I cant think of a better example of the way government operates than this. Obama writes a stimulus cheque for 3 billion dollars for high speed train, a bunch of beaurecrats get hired in California with that money, now on top of it not even being a highspeed train anymore, its only going to go half as far, and its going to cost 3 times as much as the original estimate..... Could these clowns possibly fuck this up any worse? I feel sorry for anyone left living in that cesspool..... <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8wFJZCF1V0w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
We promise to use your federal tax dollars wisely (snicker). We'll pay 1/3 of the costs (33 Billion dollars) and you folks in other states pay 2/3 (66 Billion dollars). The project will be loaded with pork so that it props up the state budget at the same time that it builds a beautiful high-speed train between Bakersfield and Merced. Our 16B state budget deficit will magically disappear. Don't be troubled by the fact that nobody actually lives in Bakersfield or Merced. People will flock to those cities just to ride this train. The money will be handed over to the unions and they'll file for waivers from environmental regulations so they can build over protected habitats and also ignore earthquake faults. They'll seize lots of private property from those evil 1% landowners. Nobody is actually going to ride this train so it will perpetually lose money. When we run out of funds to operate the train we'll just go back to the federal government for more federal tax dollars! Of course, we'll need hundreds of billions of dollars more to build out the system from Merced to San Fransisco and Sacramento and from Bakersfield to Los Angeles but we'll worry about that part later. I'm sure we can get the money from people living elsewhere, right? The state government has already setup this very cool website: http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/
Sounds like a typical highway construction project in Chicago. Oh, and it will take about 4 times longer than expected.:eek:
Huh? Given that CA pays more to the fed GOV than any other state these actually are CA tax dollars! While I agree that idiots run these programs; CA contributes more than ANY OTHER STATE to the federal budget. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_tax_revenue_by_state What state do you live in? Chances are, the state you live in has a much lower ratio of monies paid to the fed gov / monies taken from the fed gov.
Love your attitude. California has a *right* to your money. The rest of the country should pay for the privilege of being part of the same country as California. Never mind we can't manage our state budget, this train project will solve all of that. Money for everyone! When I'm done here I'm going to go ride the train to nowhere LOL.
I think given CA traffic problems combined with the long term *costs* of maintaining the crumbling freeway infrastructure; a non-auto based transportation solution of some kind is a reasonable way to spend our tax dollars. Now... whether or not a train is the answer... who knows, but, I haven't exactly heard a much better solution being thrown out there. Other areas of the world have been able to make it work. I would love to be able to get from LA to SF in 2 hours without flying or driving through either traffic hell hole. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinkansen
I thought CA already spent all their tax dollars. Don't they have a multi billion dollar budget deficit and debt?