CSX Deal Dead

The Florida Senate has scrapped the horrible CSX deal.

Claiming the huge bill loaded with projects for other regions like South Florida was being weighted down by the controversial rail deal, Senate Transportation Chairman Carey Baker, R-Eustis, said he would gut the CSX legal protections and framwork for the deal to buy the 61-mile line.

"It's been a long shot," said Senate Majority Leader Dan Webster. "'It would have been a difficult vote."

Senators had prepared a raft of deal-killing amendments to the bill that had been slated for debate in the chamber today -- making changes like restricting state funding for the deal until federal money was appropriated, stripping the liability protections for CSX or prohibitng hazardous waste from being transported on the rail line.

"All we had to do was lose one amendment and it was going to be dead anyway," Webster said.

Sen. J.D. Alexander is attempting to derail (pun intended) rail funding from Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. Alexander badly wanted the CSX deal to go through. Now he is throwing i hissy fit because he didn't get his way.

The blog Stop CSX in Polk County broke the story that Alexander's was purchasing Phoenix Industries. Alexander owns Altantic Blue. The company bought Phoenix Industries, a frozen food vender that does business with CSX. The transporation bill would have placed CSX's new hub near Alexander's warehouse. One needs a scorecard to track Alexander's conflicts of interest.