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California's $68 Billion High-Speed Rail .. Would 'Span the State'
NewsBusters. ^ | October 20, 2013 | Tom Blumer

Posted on 10/20/2013 5:42:01 PM PDT by george76

In a Sunday morning report which tries to put the best possible face on a project which appears to be on track to make the $22 billion "Big Dig" in Massachusetts look like a petty cash disbursement, Juliet Williams at the Associated Press claimed that the $68 billion involved thus far "would span the state." No it wouldn't, unless all of the formerly Golden State north of the San Francisco Bay Area — roughly one-fourth of the state's land mass — were to secede.

Williams also wrote: "Voters in 2008 approved $10 billion in bonds to start construction on an 800-mile rail line to ferry passengers between San Francisco and Los Angeles in 2 hours and 40 minutes." Nope. It's an 800-mile rail "network" (quoting from the state's ballot measure guide) which was supposed to include San Diego to the south (see the top left at Page 6 at the link), and apparently now does not. In other text seen below, she cited that 2008 proposition, which carried by a margin of 52.7% to 47.3%, as evidence that voters "overhelmingly approved" the project.

...

If, as the judge ruled, the rail authority's plan does not identify all private funding sources, that indeed breaks a promise made to voters in 2008 .

(Excerpt) Read more at newsbusters.org ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: California; US: District of Columbia; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS: govtmicromanagement; highspeedrail; highspeedtrains; hsr; lofan; overspending; sanfrancisco
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AP Claims California's $68 Billion High-Speed Rail Got 'Overwhelming' Voter Approval (of 52.7%), Would 'Span the State'

1 posted on 10/20/2013 5:42:01 PM PDT by george76
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To: george76

And the billions in kickbacks and graft will span the entire Democrat Party


2 posted on 10/20/2013 5:44:01 PM PDT by digger48
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To: digger48

Starting with Senator Diane Finestein and her husband.


3 posted on 10/20/2013 5:51:00 PM PDT by Rumplemeyer (The GOP should stand its ground - and fix Bayonets)
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To: george76

This is a damn joke. If you think I would go to a station park my car and pay parking charges you are full of it. Then take this piece of speedy crap to the destination get off and hire a cab to and from my only point of contact, reverse all the crap and get home when I decided I would have paid ten times what it would cost me to just drive and I would have transportation at destination to very my visit.


4 posted on 10/20/2013 5:54:13 PM PDT by Logical me
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To: george76

$68 Billion seems like a lot of money to me, even if they were going to do it within budget.

But the ongoing subsidies are going to be the gift that keeps giving here if it gets up and running.


5 posted on 10/20/2013 5:56:40 PM PDT by I_Like_Spam
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To: george76

Get to LA in 2h 40m ...

Then get to where? and how long will that take?????

There is NO logical way this will work.

It’s all about the money.


6 posted on 10/20/2013 5:57:11 PM PDT by Scrambler Bob ( Concerning bo -- that refers to the president. If I capitalize it, I mean the dog.)
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To: Logical me

Conduct the meeting via teleconferencing.

Problem solved.


7 posted on 10/20/2013 5:58:46 PM PDT by Scrambler Bob ( Concerning bo -- that refers to the president. If I capitalize it, I mean the dog.)
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To: Logical me

Somehow, someone in the mainstream media will find a way to make your statement an example of racism.

It’s not, but that’s how the liberals roll.


8 posted on 10/20/2013 5:59:54 PM PDT by Rides_A_Red_Horse (Why do you need a fire extinguisher when you can call the fire department?)
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To: Scrambler Bob

The thought behind this is that it is somehow easier to get from the train station in downtown LA to your final destination than it is to get from LAX to where you are going.

I don’t that’s necessarily true at all, but that’s the logic.


9 posted on 10/20/2013 6:01:17 PM PDT by I_Like_Spam
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To: Scrambler Bob

The SEIU BART strike is their future ?


10 posted on 10/20/2013 6:01:45 PM PDT by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: Scrambler Bob

One good earthquake would take it out.


11 posted on 10/20/2013 6:01:49 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: george76

There were so many claims and promises that saw that first initiative passed, that the resulting document and associated law should be declared null and void.


12 posted on 10/20/2013 6:02:27 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (People will retain the power to control the Government, or it will retain the power to control them.)
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To: I_Like_Spam

trains are population control.

restrict movement means restrict property ownership.


13 posted on 10/20/2013 6:03:43 PM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: george76

#1-— This is just a huge scam to keep Democrat union buddies working on useless projects
#2-— the potential for Democrat bribes and graft are tremendous
#3-— Democrat Connected crony contractors will make out like banditos


#4-— there is not the passenger demand to fill these trains or make them anywhere near profitable
#5-— this is the Democrat cargo cult exemplified. That if you build these high speed trains like the sophisticated Europeans do then Americans will automatically get on them


14 posted on 10/20/2013 6:04:24 PM PDT by dennisw (The first principle is to find out who you are then you can achieve anything -- Buddhist monk)
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To: longtermmemmory
trains are population control.

Yep.

15 posted on 10/20/2013 6:05:11 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Scrambler Bob
Conduct the meeting via teleconferencing.

How are government agencies going to conduct "business" without all of the fancy lunches, dinners, 5 star hotels, resorts, and goody bags?

16 posted on 10/20/2013 6:06:01 PM PDT by unixfox (Abolish Slavery, Repeal the 16th Amendment)
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To: unixfox
How are government agencies going to conduct "business" without all of the fancy lunches, dinners, 5 star hotels, resorts, and goody bags?

Don't forget the whores.

17 posted on 10/20/2013 6:07:00 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: george76
High speed rail in an earthquake zone is not good.

18 posted on 10/20/2013 6:09:06 PM PDT by BitWielder1 (Corporate Profits are better than Government Waste)
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To: Scrambler Bob
And that's the thing (apart from the rest of the reasons not to do it): from a purely sociological/statistical standpoint, one can assume that stations will not be built in convenient locations due to the NIMBYs. So basically, even if the rail line is built, the stations will be in the middle of nowhere. I've seen it happen so many times I could spit.
19 posted on 10/20/2013 6:12:26 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: BitWielder1

High speed rail in an earthquake zone is not good.


I don’t think high speed rail will work in Cali, but Japan is more of an earthquake zone than California, and they’ve been doing high-speed rail for some time now.


20 posted on 10/20/2013 6:15:24 PM PDT by hanamizu
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