a project to move large numbers of people from South Florida population centers to and from Orlando (not Tampa, not Jacksonville, not on to Atlanta) and one answer seems almost too obvious — the wealthy and politically powerful amusement parks.

They’ve never been shy about pushing whatever they want through Tallahassee, and something this controversial will require some palm greasing to pass. I’d be willing to bet my hat that they’re bankrolling this thing, even if it’s through phony corporations 10 levels deep to hide their fingerprints.

I wouldn’t even be surprised if the plan is to toss distracting but short-lived problems into the public discussion to focus people away from serious debate over the important issues of AAF. One week it’s crossing safety, the next it’s horns, the next it’s freight. The continuum of disconnected discussions looks more like a strategy of confusion than a coherent and powerful opposition.

I’d love to see some gutsy investigative reporting into the forces behind the curtain; if they dig far enough, they just may find that I’m right.