Liberals love to sing the praises of Europe when it comes to ‘green energy’ and infrastructure.

Lately, the liberals favorite infrastructure project is high-speed rail. Early in 2010, Obama had this to say about Spain’s high-speed rail:

When President Barack Obama introduced his high-speed rail plan last year, he pointed to Spain — not only as an example to follow, but also as a country America has fallen behind. “In Spain, a high-speed line between Madrid and Seville is so successful that more people travel between those cities by rail than by car and airplane combined,” said the President, “There’s no reason why we can’t do this. This is America. There’s no reason why the future of travel should lie somewhere else beyond our borders.”

Liberals are always selling the idea that ‘investments’ in green energy and infrastructure are the cure-all our floundering economy needs.

Joining the high-speed rail investment chorus is Michigan’s tough nerd Governor, Rick Snyder (RINO) who had this to say about high-speed rail:

Snyder said in a statement that “investment of this magnitude can spur economic development in our communities with rail stations, and provide access to a 21st century rail system that will help Michigan citizens compete in a global economy. Reliable, fast train service is attractive to businesses that want to locate or expand near it. This investment in our rail system is critical to Michigan’s recovery.”

If you want to see the results of this plan put into put into practice, look no further than Spain. Even rail supporters in Spain admit high-speed rail is an economic loser without government subsidies.

Critics say the AVE will never stop losing money. Even its backers say high-speed rail can only be economical if the state bears much of the construction costs. But they say the train’s benefits-lower greenhouse-gas emissions, less road congestion and, in Spain’s case, greater social cohesion and economic mobility-make it an investment worth making.

Spain is a leader in both green energy and high-speed rail. They also have a 21% unemployment rate and a burgeoning black market economy (to avoid the heavy tax burden) to show for their efforts.

What type of tax rates are required to support this kind of infrastructure investments?

Of course the total income tax rate for Spain doesn’t include the 18% VAT (a.k.a. national sales tax) levied on every purchase the Spanish people make. And even with this kind of taxation on its citizens (at least the citizens who are working) the Spanish government is circling the economic drain and could need a massive economic bailout from the EU shortly.

Fathom also warns that Spain remains vulnerable, despite Madrid insisting last week that its economy is much healthier than Portugal’s and its debts are much more manageable. Spanish banks must roll over debts worth more than 5% of GDP this year, and more than 9% in 2012, in addition to the government’s financing needs. A two-point increase in the interest Madrid pays in the bond markets – much of which could come from the ECB, even without a further loss of confidence from bond investors – would, on Fathom’s calculations, force Spain into a fiscal crisis.

High speed rail fails economically everywhere it’s tried. Even in China, where may Chinese economists are calling for cancellation of their massive $100 billion rail project.

Last year, the Chinese Academy of Sciences asked the government to reconsider its high-speed rail plans because of the system’s huge debts.

Of course, if the Chinese do finish their system, it is likely to require operating subsidies for many years – possibly forever. A recent World Bank report on high-speed rail systems around the world noted that ridership forecasts rarely materialize and warned that “governments contemplating the benefits of a new high-speed railway, whether procured by public or private or combined public-private project structures, should also contemplate the near-certainty of copious and continuing budget support for the debt.”

That’s certainly what happened in Japan, where only a single bullet-train line, between Japan and Osaka, breaks even; it’s what happened in France, where only the Paris-Lyon line is in the black. Taiwan tried a privately financed system, but it ended up losing so much money that the government had to bail it out in 2009.

If our tough nerd Governor continues to follow the Jennifer Granholm economic model, Michigan will be needing a bailout in no time.