I'm surprised IBD didn't call them out on this statement-I'll bet less than 1% of that 53,000 mile figure is "high-speed" and the rest is "standard", i.e. this.
Posted on 04/28/2011 6:09:03 PM PDT by Kaslin
Transportation: China's technology of the future has become a boondoggle of the present, piling up debt and resulting in the arrest of the minister of railways. Maybe it's that last part we should be copying.
It was supposed to be the modern equivalent of the Great Wall, a web of high-speed rail lines whipping travelers and commuters at speeds of over 200 miles an hour. It was to be a model we were told we needed to emulate to stay technologically competitive.
The endeavor was part of China's stimulus package in response to the 2008 global financial crisis. It would create jobs and stimulate economic growth. President Obama was so impressed he included $8 billion in his 1,000-page stimulus bill to jump-start an American counterpart.
Our silver-tongued vice president, Joe Biden, recently touted the president's new $53 billion high-speed rail package with the admonition: "If we don't seize this future, how will America ever have the opportunity to lead the world in the 21st century?" Well, we could return to the moon or go to Mars, but we'll have to settle for a fast train from St. Louis to Chicago.
The socialist-progressive Center for American Progress, always eager to make the trains run on time, trumpeted: "Today, it is China that is leading the world in a key next-generation transportation technology: high-speed rail. ... China already boasts a rail network that, including both standard and high-speed rail, is more than 53,000 miles long."
Today the reality is somewhat different. In February, Liu Zhijun, minister of railways in the People's Republic of China, was arrested after investigations into cost overruns and poor performance of the ministry's showcase bullet trains, with a dash of corruption thrown in.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
Empty trains to empty cities. Sounds like a winner!
So, anybody seen Ray lately?
if not empty trains and empty cities, they will have a vault full of trillion USD sitting there doing nothing
Lost more money than US did on Mortgage mess.
the way I see it
a billionaire can afford to waste money on building things they rarely use
a person who’s unemployed and millions in debt can not afford to waste money on building stuff they rarely use
Musolini made the trains run on time too. Didn’t work out so well for him in the end.
I'm surprised IBD didn't call them out on this statement-I'll bet less than 1% of that 53,000 mile figure is "high-speed" and the rest is "standard", i.e. this.
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