Posted on 09/08/2011 5:57:02 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
As California prepares to commit tens of billions of dollars to an ambitious high-speed rail line from San Francisco to Southern California, Congress' political will to provide the bulk of the funding is disappearing, leaving the possibility that the state could end up stuck with a crushing financial burden.
State voters have agreed to issue more than $9 billion in bonds to build the system, but that's a fraction of the $43 billion projected tab for the initial phase. And those costs could swell to $65 billion or more, by some estimates.
Should federal funds dry up after the scheduled start of construction next year, the state could be left with no more than an unfulfilled dream and some tracks in the Central Valley.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
High Speed Rail. A solution for which there is no problem.
I guess Ole Rick Scott Govenor of Florida is looking pretty good about now.
Californians would do well to make a visit to New Mexico to see how the Democrat Train between Albuquerque and Sante Fe is performing.
which is exactly WHY all those GOP governors canceled their projects
Wisconsin’s portion was happily given to CA. Good luck with that financial drain.
All of high speed rail costs including the deficits/shortfalls/deficiencies unto infinity will be paid by taxpayers.
I guess Brown and the Dem legislature are not satisfied with running towards bankruptcy. They want to ramp up to hyperspeed.
If you want to create jobs, forget these silly high-speed rails! We should be building high-speed canals between every city. These things require even more capital expenditure and have MUCH higher operating labor costs. Talk about boatloads of new jobs!!!
Why stop there ...
A government can never go bankrupt as long as these is someone somewhere in its juristiction who has some assets that can be seized (taxed) and used to pay for the government's insane schemes. The government can bankrupt every hard working citizen, but will never bankrupt itself as long as there are police (who are paid from the plunder) willing to rob the citizens of the fruits of their labors.
Why? The best run high speed rail systems in the world - those in Japan and France - have been losing money for decades. Only a tiny number of individual high speed rail lines in the entire first world take in enough in fares to cover operating costs.
Like socialism in general, high speed rail has a long term, consistent track record of failure. If Californians hadn't learned that from decades of documented results in areas of the world where passenger rail actually makes some sense, why would the recent failure of a little commuter rail system like New Mexico's have any effect on their thinking?
Californians, as a whole, have drank the kool-aide. They're going to wake up to reality only in the manner that most socialists do - they're going to soon run out of other people's money.
Can someone in Kalifornia tell me precisely why everyone in other states should help fund, through Federal funds, a high speed rail line that is for the benefit of Kalifornians only.
High speed rail is a luxury convenience for passengers and has nothing to do with interstate commerce.
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