By JOHN SEILER
CalWatchdog
So what’s going to happen with the California High-Speed Rail project? The new business plan of the California High-Speed Rail Authorityincreases the estimated cost from $40 billion to $99 billion.
Just the number shows it’s really about politics: The $99 billion figure has two digits, instead of three if it were $100 billion. It’s like the sale at a store is $9.99 instead of $10.00. So these are Government Numbers, not real numbers.
And behind the politics is the money. That’s why they really should call it the High-Speed Gravy Train.
It’s clear now that the choo-choo will get, at most, only $13 billion: about $3 billion from the federal government and $9.9 billion fromProposition 1A, which misled voters passed in 2008, before they realized their economy was collapsing into a pile of guacamole on the I-5 freeway during a 100-degree summer day.
There’s no way voters will approve any more bond money. And with Republicans in charge of the U.S. House of Representatives, there’s no way the feds will send any more money out to California. Republicans also well could take over the U.S. Senate and the White House next year.
So, the question resolves to: How to make sure they can slurp up that $13 billion for the High-Speed Gravy Train?
Four-Steps
The first step was to involve someone who knows how to make sure the federal gravy is delivered in a freight car. That’s why Gov. Jerry Brown got his Jobs Czar, Michael Rossi, involved in the project.
As I reported when Rossi was given the Jobs Czar post, his background mainly has been as a Bailout King, for example for General Motors. The guy knows how to get the federal taxpayers’ cash flowing to projects.
We the taxpayers will be stuck forever to pay for this train project. We don’t have money and those politicions whose pockets will be filled with this idea should get our message loud and clear. Stop this insanity. Our economy is broken and should be a priority. It’s going to take the unions and politicions to work together to get us back on course. Californians in Sacramento our govenor and all those liberal democrats must be replaced. Regulations are killing us. Cap and trade initiated here will cost jobs and put us deeper in debt. Please people, wake up and make the changes necessary.
Thank you for calling this to our attention. This should be the front page headlines in the LA Times. Of course they will never report the truth. Every local TV station should be reporting on this. Let’s face it we are in the minority and it’s totally frustrating.