Hardcover
– April 15, 2014
Here is an example of your money being wasted!
It finally happened last week: California officially broke ground on its "high-speed" rail line, the wasteful $68 billion (and counting) project that promises to become the biggest public works boondoggle in the history of the U.S.
And that's saying a lot.
California Gov. Jerry Brown sold the train project as a job-creating alternative to expensive air and auto travel.
But as the Washington Post reports, the financing for this white elephant in the making is more than a bit squiffy. Indeed, California's High-Speed Rail Authority has "about $26 billion at best" to fund the project. That's a huge funding gap. The rest is being made up, essentially, by wishful thinking. "Officials have said they expect advertising, real estate developments and private investors to fund up to a third of the total costs," the Post says.
Good luck with that.
Oh, and $68 billion may not be nearly enough. As the Post notes, some foes of the project have forecast a total cost of $250 billion or more. Given California's long history of major cost overruns on projects built with public funds, such an astronomical number isn't out of the question.
At some point, costs will explode and taxpayers will be asked to pony up to cover them. Today, Gov. Brown is being held up by many in the media as some kind of fiscal savior of California, which now shows a very dubious budget surplus. We wonder what voters will think when the state's deficit again explodes and they're presented with a massive bill for a train no one will ride.
Read More At Investor's Business Daily: http://news.investors.com/blogs-capital-hill/010915-734154-california-high-speed-rail-is-a-rail-to-nowhere.htm#ixzz3OcCSXqSa
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