Posted on 07/06/2012 7:51:19 PM PDT by Lmo56
Edited on 07/06/2012 7:59:28 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- California lawmakers approved billions of dollars Friday in construction financing for the initial segment of the nation's first dedicated high-speed rail line connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The move marked a major political victory for Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown and the Obama administration. Both have promoted bullet trains as job generators and clean transportation alternatives.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
I’m so glad they finally found a way to spend some that excess cash just sitting around.
The railroad to nowhere within the Central Valley. Sad, ain’t it? The effort will stop there.
Now the bums can pee and vomit on high speed trains having perfected their techniques on BART.
So why not build matter transporter like on Star Trek?
Just pile onto the deficits, why don't ya.
Adjusted for "Big Dig"-style overruns, total cost would be $240 billion.
For socialist radicals, this is win-win. They can milk these things as slush funds for big labor and big government until the monetary collapse comes, and then they know the ignorant masses will support the socialist radical demogogues when they blame the financial institutions that bought the bonds and capitalism in general for the collapse.
“The railroad to nowhere”
That’s an understatement. Someone who has not driven from Madera to Bakersfield would not understand the insanity of this project.
“The first segment of the line will run from Madera to Bakersfield.”
Absolute insanity.
For those unfamiliar with California, look at a map of those two cities and what’s in between them.
Absolutely nothing but farmland.
I haven’t seen Madera or Bakersfield on any top ten hottest vacation spot lists.
The only reason to go to Bakersfield is if you’re a big fan of Buck Owens.
The only people riding that train will be members of the United Farm Workers and they’ll have government passes that will allow them to ride for free.
If they have the same taxing authority Benedict Roberts just gave the Feds, they can just tax all of the residents for not riding the train!! And they can then withhold their tax refund IOU’s!!
Exactly. This is a money-laundering scheme. 0bama gives tax payer’s money to labor unions, who in turn donate some of it back to his Socialist party. Insanity!
Today a money grab.. Tomorrow a car grab.
California is sooooooo Detroit....
It’s to transport the illegals so they won’t have to drink and drive when traveling to LA County
So why not build matter transporter like on Star Trek?
Great point.
California should immediately pass legislation mandating the use of matter transporters in lieu of carbon emission, greenhouse gas, global warming causing automobiles and tax anyone who doesn’t use a matter transporter.
I’d use the sarcasm tag but is it really necessary?
If your only tool is a hammer, every problem is a nail.
Hope and change ... yeah, right.
The sad part is that so many people believed him.
“California lawmakers approved billions of dollars...”
How many children will now go to bed hungry?
How many pregnant women will now NOT get pre-natal care?
How many old people will now NOT get in-home health care, or meals delivered?
How many of the homeless must now sleep outside, rather than in shelters?
How many thousands of deserving people will be denied mental health treatment?
How many emergency rooms will be forced to close, due to lack of state funding?
All so that a train can be built that is not needed and serves no public purpose.
I ask you FReepers out there, how can you even call yourselves Americans when your elected government is so HEARTLESS?
Now, if the conservatives start talking like the above, they might start to dig into the Dems a bit, or, at the least, they could have a LOT OF FUN trying it.
“No economy can grow faster than its transportation network allows,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said ...”
Huh, a Jet fly’s at 500+ Mph, the high speed rail will be lucky to do 150MPH. Only in a liberals mind is this progress...
Looks like the route will get you about halfway to nowhere.
Well, this could be the straw that breaks the camels’ back for me. I may have to move.
Sheer fiscal insanity...
Jerry Brown had to come back to do something about his “Moonbeam” legacy. Now he proudly pushes for a legacy of blatant failure.
The guy is one sharp cookie.
I have it on good authority (I just made it up so it is really good authority) that there is a rare and endangered butterfly that migrates across the proposed line of this high speed track. It’s migration takes place at any time of the year.
In order to protect this butterfly trains will be restricted to a maximum speed of 10 mph during hours of daylight and no more that 15 mph at night.
Or as The Onion put it, "You have to throw money into a hole and set it on fire to make money."
http://www.theonion.com/video/in-the-know-should-the-government-stop-dumping-mon,14289/
I want out of this insane state so badly. It will happen just not soon enough.
"A government project. What can go wrong?"
That’s part of the story with Solyndra, whose palatial headquarters and facilities were built by union labor at a cost that could never be justified by future production capacity.
A similar story is the Chinese high speed rail system that will link up China’s empty skyscraper cities and has Ray La Hood seething with envy.
>>“The railroad to nowhere”
I’ve driven that stretch.
Never underestimate the motives of the connected insiders who’ll no doubt be awarded the contracts for this project.
20+ years ago a similar pitch was made to build a light-rail system from an area of Denver called 5-points, aka “The Harlem of the West”.
Oh yes, the benefactors chortled, this will enable the suppressed minorities to escape their quagmire.
Fast forward to today - and it’s not the po’folks the sales pitch was made with who are utilizing the system, but the interior decorating McYuppies who now infest the warehouse condos and 6+figure “historic” properties... in 5-points.
Same ol’
Follow the Union $$.
The local paper had this story right beside one titled “ California lawmakers postpone water bond to 2014”.
Better hope that train don’t breakdown. You’ll die of thirst. They have cut water off to a lot of farms. We don’t need veggies we can just eat pie in the sky.
Let’s see, it is a 382 mile drive from LA to SF, and if my math is correct that is approx. 178 MILLION per mile, assuming it doesn’t turn into a CA version of the “Big Dig.”
The only reason I ever go to Bakersfield is to get to what’s on the other side, namely Mojave and thereabouts. Which is up and over Tehachapi, something this train will never do.
“Sheer fiscal insanity...”
You are so wrong, I don’t know where to begin. How are all of those high-tech, well-trained workers going to get to their new, high-paying green jobs before their employers go bankrupt?
Absolutely insane.
to the mind of a terrorist, it will cause a lot of deaths and the eail becomes o 50 billion dollar clothes hanger
California needs to send a delegation to Bismarck to learn how it is done; i.e. how the adults handle money.
I plan to ride the Calif bullet train slightly less frequently.
As an aside, I somehow suspect that the decision to continue had persuasive influence residing somewhere in the WH.
.
Wait, I thought CA was broke? Or are the rest of us having to pay for it.
Tomorrow?
It’s already begun!
With a little financial luck I am about to score a heck of a deal on a classic Alfa-Romeo.
The owner moved to Ka Ka Lafornia a dozen years ago, they will not title or register it as the trouble prone fuel injection system was replaced with Webers before he moved there.
So it has sat, moldering away, despite the clear fact that it had been in exceptional condition prior to his move.
So now it’s a project, and a shame.
You should also look up what they are doing to take the drivers out of trucks and cars, started WAY before Googles goof.
Once E-15 becomes mandatory there, despite it’s clear flaws, older cars will be impossible to drive.
And so it goes.....
If there is NOT such a butterfly now, there WILL be soon!
The eco-nuts have been caught before transplanting species to new locations in order to support their zero development goals.
There will also be “Native American” remains found, even if they have to move them into the path in the dark of night to make it happen.
Designated “Native American Experts” will get rich deciding if the remains can be relocated, or the track has to be rerouted.
Bits of broken pottery will be enough to halt construction for months at a time.
It’s a very rural area, a few more modern bodies may turn up too, where IS Jimmy Hoffa?
This is going to be the most lucrative scam of the century, and you KNOW who will end up covering the expense when it’s determined to be a project “Too important to fail”!
Only in California could a legislature that’s charged with overseeing a state that’s not only flat broke, it’s deep in the red, decide to jump into the bottommless pit of debt and spend more to build a railroad on one of the world’s biggest geological fault lines.
Someone’s been spending too much time in Fantasyland.
Fresno is in between. Fresno is the heart of the Central Valley, has a large population, and is increasingly difficult to access by air. I'm not saying that this train is a good idea, but I am saying that it is frustrating to try to reach Fresno these days. It is estimated that Fresno County has a population of 900,000. That's what's between.
Go out and question 1k residents of both LA and San Francisco. Let them know what a round-trip ticket would really cost (likely in the $200 range per person). If you check the current Amtrak round-trip costs...it’s near to $125 for a round-trip ticket...taking eight hours to get from one destination to another. The speed rail? It won’t be any less than three hours.
Love the catch phrases, “high speed rail line” means BAILOUT MONEY.
“Bullet trains”? - way too harsh....let’s call them fluffy pillow trains.....
So where is other $100 Billion going to come from to actually build this thing and put it into service????????
Yeah, I thought about that after I posted.
But, then, it was too late.
.” In summary, just passing the bill, gives California a $3.2 billion federal bailout while the actual use of funds may or may not ever appear (or money is on the latter). If still confused think Greece and Germany, because Federal tax collections were just used to give California a very fungible cash injection. Where the money ends up now is anyone’s guess”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/cash-strapped-california-votes-68-billion-monorail-get-federal-bailout
This was The Won’s down payment to California for their Electoral Votes in November.
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