Posted on 03/28/2019 7:35:14 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
According to Alcoholics Anonymous, admitting you have a problem is the first step toward change. Political leaders at both the federal and state level can stand to learn from this philosophy, given their refusal to acknowledge massive boondoggles bilking taxpayers for billions of dollars. California, and the proposed Texas Central high speed train, show why state and federal officials need to be more vigilant and cautious when spending taxpayer money on these projects.
California’s disastrous bullet train project has ballooned to a staggering $88 billion dollars - four times the cost of taxpayer money available to finance it. On March 26, California added even more fuel to the fire, selling $600 million worth of bonds to further finance the failed project. Despite protests by some that the show must go on, the Trump administration is considering withdrawing billions of dollars in available funds slated for the bullet train’s construction.
But reclaiming this money for taxpayers will all be for naught, if the federal government continues to throw money at other failing projects nationwide that manage to stay below the public radar. Drawing a line in the sand is important, but consistency is key to protecting taxpayers from government run amok.
CARTOONS | TOM STIGLICH VIEW CARTOON Washington’s disastrous dalliance with the California bullet train began in the Obama administration, when the federal government awarded $3.5 billion to the state for the construction of a train line connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles. Politicians used comparisons to China, Japan, and Germany’s rail experiences, insinuating that a 220-mile-per-hour train connecting two major cities could be a panacea for America’s transportation woes. But from the start, “flawed decision making and poor contract management” hampered the construction process.
According to a report written by the California State Auditor, “poor communication between...consultants and the Authority meant that the Authority’s contract managers were uncertain whether invoices that the RDP consultants approved were for appropriate services and whether contractor work products were reasonable based on their costs.” Nonetheless, the Authority began construction before even having agreements in place with utility companies, resulting in utilities being unable to relocate their activities in time to meet project deadlines. And time is money, since any delay means workers need to be on the job - and be paid - for a longer period of time.
As Reason Foundation scholar Baruch Feigenbaum notes, the low population densities of Houston and Dallas, coupled with high land acquisition costs, make it unlikely that the project will be able to pay for itself without significant taxpayer expenditures. Even using conservative assumptions, Feigenbaum finds that Texas Central will be more than $20 billion in debt over the next forty years. And since the federal government has a disturbing history of financing over-budget boondoggles, it wouldn’t be surprising if they jumped into the fray.
Federal planners should keep the flow of funds limited to the precious few projects that actually accommodate more residents. Safeguards against lawmakers trying to steer funds to their own backyards must also be put in place. Until political leaders accept that the current system is deeply dysfunctional, taxpayers will continue to foot the bill for failed expectations.
And the shutdown costs? Will they construction companies/state be required to return the property to it’s original pristine condition? Will there be truncated routes for short haul? Fee-ass-Co!
I’m still waiting for the flying cars.
I thought Newsome shut this thing down?
But what about the flaming cars?
Flaming cars? I don’t know. But I’m still waiting for the border to be shut down also.
Anybody remember WHOOPS? (aka the WPPSS bonds in the early 1980s.)
California’s Failed ‘Bullet’ Train didn’t fail the corrupt politicians who received millions in donations based on the boondoggle.
It didn’t fail the contractors or the lobbyist... it failed citizens.
And we all know “citizens” don’t matter to liberal elites... so it wasn’t a ‘failure’ in their book.
My prediction is next time we have Dems in full control they will create Fed guaranteed bonds for states like Cal, NY, and Ill. And Fed guaranteed bonds for LA, SF, Chi, and NYC.
None of those operate at a profit. Airlines operate at a profit.
Bilking taxpayers and lining the pockets of politicians and their cronies.
California failed, and Massachusetts succeeded in its “Big Dig” endeavor for one key reason:
In Massachusetts, they didn’t want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg, so they skimmed off corrupted money where they could, but not enough to kill it.
In California, the pot was probably way too tempting, so they were all getting their share not worrying about the project tomorrow.
Just a guess...
Nah.. Your guess is spot on
My understanding is that there is no public transportation system that pays for itself. Be they buses or trains, they all exist because of government subsidies.
I accept your ‘guess’ - you’re right too often to ignore....
I have this mental image of kids on Halloween that go up to a house that instead of handing it out individually, put the candy in a big bin outside their door.
The conservative kids just take a few pieces, sometimes one or two extra.
The Leftist kids take several handfuls, start to walk away, then immediately turn around and go back and grab a few more, shouldering some other kid out of the way.
It is how they roll.
Trump saw through to the bottom line.
Now, on the to the other useless and/or white elephant projects.
Nope, he just said he didn’t see a way to get the whole thing built at the moment.
Newsom’s strategy—which he later clarified—is to complete the 110-mile segment already under construction in the state’s Central Valley, then re-evaluate the existing plans to link the system to San Francisco and LA. He told the Fresno Bee he was “confident” the Merced-to-Bakersfield line would be done by 2027 and would “connect to Silicon Valley at some point after.” - https://www.curbed.com/2019/2/15/18225441/california-high-speed-rail-gavin-newsom
In other words, build from nowhere to another nowhere now and pray for another Obama-ite moron to be elected in 2020, along with a Corruptocrat House and Senate.
Come on! It’s only (your) money. If it was something important I would get nervous and excited!
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