Posted on 06/03/2012 6:24:02 AM PDT by SmithL
Jerry Brown, not surprisingly, used a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge to tout his two bids for public works posterity – a north-south bullet train and a tunnel for water to bypass the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
"Suck it in!" Brown said. "We got to build, we got to do it right. And this bridge I think really expresses that sense."
Just as the bridge proved to be an economic boon, Brown said, so would a bullet train and a tunnel to improve water supply reliability, adding that just as the Golden Gate Bridge "connects one side to the other and we are connected today to our past and to our future."
Nice try, governor. But a deeper comparison of his pet projects to the Golden Gate Bridge and the contemporaneous San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge reveals flaws in his logic.
Both of those Great Depression projects took much political courage and foresight to construct, as Brown correctly noted. Counties north of the entrance to San Francisco Bay floated bonds, to be repaid with bridge tolls, to finance the project. The state sold toll-backed bonds for the Bay Bridge.
The Delta tunnel makes sense because it would, like the bridges, deal with a troublesome bottleneck. But it should be completely financed with the same kind of revenue bonds, serviced by water fees, that were used for earlier water projects. A general obligation bond now on the November ballot, which would pay for some of the tunnel's ancillary aspects and is laden with unjustified pork, should be canceled or severely downsized.
The need for a bullet train, however, exists only in the minds of its ardent backers.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Unfortunately for the so-called Golden State, his legacy will probably be bankruptcy.
I remember as a midwest boy my first trip to California in the early 70s.
What a wonderful place it was, and how far it has crashed since.
Oh Come on - give California a break!
They need good paying union jobs and this fits the bill perfectly!
Any why stop there?
Plans should be drawn up for a whole maze of interconnecting rail lines all through the state!
To start, ten or more projects would be a good kick start to California’s economy and it’s fiscal situation.
The problem with the conservatives is that they try to hamstring democrat policies designed to provide the middle class with good jobs. - Get out of the way before this train runs you over!
Oh, is this sarcasm, or is it lifted from Alinsky’s Little Red Book?
From the voice and misnd of experience!!! Any human being tha advocates high speed rail is totally insane. It has a very limited application process and only works well in small clearly defined areas. Governor Jerry Brown is a certified nut case!!! But......then again....so is the state of California!!! Am not a nostalgia nut, but.....California in the fifties was something to behold and admire!!! Once the liberal, Democrat low life grabbed it, it turned to forever toast!!!
Nope. Old Jer just needs more taxpayer money to dish out to his buddies.
“Is High Speed Rail an Ego-Trip for Governor Brown?”
High Speed Raid is a way for Progressives to feel good about themselves.
If implemented, it will transport the cattle to work in the industries subsidized by local and federal government.
One must not forget that Progressives are god-like, brilliant, and superior. They must control the masses so that Progressives can fulfill their destinies as the masters of the universe. (Remember the Volkswagen?)
IMHO
Give Moonbeam credit: he's a politician who stayed bought from before he graduated high school. What he wants is to complete a massive project begun by his father manipulating the value of real estate over the entire State. He owes his entire public life to the racket he is serving.
Tie Brown to the track.
I lived in Calif. in the early 70's and was disappointed to leave.
These days, it's still a great place to visit, but I couldn't/wouldn't be a tax slave there.
California is broke and all he wants to do is spend more?
I think voters approved the bullet train project.
Brown is demanding that all the environmental reviews be bypassed for the high speed rail project so it can start even sooner.
It may have something to do with Brown senior being resposible for the canal that is stealing water from
Northern California to provide water for Southern California: Some people may feel this canal is a legacy,
including son Jerry. Thus the high speed rail is the son’s
legacy.
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