Setting aside the real and important policy debates about the American stimulus package, I’d like to look a little at one sub-plot: high-speed rail.

As one of the regional centers for the planned $8 billion investment in rail infrastructure, southern Wisconsin sees quite a bit of debate about the desirability (or lack thereof) of a return of passenger rail.

These are legitimate debates to an extent. To an extent they’re political grandstanding. But one recurring theme among those in opposition to high-speed rail is a bit mystifying: that it’s un-American to build rail.

The logic, as best I can articulate it, is that (1) rail puts limits on personal mobility, as compared with cars; (2) rail is capital-intensive and therefore amounts to tax-based social engineering; and (3) that unlimited personal mobility and low taxes are what make America great. Therefore, rail is more than a government waste: it must be resisted.

I respect the logic but disagree with some of the important foundations to the argument. I’m a big fan of public investment in public transport. Yet I understand the arguments. The question, though, is: why is high level of mobility American? Why is it American to have small government?