California getting crushed in high-speed rail race

[Big Fitz]

"Well Trent, here we are flat broke. What are we going to do about it?"

"I don't know Brandon, but you know what makes me feel better when I'm broke?"

"What, Trent?"

"Overdraft my credit and buy something shiny, pretty and basically useless!"

"Wonderful! Let's buy two! That must be better!"

 

[Political Junky]

Austerity continues to shrink our infrastructure.

 

[Big Fitz]

Austerity continues to shrink our infrastructure.

No. Bad civic spending does that. We buy high cost, low value transit infrastructure and wonder why it sucks. We shove all kinds of eco-ordinances on people and wonder why they leave the area. We waste money on frivolities and sexy toys that have good PR and ignore the practical effective things that make our lives better.

 

[flacaltenn]

Austerity continues to shrink our infrastructure.

That must be why California bought the new Bay Bridge spans from China..

The crux of the matter is that innovation is stalled in this country due to uncertainty.

The one measure of certain growth and job creation is the IPO index. It's has stalled out at record low levels in recent years. All that regulation makes HUGE companies stronger and NEW companies virtually impossible. The choice has NOTHING to do with how much or little "austerity" we practice. It's like kicking the tires when the problem is in the engine.

 

[RoadVirus]

California Bullet-Train Funds Approved - WSJ.com

That explains the flushing sound.

 

[RoadVirus]

The crux of the matter is that innovation is stalled in this country due to uncertainty.

All done by one man.

 

[Trajan]

Austerity continues to shrink our infrastructure.

even if that were so, what does that have to do with cali's hi speed rail?

 

[Trajan]

Well, we do subsidize airlines.

you apparently don't know the difference between a subsidy and tax deductions ...

 

[Political Junky]

Austerity continues to shrink our infrastructure.

even if that were so, what does that have to do with cali's hi speed rail?

Transportation is infrastructure.

 

[flacaltenn]

California Bullet-Train Funds Approved - WSJ.com

That explains the flushing sound.

Can we get a moment of silence please to remember the formerly great state of California?

I can scratch Jerry Brown off of my short list of political heroes.. I thought he would tackle the issues.. Not much gold left in the Golden state.. I hope they like their choo-choo in 2030. Maybe in some Mad Max world -- it'll make more sense..

 

[Political Junky]

One political party absolutely loves the idea of the modern rail system, both as a boon for business and commerce, and, incidentally, perhaps as a bit of a boondoggle for its political buddies.

Guess which party.

It’s the GOP, 150 years ago. The rail system I’m talking about is the railroad to the Pacific. It was a very wide plank in the Republican Party platform in 1856 and 1860, and a dream of Abraham Lincoln’s that he never lived to see realized.
<more>
Is California's high-speed train on track or off the rails? - latimes.com

 

[Meister]

One political party absolutely loves the idea of the modern rail system, both as a boon for business and commerce, and, incidentally, perhaps as a bit of a boondoggle for its political buddies.

Guess which party.

It&#8217;s the GOP, 150 years ago. The rail system I&#8217;m talking about is the railroad to the Pacific. It was a very wide plank in the Republican Party platform in 1856 and 1860, and a dream of Abraham Lincoln&#8217;s that he never lived to see realized.
<more>
Is California's high-speed train on track or off the rails? - latimes.com

Difference is that this highspeed rail is like reinventing the wheel......again.

Been there and done that. Now, Ca. and the feds really don't have the funds for thie project......but they're going to do it anyway...go figure.

 

[Big Fitz]

One political party absolutely loves the idea of the modern rail system, both as a boon for business and commerce, and, incidentally, perhaps as a bit of a boondoggle for its political buddies.

Guess which party.

It&#8217;s the GOP, 150 years ago. The rail system I&#8217;m talking about is the railroad to the Pacific. It was a very wide plank in the Republican Party platform in 1856 and 1860, and a dream of Abraham Lincoln&#8217;s that he never lived to see realized.
<more>
Is California's high-speed train on track or off the rails? - latimes.com

Well I guess one party grew with the times and technology. In 1860, the Transcontinental railroad was a modern technological marvel. I suggest you read Stephen Ambrose's "Nothing Like It In The World". There are also many books as to how big of crooks the builders were when the moral hazard was risked by involving public moneies through the Credit Mobilier scandal and the Oakes Brothers.

Lincoln was a railroad lawyer for a period of time before he was elected to office. He helped define how railroad bridges are built in a method that made both riverboats and railroads happy. Of course he was gung ho for railroads. It was the first method of travel that went faster than any living animal hauling more mass than anything in the world.

Now? Shit, a single semi trailer weighs more than some trains from that era. The interstate and air travel have proven to be bigger, better, faster and more efficient forms of travel and offer much more freedom. Airlines are the new railroads, forcing everyone to live by their schedule. Land transportation no longer needs to for passenger travel. Freight is the only area left where the efficiencies of rail travel are amplified.

So you can keep your 150 year old example. The GOP of today seems to not be that interested in regressing to that era again. You want to hitch up the surrey and go into town? A brown little surrey with a fringe on top?

 

[flacaltenn]

One political party absolutely loves the idea of the modern rail system, both as a boon for business and commerce, and, incidentally, perhaps as a bit of a boondoggle for its political buddies.

Guess which party.

It&#8217;s the GOP, 150 years ago. The rail system I&#8217;m talking about is the railroad to the Pacific. It was a very wide plank in the Republican Party platform in 1856 and 1860, and a dream of Abraham Lincoln&#8217;s that he never lived to see realized.
<more>
Is California's high-speed train on track or off the rails? - latimes.com

Ya Know.. You must be brilliant because my wife came up with the same argument.. Telling me that I'd probably have been against the IntraContinental railway.. Problem is -- I had a good answer. At the time, the only option to get there was horse, wagon, supplies and lots of guns for the Indians. There was a clear and present NEED. This boondoogle has not much need. In fact, it will NEVER directly pay itself back.. That takes hope and imagination to justify it...

 

[Big Fitz]

One political party absolutely loves the idea of the modern rail system, both as a boon for business and commerce, and, incidentally, perhaps as a bit of a boondoggle for its political buddies.

Guess which party.

It’s the GOP, 150 years ago. The rail system I’m talking about is the railroad to the Pacific. It was a very wide plank in the Republican Party platform in 1856 and 1860, and a dream of Abraham Lincoln’s that he never lived to see realized.
<more>
Is California's high-speed train on track or off the rails? - latimes.com

Ya Know.. You must be brilliant because my wife came up with the same argument.. Telling me that I'd probably have been against the InterContinental railway.. Problem is -- I had a good answer. At the time, the only option to get there was horse, wagon, supplies and lots of guns for the Indians. There was a clear and present NEED. This boondoogle has not much need. In fact, it will NEVER directly pay itself back.. That takes hope and imagination to justify it...

What most people who bring up that argument forget is that within 15 years of the original being done, 4 more trans-continentals were completed or under construction. 2 of them through the northwest as the Great Northern and Northern Pacific. The Southern Pacific connected New Orleans and Los Angeles. I'm blanking on the other one.

The point? It was going to happen. Just not as early or as costly as the others.

 

[RoadVirus]

California Bullet-Train Funds Approved - WSJ.com

That explains the flushing sound.

Can we get a moment of silence please to remember the formerly great state of California?

California doesn't deserve a moment of silence. It's been a painful boil on America's ass for too long.

 

[Trajan]

so some insider horse trading, feather bedding as usual.....


Updated July 13, 2012, 6:45 p.m. ET

How Insider Politics Saved California's Train to Nowhere
The high-speed rail line may never be built, but it will save a few Democratic seats.


snip-

But sell it they did. The rail authority promised voters that the train wouldn't require a subsidy and that the feds and private sector would pick up most of the $33 billion tab. Expecting a free ride, voters leapt on board and approved the initiative in November 2008. Not long afterward, the authority raised the price to $43 billion.

Investors refused to plunk down money without a revenue guarantee&#8212;that is, a subsidy&#8212;from the state, which wasn't forthcoming. California's attorney general, whom we now call Gov. Jerry Brown, declined to investigate the bait-and-switch.

As soon as he took office, President Obama tried to help the state with $2.4 billion in stimulus money. A year and a half later&#8212;and two weeks before the 2010 midterm elections&#8212;the White House offered an additional $900 million, provided that the $3.3 billion sum be spent in the sparsely populated Central Valley. That is, in the congressional districts of Mr. Costa and fellow Blue Dog Democrat Dennis Cardoza, both of whom had provided critical votes for ObamaCare in March 2010 and were then in political peril.

snip-

But in Washington, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood had different plans. Two months ago, he threatened to claw back federal funding if Sacramento didn't green-light construction before summer's end. "We can't wait," he said. And why not? Because Republicans were threatening to claw back the money if they took the White House and Senate in November.

Mr. Brown used that threat to demand that legislators authorize $2.7 billion in state bonds before they adjourned this week. He sweetened the deal for Bay Area and L.A. legislators by adding $2 billion for regional rail projects. Included was $700 million to bail out&#8212;"modernize"&#8212;Silicon Valley's insolvent Caltrain.


"The whole thing was carefully staged to allow [dissenting Democrats like Mr. Simitian] to speak about their no votes just before their vote was taken. But Brown knew he had his 21 votes in his pocket," says Bay Area economic analyst Bill Warren. Democrats gave their OK, he says, because they wanted money for local rail projects and construction jobs. "I doubt if any of them actually believe in their hearts that the rail system will ever be completed."

Regardless, the Bay Area and L.A. will likely get their pound of taxpayer flesh. Next year taxpayers will have to start paying interest on the rail bonds&#8212;about $380 million annually for the next 30 years&#8212;assuming investors bite. That's nearly as much as the governor is proposing to cut from higher education if voters don't approve his millionaires' tax initiative in the fall.

more at-

Allysia Finley: How Insider Politics Saved California's Train to Nowhere - WSJ.com

 

[flacaltenn]

so some insider horse trading, feather bedding as usual.....


Updated July 13, 2012, 6:45 p.m. ET

How Insider Politics Saved California's Train to Nowhere
The high-speed rail line may never be built, but it will save a few Democratic seats.


snip-

But sell it they did. The rail authority promised voters that the train wouldn't require a subsidy and that the feds and private sector would pick up most of the $33 billion tab. Expecting a free ride, voters leapt on board and approved the initiative in November 2008. Not long afterward, the authority raised the price to $43 billion.

Investors refused to plunk down money without a revenue guarantee—that is, a subsidy—from the state, which wasn't forthcoming. California's attorney general, whom we now call Gov. Jerry Brown, declined to investigate the bait-and-switch.

As soon as he took office, President Obama tried to help the state with $2.4 billion in stimulus money. A year and a half later—and two weeks before the 2010 midterm elections—the White House offered an additional $900 million, provided that the $3.3 billion sum be spent in the sparsely populated Central Valley. That is, in the congressional districts of Mr. Costa and fellow Blue Dog Democrat Dennis Cardoza, both of whom had provided critical votes for ObamaCare in March 2010 and were then in political peril.

snip-

But in Washington, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood had different plans. Two months ago, he threatened to claw back federal funding if Sacramento didn't green-light construction before summer's end. "We can't wait," he said. And why not? Because Republicans were threatening to claw back the money if they took the White House and Senate in November.

Mr. Brown used that threat to demand that legislators authorize $2.7 billion in state bonds before they adjourned this week. He sweetened the deal for Bay Area and L.A. legislators by adding $2 billion for regional rail projects. Included was $700 million to bail out—"modernize"—Silicon Valley's insolvent Caltrain.


"The whole thing was carefully staged to allow [dissenting Democrats like Mr. Simitian] to speak about their no votes just before their vote was taken. But Brown knew he had his 21 votes in his pocket," says Bay Area economic analyst Bill Warren. Democrats gave their OK, he says, because they wanted money for local rail projects and construction jobs. "I doubt if any of them actually believe in their hearts that the rail system will ever be completed."

Regardless, the Bay Area and L.A. will likely get their pound of taxpayer flesh. Next year taxpayers will have to start paying interest on the rail bonds—about $380 million annually for the next 30 years—assuming investors bite. That's nearly as much as the governor is proposing to cut from higher education if voters don't approve his millionaires' tax initiative in the fall.

more at-

Allysia Finley: How Insider Politics Saved California's Train to Nowhere - WSJ.com

Back in the 90s, I helped draft some of Anti-Rail bond positions that got printed in the Cal. Voter Handbook for the initiatives. The Lib Party got involved because NO politician or other group was opposing them. $BILLS were tossed to special interests to acquire right of way that was never used for improvements and they all passed. Costing Californians TWICE the approved amounts because it went on the Credit Card. Some of those same dollars that now they can't afford.

The misrepresentation has been going on for DECADES, because I remember the PRO statements touting that improvements in CalTrain would "bring high speed rail service between L.A. and San Fran closer to reality".. NONE of that happened. It's got pissed into the Bay.

 

[KissMy]

We are going to pack citizens into small apartments close to work just like China to reduce energy wasted transporting people back & forth to work, school & shopping. Currently even if Chinese workers took home the same pay as we do, they would still save $4,000.00 a year on fuel over US workers. They live near work making them far more efficient than US.

In this photo provided by the New York Mayor's office, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, center, stands with Amanda Burden, left, Department of City Planning Director, and Commissioner Mathew Wambua, Department of Housing Preservation and Development, in the kitchenette area of a full-scale mockup of a 300 square foot apartment.

NYC Planners Turning Toward Tiny, ‘Micro-Unit’ Dwellings (Bonus: 1-Square-Meter House)

Now, New York City planners are more formally catching onto the trend, thinking studio apartments measuring no more than 300 square feet might be attractive to a growing population of singles and two-person households.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday invited developers to propose ways to turn a Manhattan lot into an apartment building filled mostly with what officials are calling “micro-units” — dwellings complete with a bathroom, built-in kitchenette and enough space for a careful planner to use a fold-out bed as both sleeping space and living room.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Okqa7qdAPbo"]One SQ Meter Home[/ame]

 

[Big Fitz]

We are going to pack citizens into small apartments close to work just like China to reduce energy wasted transporting people back & forth to work, school & shopping. Currently even if Chinese workers took home the same pay as we do, they would still save $4,000.00 a year on fuel over US workers. They live near work making them far more efficient than US.

In this photo provided by the New York Mayor's office, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, center, stands with Amanda Burden, left, Department of City Planning Director, and Commissioner Mathew Wambua, Department of Housing Preservation and Development, in the kitchenette area of a full-scale mockup of a 300 square foot apartment.

NYC Planners Turning Toward Tiny, ‘Micro-Unit’ Dwellings (Bonus: 1-Square-Meter House)

Now, New York City planners are more formally catching onto the trend, thinking studio apartments measuring no more than 300 square feet might be attractive to a growing population of singles and two-person households.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday invited developers to propose ways to turn a Manhattan lot into an apartment building filled mostly with what officials are calling “micro-units” — dwellings complete with a bathroom, built-in kitchenette and enough space for a careful planner to use a fold-out bed as both sleeping space and living room.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Okqa7qdAPbo"]One SQ Meter Home[/ame]

Of course, the quality of life is complete shit, but what do they care?

And leftists often complain of overcrowding animals and livestock, but in humans? meh. fuck em.