Posted on 01/30/2012 5:53:26 PM PST by Kaslin
California has a huge state debt and Washington has a huge national debt. But that does not discourage either Gov. Jerry Brown or President Barack Obama from wanting to launch a very costly high-speed rail system.
Most of us might be a little skittish about spending money if we were teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. But the beauty of politics is that it is all other people's money, including among those other people generations yet-to-be born.
The high-speed rail system proposed for California has been envisioned as a model for similar systems elsewhere in the United States. A recent story in the San Francisco Chronicle used the high-speed rail system in Spain as an analogy for California.
Spain is about the same size as California, and has a similar population density — and population density is the key to the economic viability of mass transportation, from subways to high-speed rail.
It so happens that I have ridden on Spain's high-speed rail system. It was very nice, especially since I did not have to pay the full costs, which were subsidized by the Spanish taxpayers.
While the Spanish government has been subsidizing the passengers on its high-speed rail system, the European Union has been subsidizing the Spanish government. Someone once said that government is the illusion that we can all live off somebody else. Spain's high-speed rail system is not even covering its operating costs, never mind the enormous costs of setting up the system in the first place. One reason is that half the seats are empty in the high-speed trains in Spain.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...
And Spain is also broke like California.
So, can we call the California High Speed Rail system the “Solyndra of the Rail System”?
Perhaps it should be called “SolyndRail”?
California insanity bump
At times like this, I miss the hyperventilating of Willie Green.
You better copyright that.
Here is yet another case where everyone is all wrong on the issue, I say EMBRACE the High Speed Rail, All the Public Employees Do, So I say Build it with THEIR PENSION FUNDS, Deducted right out of their monthly check.
All Public Transportation projects that exceed 10% over their “Original Projected Amount” Shall be Paid for By direct deductions from All Taxpayer Funded Pension Distributions. All Operating Losses Shall be the Responsibility of All Persons receiving a Salary or Wage from the Taxpayers.
They Want it, let them Pay for it.
LOL! So do I and Dr. Sowell nailed this like he usually does.
This rail system was one of the worst ideas ever thought of. And who did they think would ever ride it? For $100 dollars each way from San Fran to L.A.? Huh: You can drive cheaper.........heck, you can fly cheaper.
Now........if they do a line only from Bakersfield to LA for commuting purposes, it just might be feasible. But from San Fran or Fresno to L.A.? Never going to happen.
This is just dimwitted dims trying to force a major boondoggle on CA.
Someone called in to John and Ken and said it should be named after the governor. They should call it the "Brown Streak".
I will never forget one of his common refrains:
“Our grandchildren will thank us for building passenger rail lines!”
That one always made me chuckle.
I remember him bringing up the grandchildren thing.
The final straw with me was when he posted a pro high speed rail article from the AFL-CIO website. It was far out.
I believe it was then that I just started posting links to Boxcar Willie train songs whenever I saw him post a high speed rail thread. He never replied to me after that. :-)
Who owns or has options on the property to be purchased for the rail corridor and depots?
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