California Leg. OKs funding for high-speed rail line

[Trajan]

These fucking imbeciles. they have saddled us with a money giant suck, that will make the Big Dig look like 2 toddlers in a sandbox, initial segment my ass, once it starts, its on.... they will whine that they cannot stop and 'waste all the money we have spent already', we have seen this shit before.

Just wait, as surely as night follows day...... ridership will be flat, subsidies will follow, then theres the inevitable unionized labor to run this boondoggle, everyone will, IF it is done in 2033....2033 hello, stand around arguing over the money drain, wondering why California has its very own Amtrak charity....

The ballot that we ( not me ) approved 3 years ago had a price tag of $34 Billion , that is now estimated at wait for it..............$98 Billion ( the article below has the wrong cost btw). I'm beside myself.


California OKs funding for high-speed rail line

By JUDY LIN
Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- California lawmakers approved billions of dollars Friday in construction financing for the initial segment of the nation's first dedicated high-speed rail line connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The move marked a major political victory for Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown and the Obama administration. Both have promoted bullet trains as job generators and clean transportation alternatives.

more at-
News from The Associated Press

 

[Kiki Cannoli]

Wasn't this measure approved by the voters four years ago?

 

[dilloduck]

I bet that project is messing up some rare insect's environment too.

 

[Trajan]

Wasn't this measure approved by the voters four years ago?

no, it was 3 years, and at a price of $34Billion and a completion date of 2020, at a ticket price far enough below airline fares to draw ridership ( they argued) etc etc etc ..thats is all out the window now.

 

[Zoom-boing]

omfg

 

[Trajan]

I bet that project is messing up some rare insect's environment too.

hey the delta smelt can devastate employment in the valley but they can build a rail line that won't pay for itself....go figure.


and miraculously, no there will be very very few environmental issues.....but transmission lines for a solar panel farm is put thru hoops over turtles and what not.....

 

[Oddball]

What a joke.

People at either end don't want to go to the other end...They want to go to Santa Barbara, Pismo, SLO and Big Sur.

Moonbeam is dedicated to bankrupting the state.

 

[Kiki Cannoli]

Wasn't this measure approved by the voters four years ago?

3 years, at $34 and a completion date of 2020, at a ticket price far enough below airline fares to draw ridership ( they argued) etc etc etc ..thats is all out the window now.

Sorry Trajan, your OP stated this I missed it. Yeah, there is no accountability to project projections in the CA legislature. Having been a voting citizen for 22 years of the golden state, I am well aware of cost overage. As much as I support the high speed rail concept, and voted for it, I had become fed up with underballing bids and the absence of accountability.

In fact, I believe the rail project was the first I supported in years. My tendency was to vote against all spending.

 

[Trajan]

What a joke.

People at either end don't want to go to the other end...They want to go to Santa Barbara, Pismo, SLO and Big Sur.

Moonbeam is dedicated to bankrupting the state.

hey, these are the genius's too, who put another UC in.....Merced....unreal.

 

[Trajan]

What a joke.

People at either end don't want to go to the other end...They want to go to Santa Barbara, Pismo, SLO and Big Sur.

Moonbeam is dedicated to bankrupting the state.

party line vote too, will the dems own this when it goes south?


not a chance. the unions will squeeze Sacramento's balls.

we already pay 10.23% income tax in this state and have a ( what they tell us) is a $19 Bn deficit......we need to spend on this shit?

 

[Meister]

What a joke.

People at either end don't want to go to the other end...They want to go to Santa Barbara, Pismo, SLO and Big Sur.

Moonbeam is dedicated to bankrupting the state.

party line vote too, will the dems own this when it goes south?


not a chance. the unions will squeeze Sacramento's balls.

we already pay 10.23% income tax in this state and have a ( what they tell us) is a $19 Bn deficit......we need to spend on this shit?

Have I ever told you how glad I was to move to Idaho from Ca.?

 

[Kiki Cannoli]

i am not sure the rail vision is shit, in fact i see it as exactly that 'visionary' however the mismanagement is shit, just look at the bay bridge project.

having been a san francisco/los angeles commuter a couple times per week, trust me the rail alternative was attractive. and there are many who work the same schedule. the time it takes to check in get thru security and fly is considerably more than the three plus hours on the train...and on the train I could be productive.

the concept depot in san francisco is spot on, exactly what that area needs. would make direct access by tourists viable and interesting.

again, the concept keeps up with international standards. unfortunately those in charge have no business/project standars.

 

[MeBelle]

"It's unfortunate that the majority would rather spend billions of dollars that we don't have for a train to nowhere than keep schools open and harmless from budget cuts," Sen. Tom Harman, R-Huntington Beach, said in a statement."


I'm disgusted.
What part of broke don't they get?

 

[Dr.House]

Unwise....

Have they not learned the lessons of Ogdenville and North Haverbrook....???

 

[Staidhup]

So the state stands on the edge of financial ruin and are off to the races to bury the state in additional debt. How pathetic and irresponsible can one get. Oh well it is after all California, land of fruits and nuts.

 

[Oddball]

Sorry I missed John & Ken today...They must've had a party with this one.

 

[Kiki Cannoli]

Who here understands/knows the measures requirements in CA? What I am asking is to what extent and how is the state required to fulfill the mandate of the popular vote?

Every proposition is backed by a bond or tax funding, my assumption is that the financing kicked in already therefore the state is required to build. Or, is there an out in such a case as this one whereby the needs exceed the initial prop's funding projections?

I don't know, I am asking. Would be interesing to understand.

 

[MeBelle]

Who here understands/knows the measures requirements in CA? What I am asking is to what extent and how is the state required to fulfill the mandate of the popular vote?

Every proposition is backed by a bond or tax funding, my assumption is that the financing kicked in already therefore the state is required to build. Or, is there an out in such a case as this one whereby the needs exceed the initial prop's funding projections?

I don't know, I am asking. Would be interesing to understand.

My quick thought is the vote held on Friday was to actually appropriate the funding.
In does mention federal stim funds in here:

High-speed rail squeaks through California Senate - Transportation - The Sacramento Bee
I am too tired to read Cali Code right now.

 

[Harry Dresden]

and the pot holes on the freeways just get bigger .......

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

the time it takes to check in get thru security and fly is considerably more than the three plus hours on the train

I assure you the TSA will set up shop at the train station.