Gavin Newsom’s high-speed rail humiliation deepens… as aide admits blunder and $126B line dubbed ‘Stonehenge’

ny post ^ | 04/05/2026 | Pierce Sharpe

[BenLurkin]

Gavin Newsom’s transport secretary has admitted criticism of California’s high-speed rail is justified — as estimates of the project show it will be a struggle to be completed.

Officials now say it will cost an eye-watering $126 billion to finish the line from Los Angeles to San Francisco — which is more money than Amtrak has ever received from the federal government since it was established in 1971, a damning 60 Minutes report revealed.

That’s and a huge uptick when compared to the $33 billion voters were told the rail would cost when it was announced way back in 2008.

Nearly two decades later, the idea of a sleek, sub-three-hour ride has instead morphed into a delayed, downsized, and wildly expensive project that’s earliest projected opening is 2033.

There are still no tracks laid, and the only segment that’s seen much progress runs between Bakersfield and Merced.

In nearby Fresno, the only place where the project is visible, locals mock the project as “Stonehenge”.

...

We’re now in 2026. There are no trains. There’s no track laid. It was a complete bait and switch,” Rep. Vince Fong told 60 Minutes.

“The California High-Speed Rail nightmare is the probably quintessential example of government waste and mismanagement.”

California Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin admitted ”mistakes have been made”

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TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; US: California
KEYWORDS: boondoggle; california; demagogicparty; democratcorruption; democratincompetence; democrats; followthemoney; fraud; gavinnewsom; grift; highspeedfail; highspeedrail; hsr; newsom; paytoplay; racketeering; rico; ripoff; sociopath; sparklebeachken

[butlerweave]

Is that about $329,000,000 a mile ? ouch

[calljack]

Actually its infinity because there is zero miles of track.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Low I.Q. Newscum held up a picture of his bed buddy, Barry Soetoro on Fox today wishing he had a brain like Barry’s. Weird.

[SpaceBar]

Thefthenge.

[BenLurkin]

Oh yeah. This guy was a rocket scientist...

[ClearCase_guy]

I figure there is no real plan to build a railroad.

I figure there is definitely a plan to put a lot of money into the pockets of some people.

Just give up on the whole idea. There is no good outcome here. The only way to win, is not to play.

[WhiteHatBobby0701]

And now former South Carolina taxpayers will pay for it as part of Gov. Newsom’s takeover after last night’s surrender of the state.

[happyathome]

“Thefthenge.”

Yes. We all assumed for a long time that areas of large government expenditure were rife with inefficiency and waste. But we’re learning that these democrat programs are likely just covers for massive money laundering. Home health programs being uncovered, homeless programs - all of them were just ways for democracts to siphon public money into their campaign funds and private bank accounts. After USAID was shut down and ActBlue started to get investigated, was it any wonder that the domocrat party suddently announced it wasn’t meeting its fund-raising targets and was basically broke? And Kamala’s campaign still owes a stagerring amount of money.

[Rummyfan]

That’s 126 BILLION dollars.

[catnipman]

“By 2019, even Gov. Gavin Newsom threw cold water on the original vision, saying, “Right now, there simply isn’t a path… from San Francisco to LA.””

IOW, the ol’ “You can’t there from here” when asked for directions ...

[VanShuyten]

“ California Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin admitted ”mistakes have been made”

I love it when politicians use the passive voice to evade placing blame.

[bray]

Communism, bringing 19th century solutions to 21st century problems.

[Publius]

I met a traveler from an antique land,
Who said, “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert...Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

--- "Ozymandias," by Percy Shelley

[PeterPrinciple]

California Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin admitted ”mistakes have been made”

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and nothing learned....................

[Freee-dame]

Maybe it’s time to stop using the word BILLION which many people interpret as 2 million like a bicycle has 2 wheels. If we would say 1000 million, everyone would realize how much money 1 billion reallyis.

[Rockingham]

Leftists commonly fall in love with abstract, futuristic ideas and ignore the costs and drawbacks. Oddly, that is partly why Silicon Valley is so successful in spite of its many Leftist dreamers who think up new product and service ideas. Being fundamentally a system of private enterprise, the tech sector has to deliver results for investors and beady eyed accountants. When dominant in government though, Leftists lose that restraint because they can tap into gushers of tax money with little accountability for costs and results.

[PTBAA]

If they walk away now it will be a perfect crime, but the idea of the billions more they could steal is just too tempting for these grifters to let go.

[adorno]

Government, especially a liberal government, is not about making things or improving people’s lives with the people’s money. It’s about redistribution of the people’s money.

[hinckley buzzard]

The 126 Billion figure has been out there for a couple years. Internal documents have recently raised the ante to 160 Billion. And still no idea where the money is coming from. Follow Lucid Stew on youtube for informative objective updates.