Your California high-speed choo-choo update

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Poor old Jerry Brown and his end-of-career legacy defining project, the high-speed rail project, just can’t seem to catch a break these days.


Amid mounting legal problems thrown down by California Superior Court Judge Michael Kinney regarding the financing of the high-speed choo-choos, the project is now facing internal fire from their own peer review board over the travel time between San Francisco and Los Angeles.


From the L.A. Times and their high-speed rail beat writer Ralph Vartabedian:

Regularly scheduled service on California's bullet train system will not meet anticipated trip times of two hours and 40 minutes between Los Angeles and San Francisco, and are likely to take nearly a half-hour longer, a state Senate committee was told Thursday.

The faster trips were held out to voters in 2008 when they approved $9 billion in borrowing to help pay for the project. Since then, a series of political compromises and planning changes designed to keep the $68-billion line moving ahead have created slower track zones in urban areas.

But Louis Thompson, chairman of the High-Speed Rail Peer Review Group, a state-sanctioned panel of outside experts, testified that "real world engineering issues" will cause schedules for regular service to exceed the target of two hours and 40 minutes. The state might be able to demonstrate a train that could make the trip that fast, but not on scheduled service, he told lawmakers. If public demand for the service supports additional investments, travel times could be improved after the currently planned system is built, he said.

The article does not expand on to what specific “real world engineering issues” Thompson is referring but let’s just assume he’s talking about “stops”, as in “stops” to let fare-paying business embark and disembark the choo-choos.


This thing has become so politicized and such an albatross, we can imagine every blessed cow town out there in the Central Valley is demanding that if the choo-choos are going to be rolling through their jurisdiction, then by damned, they are going to be making a stop there.


And with every stop there is the inherent logistical inertia with respect to safely loading and unloading passengers that will have to be factored into that 2 hrs. and 40 minutes claim.


But 2 hrs. and 40 minutes? $68 billion (real world estimates put this project at nearly twice that, by the way, due to budgetary sorcery wrought by Brown’s cook crooks) to achieve a feat that can be accomplished in 50 minutes via aircraft out of Burbank to San Jose? And now the experts say it's going to take 30 minutes longer than that?

Back to the article:

Rail authority officials said after the hearing, held by the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee, that they would meet the requirements of state law, but did not specifically say that trains would operate at the faster travel times. State law requirements may be open to legal interpretation. Language approved by voters says the system must be "designed to achieve" trip times of 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Did you see what just happened there? The original voted-upon 2 hrs. and 40 minutes is now the faster time. Peachy.



The article ends by talking about Brown raiding the carbon emissions cap and trade fund to help finance the project, a mere pittance up against the $68-120 billion tab (in the 6 years since voters approved the project, they have yet to name one private source of funding which will be required to finance this boondoggle).


The largest public works project in the history of this country, which will of course, be powered by very conventional fossil fuels is receiving cap and trade dollars; an irony which we are sure is not lost on you.


As it stands, dear readers, yet another nail in the considerably-sized coffin of California’s high-speed choo-choos. We cheer on its staggering, stumble-drunk demise.

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Your California high-speed choo-choo update

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It must be comforting for statists to know that defenses of their failed
progressive policies and programs like the Affordable Care Act and
California's high-speed choo-choos no longer contain any of the old fig
leaves about controlling costs, granting equal access or how good this or
that will be for the environment. No, the mask has fallen, gratefully
so, and now our big government betters can finally admit to their core
philosophy and that's an undying love for authoritarianism.


But first let's take the opening paragraph of this article penned by Tom
Zoellner an associate professor of English at Chapman College up in Orange
County for the Los Angeles Times:

Who doesn't love a train? Who cannot fail to be seduced by the most
appealing vehicle in human history - the rail-induced sensuality of "Brief
Encounter," the desperate heroism of engineer Casey Jones, the creative
muscle of the Big Four railroad barons, the plucky fortitude of Thomas the
Tank Engine and the Little Engine That Could, all wrapped up in gleaming,
rocking steel, punctuated by a high, lonesome whistle?

How can we harsh this when this is pretty much the defense of high-speed
choo-choos we would expect to be given by an English major, a major of which
qualifies him to speak expertly on the most expensive public works project
in U.S. history.


Back to the article:

And yet California voters have been expressing morning-after regrets since
they voted for Proposition 1A, which promised them a bullet train from Los
Angeles to San Francisco. Backers said a Concorde-like fuselage would rocket
us to the Bay Area in 21/2 hours and for the low, low fare of $55. A
Disneyland ride for grown-ups! And did we mention that it's carbon-friendly?

Invoking an amusement park is a charming touch but what is the inherent
advantage to a 2-1/2 hour trip when the flight from L.A. to San Francisco is
less than half that. 2-1/2 hours on anything, be it Space Mountain or It's
a Small World is about 2-1/4 hours too long.

The carbon-friendly claim is
dubious at best. The raw material manufactured and transported way out
there in the Central Valley (where the first leg of the project will be
built) will not be delivered on the backs of unicorns and, further, this
claim appears to be blissfully ignorant to the fact that the overwhelming
source of electricity is still coal and fossil fuels and will remain so for
the foreseeable future.



More Zoellner:

The reality has proved more problematic. The California High-Speed Rail
Authority stumbled first by promising a smooth construction schedule and a
$32-billion price tag. The ensuing lawsuits and engineering revisions have
fouled up the timeline and bumped up the price to the current reckoning of
$67.6 billion (and it'll probably be more expensive than that). The rail
authority's latest business plan assumes ever more riders and ever less
revenue but still suggests the project will ultimately be self-sustaining.

Zoellner misuses "probably" for "will" because as we all know that $68
billion price tag is only for laying down the tracks and does not even include the
stations/depots, electricity-delivering infrastructure or even the
choo-choos themselves.


Zoellner then goes on to bemoan the rapid drop in
popularity of the project over the years. There is a simple reason for
this: the rail authority lies. They lie about the cost, they lie about
the projected ridership, they lie about private funding of the project and
they lie about how the construction contractors are chosen. They are liars.
We simply don't know what other term to use. Please get back to us if you
have a better one.

Before getting into the litany of real world problems faced by high-speed
choo-choos Zoellner offers up this gem:

And yet lessons from around the world provide some hope that this romance
can be saved. High-speed rail systems generally cost far more than was
promised, take longer to build than is logical, have multiple construction
headaches and require tempestuous adjustments along the way. But once all
the drama is over and the engines are keyed, high-speed trains mostly do
outstanding work.

Admittedly, when defending the indefensible, falling back on romance is our
go-to as well.

But here is where all pretenses of legality, abiding by the rule of law and
general western-recognized trappings of a constitutional republic are cast
aside because, dammit, what we really need is some authoritarian
muscle-flexing:

Not enough Mussolini. This is an unattractive lesson: Big trains like this
get built with an autocratic touch. Japan's Shinkansen train went online in
1964 after enormous domestic resistance only because of the bluster and
persistence of an all-but-forgotten bureaucrat named Shinji Sogo, nicknamed
Old Man Thunder by his underlings.

So far in California, the high-speed rail authority has hemmed and hawed
more than blustered. It planned for an early groundbreaking, to create a
physical reality that would be hard to stop, but that's been a no go. Gov.
Jerry Brown's two-fisted support for the bullet train, and his idea of
diverting carbon cap-and-trade revenue for high-speed rail, is the kind of
sharp-elbowed move that may be the only way a project like this could ever
get built.

The biggest persistence question is this: Will there be U.S. presidents for
the next 15 years who, like Obama, will keep stimulus money flowing for the
project, even through flying flak?

Will there be a president whom for the next decade and a half will keep
throwing tens of billions of dollars into a public works black hole because
of a combination of political expediency (CA's elite statist class has gone
all in on high-speed choo-choos - their very credibility counts not on this
thing actually working, only that it gets built) and a religious-like
fanaticism towards Keynesian economic stimulus.




As we alluded to before, when you are at the end of your rope and you have
nowhere else to turn, a good bet to rally the troops is to invoke Thomas the
Tank Engine and a brutal 20th century fascist dictator who was allied with
one of the most evil regimes known to mankind. Hey, we didn't go Godwin's
Law, Zoellner did.


We imagine there was a sigh of relief when Zoellner typed Mussolini:
There, I said it. It must feel good to out yourself with respect to a yen
for unbridled and un-checked top-down authoritarianism as it's a
characteristic we've known about the liberal-left for years now.



A huge hat tip to KT of The Scratching Post for giving us the head's up on this and the following commentary on the current state of California politics:






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Your California high-speed choo-choo update

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With access to federal funding temporarily blocked and absolutely zero private investment seen for funding of California’s high-speed rail project, what’s the state’s governor to do? Raid funds from other state programs, that’s what.



From Fox News:

California Gov. Jerry Brown is scrambling to keep a pricey high-speed train project from being derailed by raiding millions of dollars from the state's cap-and-trade program -- in what critics are calling a "desperate" ploy to save the beleaguered plan.

The state's cap-and-trade program puts a cap on greenhouse gas emissions, but lets companies buy "allowances" to pollute more. In it, the Golden State governor sees a funding source that could help resurrect one of the state's most ambitious, and controversial, projects -- a $68 billion, 500-mile rail line from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

"California is still the generator of dreams and great initiatives," Brown told reporters, in calling for $250 million to be allocated toward the project. "And I think high-speed rail is worthy of this state."

And the good governor is doing his best to prove that California is still the generator of massive cockamamie unneeded public make-work projects.

Republicans have asserted that this ploy is just further evidence of the financial insolvency of the project as they have done for years. But now, even the environmental left is getting in on the criticism claiming that raiding the cap-and-trade fund violates the principle of the program.


Backers of the high-speed choo-choos counter that by saying that in the long term the project will be an environmental benefit. The carbon footprint required to build the largest public works project in the history of this nation makes this a dubious assertion at best.


And as Moonbeam must convince an increasingly skeptical, albeit Democratic-dominated legislature, to raid the cap-and-trade fund, he may be facing a ballot-box challenge of the same variety that breathed life into high-speed choo-choos back in 2008.

As the governor tries to sway the legislature on the merits of his plan, he faces another challenge from Gorell, who is trying to get a measure on the November ballot that would ask voters to reject further bond sales for the high-speed rail.

Before he can get the measure on the ballot, though, Gorell first must collect 504,760 signatures via petition. Gorell's bill is similar to measures introduced in 2012 by Rep. George Radanovich and then-state Sen. Doug La Malfa. Both of their measures failed to qualify.

Mid-term elections were made for low-turnout activist-oriented ballot initiative results. The challenge will be getting the signatures as we are confident that the voters who will turn out in November, from across the political spectrum, will be aware of what a turkey this project is and will check the box accordingly.


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Your California high-speed choo-choo update

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Oh, California high-speed choo-choos, we just can’t quit you as we are hopelessly addicted to wasteful and completely counterproductive public works projects. You keep this up and you just might supplant 2009’s $780 billion American Recovery Act aka Porkulus as #1 in our hearts.


The level of corruption, deception, mendacity and willful suspension of disbelief contained herein makes this probably a done deal.


No new breaking news with respect to California’s high-speed rail project but sometimes it’s good to see where things stand, particularly in light of some legal setbacks suffered the project at the hands of Sacramento Superior Court Judge, Michael Kenny earlier this past year.


From the Sacramento Bee:

Officials overseeing California's $68 billion high-speed rail project have taken pains in recent weeks to assure the public that construction plans are moving ahead, characterizing a series of recent setbacks as "a bump in the road."
That optimism comes despite recent court rulings against the project, creating confusion about the bullet train's prospects.

A Sacramento County judge rescinded the rail authority's funding plan, forced it to show how it will pay for the first 300 miles of construction and rejected a request from the authority that would allow the state treasurer to sell $8.6 billion in bonds.

But members of the California High-Speed Rail Authority board seemed undaunted during their December meeting. They praised staff for filling key positions at the agency and pointed to a nearly $1 billion construction contract signed in 2013 as evidence of progress.

It is duly noted that this contract award was to Tutor Perini-Zachry-Parsons, a politically-connected firm where the rail project’s very own acquisition rules were summarily thrown out the window to make way for TPZP.


But let’s talk about funding, shall we?:

Republicans in Congress have vowed to block any further funding for the rail line and will hold a railroad subcommittee hearing in January to investigate the state's spending of $3.3 billion in federal funds that are supposed to be matched by the state.

Rail authority board Chairman Dan Richard has said California has an agreement with federal officials allowing it to spend the federal money first while the state bond money is in limbo. Richard said officials hope to have shovels in the ground in the Central Valley in January or February and projected that the federal money might last through "late spring."

This “agreement” with the feds is in direct violation of the 2008 ballot initiative language that paved the way for the project and which is the subject of another lawsuit. One can see the trickle-down effect of the “We Can’t Wait” mentality affected by the current administration which is strongly supporting the choo-choos when the rule of law is concerned.


Judge Kenny’s rulings did not stop the project from moving forward, so where do things go from here?:

Rail officials appear poised to deliver a new funding plan to their own high-speed rail board for approval, while the plaintiffs who sued believe the plan needs to go before the state Legislature, which approved a 2012 funding bill that squeaked through the Senate with only one vote to spare.

"I think there was a lot of assumptions by my colleagues when we voted that there was a pretty good chance of getting more federal funds and a pretty good chance of getting private funds, neither of which has materialized," said Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, who voted against the 2012 legislation.

This logic baffles us. From where exactly did he think that private funding was going to materialize when there was and is nowhere near the demand to project any sufficient amount of funding?


But the project has many, many powerful friends including the Governor who is banking on choo-choos to be his grandest legacy as our former Seminary dropout rides off into the sunset.

Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, remains a strong supporter of high-speed rail and has appointed top advisers to the board, including Richard. Democrats also control both houses of the state Legislature and many of them are supportive.
If a new vote is needed, some might be wary of funneling money to a massive project that appears on the ropes, especially in an election year.

"The climate has changed in the last year. You might see people in the Legislature saying, 'We should cut our losses and just move on,'" said Brady, the attorney representing Kings County plaintiffs.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a Bakersfield Republican who has sought to block federal funding for the project, said now is a good time for Brown to reflect on his high-speed rail dream and back out. He said it's becoming clear that "it will not fulfill the promises made to voters."

This. Will. Not. Happen.


More legal wrangling is in the offing this year and we will continue to keep you posted with respect to any and all goings of our beloved California high-speed choo-choos.

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What we and others have been tweeting

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Thanksgiving may be over but we're still thankful...

Thankful that my family has successfully de-emphasized gift-giving at Christmas. @BDaddyLiberator

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) November 28, 2013

The regime decided to "dump" latest ObamaCare delay on the day before Thanksgiving, the most heavily travelled day of the year. Probably not a hot idea:

Half of America finding out about latest #ACA delay in airport terminals. Should've just waited until Friday, geniuses. #CNN

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) November 27, 2013

B-Daddy with a bit of snark:

Obamacare Event Hands Out Condoms as Prizes for Young Dems who hopefully won't be having offspring. http://t.co/u1iFq27OSV via @sharethis

— B Daddy (@BDaddyLiberator) November 27, 2013

Some things are just better left undone:

Band covering the Smith's "Stop Me (if you've heard this one before)" right now: Stop it. Just freaking stop it.

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) November 28, 2013

Had plenty of characters left... forgot to add "kill lists"

You say "delay", "waiver", "exempt", "end the filibuster", I say "banana republic."

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) November 29, 2013

Related:

Everything about the Imperial Presidency that The Left whined about under Bush is actually happening under Obama.

— THE GayPatriot (@GayPatriot) November 27, 2013

And further related: Because of what has transpired over the past 5 years, we scarcely know what "liberalism" means anymore. As far as we can tell, at least partially, it means that the government can force you to give money to a private for-profit entity. That definitely was not a platform plank prior to 2009.




We haven't dug into this nearly as much as we should:

http://t.co/Cqlnj5uHFo WTF? #IRS audits cancer victim whose premiums sky-rocketed under #Obamacare... and had the temerity to go public.

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) November 29, 2013

Whining about the anti-social aspect of social media has become a near-cottage industry because...

It's really disturbing how anti-social all this new technology is making us. pic.twitter.com/yTy35etCVA

— Donnie Clapp (@DonnieClapp) November 27, 2013

heh.





Yeah. We missed the end of that epic Alabama-Auburn game and had to settle for the hi-lights owing to a DVR screw-up. Lesson learned.

@BDaddyLiberator Well, that'll teach us to leave the game to do something as lame as have family dinner together. #ironbowl #Auburn #Bama

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) December 1, 2013

This whole #Movember thing has got pretty absurd:

OK, gang, it's December 1st - now time to shave off that ridiculous thing growing on your upper lip.

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) December 1, 2013

In case you missed our defense of presidential term limits:

http://t.co/IwVbmaZ0Au New post is up. It's official: the movement to repeal presidential term limits is on. #BeersWithDemo

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) December 1, 2013

Related:

http://t.co/IwVbmaZ0Au Sudden interest in direct democracy not coincidental with a flailing 2nd term president that can't gain any traction

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) December 2, 2013

And where we noticed some similarities:

So, that November 30th date should not have been treated as "a line in the sand' either, huh? #ObamaCare #ACA #Syria

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) December 2, 2013

Turns out, improvements to http://t.co/KciDBS2OGK were "unbelievably small" also. #ACA #Syria

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) December 2, 2013

Feds considering allowing cell phone calls on flights. Not so sure that's a good thing:

My concept of hell: on a x-country flight btwn 2 guy yacking on cells about their fantasy teams. & u STILL won't accept Jesus into yr heart?

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) December 2, 2013

More ObamaCare's-loudest-supporters-want-nothing-to-do-with-it:

http://t.co/FpkwIOMXfx I would assume that when he loses his job in 2017, he'll be dumped into the exchanges, right?

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) December 3, 2013

Tis the season:

We need to update 12 Days of Christmas: "10 lights a- ..." ahem. @davethu: @BenjaminKruse RT @ProducerSusan pic.twitter.com/fxj3ghcOxe

— Ed Morrissey (@EdMorrissey) December 3, 2013

The regime has themselves a kiddie korps:

How did I forget condescending Wonka??? #WHYouth pic.twitter.com/LnmNUlec4S

— Stephen Green (@VodkaPundit) December 2, 2013

Every time you tell someone how great Obamacare is, a #WHYouth gets his armband.

— Razor (@hale_razor) December 3, 2013

Because calling anything "(blank)Youth is a good idea, ever? #WHYouth. Ffs, how ignorant of history are these people?

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) December 3, 2013

When you believe you are the smartest kids in the room and that your s**t doesn't stink, you don't really think things through.





#MSM just now getting around to doing their job:

http://t.co/zKgGxt1VfO Politico: Golly, #MSM did a pretty crappy job of digging into #ACA problems prior to now.

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) December 3, 2013

http://t.co/cwYXlA7ydf #LATimes now helpfully informs readers of disastrous nature of government run IT programs. #ACA

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) December 3, 2013

It's not "un-needed" "un-wanted" nor "un-necessary"... it's "comprehensive":

@chrisabowyer @sarahmseltzer @seanmdav Also, I'm a permanently infertile woman & now have to pay for "maternity coverage." How's that fair?

— Peace Love 2nd Amnd (@peaceloveamnd2) December 3, 2013

Chew on this:

Amazing how much CA hi-speed rail hz in common w/#ObamaCare. Sold on bad assumptions & lies & kept alive by disingenuous spin.#BeersWithDemo

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) December 3, 2013

Was following a Twitter thread when I was informed that U.S. Navy protection of shipping lanes was a subsidization of the world's oil market/prices:

U.S. Navy "subsidizes" world oil prices? I guess in the same way U.S. Marines "subsidized" this country's existence from 1941-1945.

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) December 3, 2013

Same thread claimed that other people paying for someone else's birth control was a right:

Refuse sex unless the man provides BC. He will. Problem solved. @RobertfromTN @GayPatriot @sarahmseltzer

— laura w (@laurww) December 3, 2013

Fixed!

@chrisabowyer @sarahmseltzer @seanmdav The "Keep your laws off my body" set now making their private/personal matters everybody's business

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) December 4, 2013

Society somehow responsible for covering everyone's birth control:

@chrisabowyer @sarahmseltzer @seanmdav If "society should" then I should have a say in whom you bed. See how that works?

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) December 4, 2013

So, you're telling us they didn't? Damn.

http://t.co/3LAHFHvyhU I can't be the only one to be mildly disappointed that perhaps the Mossad didn't poison is sorry ass. #Arafat

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) December 4, 2013

If we're living in a post-American world how about some movie ideas:

Post-American Graffiti: 26 yr. olds celebrate last day of junior college by cruising Williamsburg, Brooklyn in EVs & hitting up fuh joints.

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) December 4, 2013

A reminder from this country's big dawg:

"Remember, gang, delaying, exempting and waiving the law of the land are just things we do together." - Preezy #ACA

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) December 4, 2013

And lastly...

http://t.co/deRg4M7LRQ I can't be the only pro #2A conservative out there that has zero problem with #NFL choosing not to run pro-gun ad.

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) December 4, 2013

A lot of fulminating from our conservative brethren that we don't understand. The NFL wisely rejected the feds overtures that they play patsies for ObamaCare and they have wisely steered clear of another hot button issue. Why would the NFL play with that particular potato?





Hasta la bye-bye...

Your California high-speed choo-choo update

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In two separate rulings on Monday, the same judge dealt potential death blows to California's beleaguered boondoggle, the largest public works project in American history, California high-speed rail.

From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

A Sacramento judge on Monday tore up California's funding plans for its bullet train project in separate orders that could force the state to spend months or years redrawing its plans for the $68 billion rail line.

Judge Michael Kenny rejected a request from the California High-Speed Rail Authority to sell $8 billion of the $10 billion in bonds approved by voters in 2008, saying there was no evidence it was "necessary and desirable" to start selling the bonds when a committee of state officials met last March.

He said the committee was supposed to act as "the ultimate 'keeper of the checkbook'" for taxpayers, but instead relied on a request from the high-speed rail authority to start selling bonds as sufficient evidence to proceed.

In a separate lawsuit, Kenny ordered the rail authority to redo its $68 billion funding plan before continuing construction, a process that could take months or years. He had previously ruled that the authority abused its discretion by approving a funding plan that did not comply with the requirements of the law. The judge said the state failed to identify "sources of funds that were more than merely theoretically possible."

Judge Kenney ruled that the Rail Authority in having completed environmental clearances for only 28 miles in the Central Valley violated the terms of Prop. 1A (the approved proposition of 2008 that got the wheels moving in this whole sorry mess) that required all the environmental clearances be in place as well as specifying the sources of funding for the first operable segment of the high speed line.


They've had about 5 years to secure clearances for the first 28 miles of track. It doesn't take a math major to extrapolate the lengthy time frame it's going to take to secure the rest of the clearances for the distance between LA and San Francisco.


Back to the article:

Still, Kenny stopped short of blocking the project altogether, and rail authority officials characterized Monday's rulings as a setback rather than a fatal blow.

"Like all transformative projects, we understand that there will be many challenges that will be addressed as we go forward in building the nation's first high-speed rail system," authority board Chairman Dan Richard said in a written statement.

This may not be a death blow but these two rulings definitely put high-speed choos on the ropes. And there may not ever be a death blow, per se, rather death by a million cuts.


We already know that the official estimate of $68 billion was accomplished in disingenuous fashion by Governor Brown’s people, slashing the electrical infrastructure and the actual choo-choos from the project (another violation of Prop. 1A). What happens when that bit of budgetary chicanery is made fully public? What then? Where will the money come from to finish the job?


And what of the other suits that are still pending? And remember, the environmental and logistical delays being experienced already by this project are occurring on what should be the easy part of this. It’s the flat, relatively sparsely populated Central Vally not the Tehachapi Mountains nor the congested Bay Area or L.A. Basin.


Brown’s in-state allies and the statist acolytes both in California and across this country are playing a waiting game and hoping to establish just enough forward momentum and progress that the project becomes terminal and can no longer be walked away from regardless of the absolute financial black hole it becomes… and it will.


Short of a radical re-structuring of the current one-party rule that currently exists in California, count on Cali’s high-speed choo-choos to be far and away the most disastrous public works program this country has ever seen. In a sense, it already is.

Your California high-speed choo-choo update

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Out in the California's Central Valley where the first leg of California's high-speed rail system will be built, ground hasn't yet been broken but engineers be engineering and even this seemingly unobtrusive activity of civil engineers in shirt-sleaves and white hardhats walking around with clipboards is already grating on the locals.

Truth be told, you'd probably be pretty chapped also once you learned your business would be leveled or that you would be losing farmland as sacrifices to the public works gods of Sacramento and Washington D.C.



From ABC News:

Five years ago, California voters overwhelmingly approved the idea of bringing a bullet train to themost populous U.S. state. It would be America's first high-speed rail system, sold to the public as a way to improve access to good-paying jobs, cut pollution from smog-filled roadways and reduce time wasted sitting in traffic while providing an alternative to high fuel prices.

Now, engineering work has finally begun on the first 30-mile (48-kilometer) segment of track here in Fresno, a city of a half-million people with soaring unemployment and a withering downtown core littered with abandoned factories and shuttered stores.

Rail is meant to help Fresno, with construction jobs now and improved access to economic opportunity once the project is finished. But the region that could benefit most from the project is also where opposition to it has grown most fierce.

cI just wish it would go away, this high-speed rail. I just wish it would go away," says Gary Lanfranco, whose restaurant in downtown Fresno is slated to be demolished to make way for rerouted traffic.

Such sentiments can be heard throughout the Central Valley, where roads are dotted with signs such as: "HERE COMES HIGH SPEED RAIL There goes the farm." Growers complain of misplaced priorities, and residents wonder if their tax money is being squandered.

Aaron Fukuda, a civil engineer whose house in the dairy town of Hanford lies directly in one of the possible train routes, says: "People are worn out, tired, frustrated."

The article goes on to make a false comparison between the bullet train's advertised 2 hr. and 40 minute travel time from L.A. to San Francisco and the 6 hours that it would take to do it by car. For years, we have been saying that California already has form of "high-speed rail" and it's called commuter flights which will do the L.A.-SanFran trip in about 45 minutes.


And dig this:

Political and financial compromises led officials to scale back plans that now mean trains will be forced to slow down and share tracks in major cities, leading critics to question whether it will truly be the 220-mph (355-kph) "high-speed rail" voters were promised.

If by "compromise" they mean they compromised the original content of the project, then yes, they compromised the hell out of it. With cost estimates coming as high as $120 billion, Governor Moonbeam's boys took hatchets to the project to get it to the more palatable $68 billion (original estimates when this turkey was put on the ballot back in 2008 was in the $32-40 billion range). Of course, that $68 B gets you only the tracks. No powering infrastructure. No gates. No actual choo-choos.


And it is imperative that they blow through $2.2 billion by 2015 or they lose out on $3.2 billion of federal money. We think they've got it in them. It's the government we're talking about after all.



And as we referenced earlier there is a very human emotional toll that high-speed choo-choos is exacting that sounds like very much like the L.A.'s Metropolitan Water District Owen's Valley land grab nearly 100 years ago:




I

n the Central Valley, there is intense distrust of the authority, which has started buying up property, land and businesses, some of which have been in families for generations.

At the dimly lit Cosmopolitan Cafe, office workers line up alongside farmers and paramedics to order sandwiches as waitresses expeditiously call out order numbers. Four decades' worth of memorabilia and yellowing newspaper restaurant reviews line the faux-wood walls in the space that Lanfranco has owned for most of his life.

Lanfranco says the sum he was offered to buy the property does not come close to replacing the space he owns, debt-free. The adjacent parking lot — a rare commodity — is packed with pickup trucks and cars each day at lunchtime. Lanfranco declined to say how much he was offered, and the offers are not public record.

"It's not like it's just a restaurant that I've owned for a couple of years and now I can just go replace it. It's something that I've put the last 45 years of my life into," the 66-year-old says.

His is just one of hundreds of properties the state needs to buy for the rail project or seize through eminent domain if they cannot reach a deal. Many owners are resentful after years of what they say have been confusing messages and misleading information.

All this to secure the legacy of an old washed-up governor. Heckuva job, California!

Your California high-speed choo-choo update

A little over a week ago we reported out on a Sacramento judge that ruled against California’s high speed rail commission stating that the project had not met the financial nor environmental promises made to the voters of California when the high-speed choo-choo project was put on the ballot 5 years ago.


This was called a “major blow” to the project but we remained skeptical for two reasons: 1) The judge never levied a stop work order and 2) the lawless nature of the state's political class that is all-in on high-speed choo-choos would’ve simply ignored any cease and desist handed down from the bench.


State honchos argued that the lawsuit brought about by Central Valley farmers was moot as the facts on the ground currently didn’t match the conditions under which the Farmers were bringing suit… which is kind of a problem when you think about.


Anyway, here’s what we wrote regarding the subject 9 days ago:

What is meant by “revised its business plan to scale back the cost” is to eliminate the funding of the infrastructure required to power the rail system and to eliminate the funding for the actual choo-choos. No lie, gang. This is how you get a project that was advertised as costing in the $33-40 billion range when high-speed rail was put on the ballot back in 2008 to the current $68 price tag when estimates for a fully functioning rail system has been put in the $100-120 billion range.

The state’s powerbrokers did not disappoint when they went on the record this past week with respect to Judge Michael Kenny’s ruling:

Gov. Jerry Brown said Monday that California's high-speed rail project will not be stopped by a judge's ruling that project officials failed to comply with provisions of Proposition 1A, the initiative in which voters approved initial funding for the project in 2008.

"It's not a setback," Brown told reporters at the Lake Tahoe Summit.

He said the ruling "didn't stop our spending, so we're continuing. As we speak we're spending money, we're moving ahead."

Please note that spending appears to be the main focus of activity rather any actual building. The good statist that Brown is, he is really, really excited about spending California tax dollars.


For his part, Judge Kenney has requested more information from both opponents and proponents of the project before taking up the matter again.


Stay tuned to these pages for the latest on the greatest public works boondoggle in the history of western civilization.

What we and others have been tweeting

Some humor to get things started:

breaking bad is the only cooking show i like

— Andy Levy (@andylevy) August 12, 2013

Whitey Bulger Verdict Interrupted By Ben Affleck Shouting Commands From Director’s Chair In Balcony http://t.co/3ImE4kmzTG

— The Onion (@TheOnion) August 13, 2013

Tebow: "Hey Tom, get me anything for my birthday?" Brady: "Yep. Sundays off through February"

— Fake SportsCenter (@FakeSportsCentr) August 14, 2013

So, that Missouri state fair rodeo clown that wore the Obama mask... We know it was so last week but at the time, it was sucking all the oxygen out of the room much to the joy of the President's supporters who have not found much to be happy about in another summer of discontent.

Still record-low labor participation rate, but, but... #ObamaMaskClown

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 14, 2013

https://t.co/pzHKR9RZhK I believe fully in showing respect for the office of #POTUS but everyone just needs to calm the f**k down.

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 12, 2013

http://t.co/1Q1RoDGLrv WaPo duly notes that rodeos in the heartland tend to be white and rightward-leaning.

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 16, 2013

How many Klan rallies do these Democrats attend for them to say everything is like a Klan rally? #MoStateFair

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) August 12, 2013

FREE MUMIA JAIL RODEO CLOWN

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) August 13, 2013

Not a parody: MO State Fair now demanding all rodeo clowns show proof of sensitivity training http://t.co/1hWZ5OR6eC

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) August 14, 2013

If we don't send the dissident rodeo clowns to re-education camps, the terrorists win http://t.co/1hWZ5OR6eC

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) August 14, 2013

Elon Musk was in the news last week when he unveiled very nascent plans for his Hyperloop transportation system in the Central Valley that would use tubed pods and magnetism to scoot people from San Fran and Los Angeles and visa versa in 30 minutes.

Hey, that has a ring of familiarity to it...

I really, really do feel sorry for #highspeedchoochoos. Hi, there, #HyperLoop

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 13, 2013

#Hyperloop OK, it's not flying cars but we're getting there. #Jetsons

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 12, 2013

So, you're a hot shot engineer just out of school. Who'd you rather work for? Elon Musk or Jerry Brown? #Hyperloop vs. #highspeedchoochoos

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 12, 2013

So, in 2035, you're chugging along in the Central Valley on Jerry Brown's #highspeedchoochoos and then suddenly... Whoooosh. #Hyperloop

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 13, 2013

@Psudrozz #HyperLoopNado It had to be done, right?

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 13, 2013

@deanriehm you need football worse than I do

— JD (@Psudrozz) August 13, 2013

That ain't no lie.

I'm picturing Jerry Brown plotting something seismically nefarious a la Lex Luthor to prevent #HyperLoop #Superman

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 13, 2013

I don't suppose I could blame #highspeedchoochoos for experiencing a little rail gun envy right now. #HyperLoop

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 13, 2013

ObamaCare... always with the ObamaCare and always with the ObamaCare delays, waivers and exemptions. This time, a one-year delay of the health insurance out-of-pocket expense caps:

http://t.co/IuuES8Xqci Another week, another #ObamaCare delay. #ThisIsMyShockFace

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 13, 2013

http://t.co/IuuES8Xqci The phrase '...but under a little noticed ruling..." should not exist in a constitutional republic.

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 13, 2013

http://t.co/IuuES8Xqci Hi, libs... You keep telling me that #ObamaCare is the law of the land but Preezy keeps acting otherwise.

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 13, 2013

http://t.co/IuuES8Xqci So, just which part of his "signature piece of legislation" does Preezy intend on implementing/enforcing?

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 13, 2013

Seemingly, all "popular" aspects of #ObamaCare being delayed. The unpopular ones...? Right on schedule!

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 13, 2013

Here's some comforting news:

Just for effect: #NSA liar Clapper to head up #NSA review board and miserable hack that runs #DOJ to investigate #DOJ abuses. #Holder

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 13, 2013

Who wants to talk abt #NSA liar Clapper heading up the "independent" and "outside" NSA review board when we've got #ObamaMaskClown? #MSNBC

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 13, 2013

Don't worry, everyone: James Clapper is going to do a really independent - and super-honest- review of NSA spying http://t.co/f32E6sXJ1N

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) August 12, 2013

http://t.co/GNrbjqlnWt If by "independent" and "outside" you mean the man who lied about the #NSA spying program, then, yes, by all means.

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 12, 2013

MSNBC not even trying anymore:

http://t.co/VS8I9gMuJ1 Behold the metro-cluster of Syracuse, Buffalo and Binghamton. #MSNBC

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 14, 2013

Getting ready for some football and asking the questions that need to be asked:

@Mad_Maxamillion @Psudrozz Bigger grease fire this season: Cowboys? J-E-T-S? #NFL

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 15, 2013

@deanriehm @Mad_Maxamillion theproblem with the "grease fire" analogy is when someone throws white powder at the 'Boys, they win Super Bowls

— JD (@Psudrozz) August 15, 2013

@Psudrozz @Mad_Maxamillion FTW. I got nada.

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 15, 2013

The NSA spying scandal isn't going anywhere especially when the Commander-in-Chief has been less than truthful about it:

The word is "lied." RT @ezraklein: Obama said the NSA wasn’t “actually abusing” its powers. He was wrong. http://t.co/SKRrYlBxj3

— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) August 16, 2013

NSA breaks privacy rules thousands of times each year http://t.co/E9ISvKHlmB" If u aren't mor of a limited gov type u haven't bn paying attn

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 16, 2013

http://t.co/1UM9mOM0Mg Progressive all butt hurt that the Dear Leader may have been less than forthcoming wrt #NSA spying.

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 19, 2013

The sexual assault crisis in our armed forces, if nothing else, provides the perfect opportunity for some grandstanding. Unfortunately, said grandstanding has had some actual, real-world negative consequences:

http://t.co/JPZqpDwG5o Preezy opens his fat yapper, sexual assault charges get dropped. #WarOnWomen

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 16, 2013

http://t.co/JPZqpDwG5o Is it possible for the President to keep his mouth shut on subjects his words adversely affect? #WarOnWomen

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 16, 2013

http://t.co/JPZqpDwG5o Preezy "acted stupidly" putting women at risk from sexual assault. #WarOnWomen

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 16, 2013

Middle East peace talks are the ultimate foreign policy make-work program:

ME peace talks are funny. Not funny 'ha-ha" but funny like one side wants to see the other side wiped off face of the planet funny.

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 15, 2013

Team O has asked courts to be able to go through cell phone records of people police have arrested without obtaining a warrant. Hey, only a liberal Democrat could further the cause of the surveillance state.

http://t.co/Sg1ZwpvpZl Being a prog means support police going thru cell phone records of anyone arrested w/out judge's permission #change

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 18, 2013

From freaking out about pouring water on faces of 3 terrorists to silence and/or support of drone strikes and spying today. #change

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 18, 2013

http://t.co/BTUt70rA8d Shorter Feds to Lavbit: "You'll be facing criminal charges if u don't stay open for business so we can spy on ppl."

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 18, 2013

http://t.co/3FOKsz87Ws Can't wait until there's an (R) back in the Oval Office & currently worthless "progressives" will start caring again.

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 19, 2013

http://t.co/380x1f3fAG They told me if I voted 4 Romney it would be a vote 4 an unprecedented assault on civ. liberties & they were right.

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 19, 2013

The Greenwald mentioned below is the NSA whistleblower.

http://t.co/3FOKsz87Ws Glenn Greenwald's partner detained by British authorities for 9 hours. #intimidation #NSA

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 19, 2013

Got intimidation?






Finally, the pro-Filner crowd had there little rally downtown on Monday afternoon. "Due process" seemed to be the ubiquitous chant for our hometown's disgraceful creeper:

Don't worry, #Filner supporters, at the end of the day, dude will have due process coming out his ears. There will be no shortage of it.

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 19, 2013

Hi, #Filner supporters. Rest easy... You better flippin' believe your boy is going to get him some due process.

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) August 19, 2013

OK, that's it for today. Take care, y'all.

Your California high-speed choo-choo update

The breathless lede to this linked article from the Associated Press regarding a suit filed by Central Valley landowners back in 2011 may certainly turn out to be a big fat nothing-burger if the past conduct of the state’s political power broker establishment is any indication. However, for whatever it’s worth…


No money? No problem:

A Sacramento County judge dealt a major blow to California’s high-speed rail project Friday, ruling the agency overseeing the bullet train failed to comply with the financial and environmental promises made to voters when they approved initial funding for the project five years ago.


Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny said the California High-Speed Rail Authority “abused its discretion by approving a funding plan that did not comply with the requirements of the law” and has failed to identify “sources of funds that were more than merely theoretically possible.”


However, he declined to halt funding for the project, saying it wasn’t clear he had the discretion to do so and he’ll hold another hearing to determine what happens next. A date hasn’t been set.


The 2008 initiative, Proposition 1A, required the rail authority to specify where the funding would come from for the first operable segment of high-speed rail and have all the environmental clearances in place. Kenny said the agency did not comply with either of those mandates, but Proposition 1A appears to leave it up to lawmakers to decide whether the funding plan is sufficient to warrant funding.


The office of Gov. Jerry Brown, who has championed the project, directed inquiries to the rail authority. Dan Richard, the Brown-appointed chairman of the authority’s board, said work on the project will continue until the judge determines the remedy.

You just saw the nothing-burger, there, did you not? Judge said he will leave it up to the lawmakers to figure their way out of this legal and financial conundrum and rail honcho Richard says this is all back on the judge. In the meantime, nothing to see here, all ahead, full, because…

Central Valley landowners and the Kings County Board of Supervisors argued in their 2011 lawsuit that the $68 billion high-speed rail plan did not meet the promises made to voters when they approved selling $10 billion in bonds for it.

However, the lawsuit was filed in 2011, before the authority revised its business plan to scale back the cost and revise the planned routes, and high-speed rail officials believe many of the arguments made in court no longer apply to the project.

What is meant by “revised its business plan to scale back the cost” is to eliminate the funding of the infrastructure required to power the rail system and to eliminate the funding for the actual choo-choos. No lie, gang. This is how you get a project that was advertised as costing in the $33-40 billion range when high-speed rail was put on the ballot back in 2008 to the current $68 price tag when estimates for a fully functioning rail system has been put in the $100-120 billion range.


Of course lawsuits mean nothing when you just start making up stuff along the way.


It gets better, though. In order to qualify for $3.3 billion in federal stimulus money, the first 130 miles of track have to be built (between Madera and Fresno) before 2017, a construction pace whereby the consensus has been described as “unprecedented”. Of course, the state has said they will tap into that $3.3 billion before and/or during the construction of that initial stretch of steel in violation of the law.


Again, probably another nothing-burger as the Obama administration will claim extremis, executive privilege, gridlock, newly-found constitutional powers as they have done in the past to throw more money into this black hole.


It must be fun being a statist and having that ability to suspend disbelief and simply ignore budgetary math and the rule of law.


While people like Elon Musk are truly getting outside the box with privately-funded 21st century ideas like Hyperloop, we’re going to be spending in the neighborhood of $100 billion on 19th century technology.


.

And where David Axelrod tweet-whines that they were unable to co-opt the NFL

Obviously, we're having a lot of fun with this. The NFL has summarily rebuffed the Obama administration's effort to recruit them in order to promote the roll-out of ObamaCare, however they still haven't received any official or un-official thumbs-down from the NBA, NHL, MLB and... librarians?


It was learned, during the wooing process that two Republican Senators sent a letter to the league urging them to not co-operate with the administration.


From CNN:

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn advised the NFL that it would not be a smart move.

"Given the divisiveness and persistent unpopularity of the health care [law], it is difficult to understand why an organization like yours would risk damaging its inclusive and apolitical brand by lending its name to its promotion," they wrote in a letter.

In addition to the NFL, the letter was sent to the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, Professional Golf Association and the chairman and chief executive officer of NASCAR.

Stating the obvious as well as just making good business sense didn't sit too well with the President's former top advisor, David Axelrod who took to Twitter rail against these threats and intimidation?

Now threats and intimidation? Appalling how far congressional Rs are willing to go to try and impede success of ACA

We got into the blow-back game:

http://t.co/V1WGUh3zms @davidaxelrod as a Chicago machine type, do u realize how ridiculous yr whining about threats & intimidation sounds?

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) June 30, 2013

http://t.co/V1WGUh3zms @davidaxelrod do you remember when Sebelius threatened to ban ins. companies from exchanges for higher rates? I do.

— Dean R. Riehm (@deanriehm) June 30, 2013

Here's Sebelius from back in September of 2010:

President Barack Obama's top health official on Thursday warned the insurance industry that the administration won't tolerate blaming premium hikes on the new health overhaul law.

"There will be zero tolerance for this type of misinformation and unjustified rate increases," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a letter to the insurance lobby.

"Simply stated, we will not stand idly by as insurers blame their premium hikes and increased profits on the requirement that they provide consumers with basic protections," Sebelius said. She warned that bad actors may be excluded from new health insurance markets that will open in 2014 under the law. They'd lose out on a big pool of customers, as many as 30 million people nationwide.

Mr. Axelrod, that fits the very definition of what you are falsely accusing the Republican Senators of.




Recall, as well, the, ahem, solicitation effort Sebelius has recently undertaken to raise funds for ObamaCare roll-out programs; funds from the very businesses her department regulates.

WASHINGTON — Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, has solicited sizable donations from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and H&R Block, the tax preparation service, as part of a multimillion-dollar campaign to ensure the success of President Obama’s health care law, administration officials said Sunday, even as a leading Senate Republican raised questions about the legality of her efforts.

Even if she is on legal standing, the optics of this just horrible.


You were all warned, however. We warned that ObamaCare becoming law would only further politicize parts of our lives that had not ever been exposed to the wretchedness of politics and recent events are bearing that out.


All that we have foreseen is coming to pass.

Your California High-Speed Choo-Choo Update

Alternate headline: It's Come to This



A week and a half ago, B-Daddy of The Liberator Today alerted us to the latest goings on with respect to the legal wranglings of California's $68 billion (ha!) high speed choo-choo project.

A Sacramento County Superior Court judge is scheduled to hear arguments in a lawsuit that claims the project doesn’t comply with a statewide ballot measure approving $9.9 billion in bonds for the systems.

. . . Former Sen. Quentin Kopp, involved in planning high-speed rail since 1992, states in an expert declaration in the case that the so-called “blended” system forcing the bullet train and standard rail to share tracks from San Francisco to San Jose is not genuine high-speed rail.

The practical concern here is that using conventional tracks (non-high speed) would increase the travel time between Los Angeles and San Francisco over the advertised time of 2 hours and 45 minutes. For those of you in Placentia, California who are scratching your head thinking why this is such a big deal as one can jump on a commuter plane and accomplish the same feat in about 45 minutes have reached just one conclusion as to how colossal a clusterfark this has become.


The use of conventional tracks is just one legal matter facing California's high-speed choo-choos. Folks in the Central Valley are bringing suit against the Railroad Commission because they don't have all their funding and environmental approvals in place prior to construction.



From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

The project faces several potential pitfalls, including technical reviews and legal challenges that could halt progress. Last week, attorneys for a farmer, rural homeowner and Kings County told a judge the authority is breaking its promise to voters who five years ago approved $9.9 billion in bonds to help fund the bullet train.

The case alleges the high-speed system violates several aspects of Proposition 1A, including requirements that the state have all funding and environmental approvals in place for an initial phase before starting construction. Lawyers representing the authority countered that the ballot measure’s provisions applied only to the promises bullet-train officials made to state lawmakers, not the voters.

(italics, ours)


You make me promises, promises... why do I believe...






There you have it, gang. The level of respect your betters in Sacramento have for you and the degree of honesty that is being practiced with high-speed choo-choos summed up in a single sentence.