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Cash Strapped California Votes For $68 Billion Monorail To Get Federal Bailout

Tyler Durden's picture




 

California's budget deficit may be $16 billion (up from $9 billion in January), the state's cities may be keeling over and filing for bankruptcy left and right (Stockton and Mammoth Lakes), and overall container traffic at the Port of Long Beach may have dropped 7.2% in May compared to last year, but at least California is about to get its own monorail. Well, maybe not monorail, but certainly a high speed line between Los Angeles and San Francisco for the low, low price of at least $4.5 billion in debt to start (and much, much more to actually end). The winners: Keynesians and labor groups. The losers: anyone who has ever taken math for idiots. From USA Today: "California lawmakers approved billions of dollars Friday in construction financing for the initial segment of what would be the nation's first dedicated high-speed rail line connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco. The state Senate voted 21-16 on a party-line vote after intense lobbying by Gov. Jerry Brown, Democratic leaders and labor groups." And while nobody really expects the train to actually be built, here is the real reason for passing the legislation: "The bill authorizes the state to begin selling $4.5 billion in voter-approved bonds that includes $2.6 billion to build an initial 130-mile (210-kilometer) stretch of the high-speed rail line in the Central Valley. That will allow the state to collect another $3.2 billion in federal funding that could have been rescinded if lawmakers failed to act Friday." In summary, just passing the bill, gives California a $3.2 billion federal bailout while the actual use of funds may or may not ever appear (or money is on the latter). If still confused think Greece and Germany, because Federal tax collections were just used to give California a very fungible cash injection. Where the money ends up now is anyone's guess.

From USA Today:

"The Legislature took bold action today that gets Californians back to work and puts California out in front once again," Brown said in a statement. He later celebrated with Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, a fellow Democrat.

 

Brown pushed for the massive infrastructure project to accommodate expected population growth in the nation's most populous state, which now has 37 million people. He said the project is sorely needed to create jobs in a region with higher-than-average unemployment.

 

The bill, which passed the state Assembly on Thursday, now heads to Brown for his signature.

 

The first segment of the line will run from Madera to Bakersfield. The final cost of the completed project from Los Angeles to San Francisco would be $68 billion.

There are those who sadly still have their Math for Idiots textbooks lying around:

Senate Republicans blasted the decision, citing the state's ongoing budget problems.

 

"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," Republican Sen. Tom Harman said in a statement.

 

Republican Sen. Ted Gaines said the project would push California over a fiscal cliff. "It will require endless subsidies and will blast a massive hole into our budget," he said in a statement.

Cliff... Shpliff. It seems Mr. Gaines has not yet figured out that the only way to survive in a post-Keynesian limit world, in which everyone is bankrupt, is to dig a deeper hole and get as much of whatever bailout money is available first.

Yet don't blame California for this mathematical abortion: the fault lies with the Federal government for creating perverse spend, spend, spend incentives.

Dan Richard, chairman of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, which is managing the project, said California would have lost billions of dollars in federal aid if the Senate fails to pass the bill before adjourning Friday for a monthlong recess.

 

Richard said California entered a contract that called for the federal government to provide money for building the Central Valley segment if the state also put up its share.

 

California was able to secure more federal aid than expected after Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin turned down money.

States turning down bailout money? What is this world coming to. Yet in the end even some democrats realized what utter insanity the project is.

One dissenter, Democratic Sen. Joe Simitian said public support had waned for the project, and there were too many questions about financing to complete it.

 

"Is there additional commitment of federal funds? There is not. Is there additional commitment of private funding? There is not. Is there a dedicated funding source that we can look to in the coming years? There is not," Simitian said.

At the end of the day, who cares: by the time the next bailout installment is needed, the EFSF/ESM will be fully operational and Germany (whose citizens will be "mandated" to retire not sooner than Yoda) can just step in and save California as well.

 

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Sat, 07/07/2012 - 13:50 | 2594985 goforgin
goforgin's picture

Is it higher than UK?

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:50 | 2595102 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

Was the UK austere?

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:56 | 2595117 Ropingdown
Ropingdown's picture

Yes, much higher.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:50 | 2595104 GernB
GernB's picture

You have history wrong. It was Hitler and the national socialist party in germany who hated the 1%, took thier money and redistributed it.The progressive left and the SS, intollerent of dissent, indoctrinating the youth in socialist ideals, and preaching hatred of the rich.

And now what passes for logic is admiration for those accellerating our demise, for doubling down on the strategy that is central to the problem. You need to wake up and realize austerity is not an option you can avoid. It is the inevitable consequence of having spent all your future earnings. Spending even more future earnings will only make it worse. This idea that there's some magical "growth plan" that will fix things, is like an alcholic who think he can drink his liver back to health.

Sun, 07/08/2012 - 01:46 | 2595913 hivekiller
hivekiller's picture

Sort of like ghost cities in China?

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 12:26 | 2594841 Inthemix96
Inthemix96's picture

Could be worse my friends.  Over here in the good old shithouse UK, we are allowed by law to buy cigarettes.  But for our own saftey, and that of the general public, at large mind, we cannot see what we are buying.

It is against the law now to look at smokes, but we can still buy them???  When this fucker goes down, we are going to have a hell of a lot of dead bodies filling the streets.

No taxation without representation?  Uh huh, bollocks???  Anyone here think we may be fucked??????

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 13:44 | 2594975 Prince Eugene o...
Prince Eugene of Savoy's picture

I never liked the English way--I've never been there, but am well read.  Since before Hastings and maybe always, the monarchist English lack the collective will for real freedom.  They never threw off the shackles.  A majority of the California population is like that now.  Indeed every blue state is an experiment in socialism headed towards its final destination of authoritarian fascism.

 

I am not Doug Casey.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPlbRdhkBM4

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 13:58 | 2594998 Oldrepublic
Oldrepublic's picture
When Britain first, at Heaven's command
Arose from out the azure main;
This was the charter of the land,
And guardian angels sang this strain:
"Rule, Britannia! rule the waves:
"Britons never will be slaves."

2

The nations, not so blest as thee,
Must, in their turns, to tyrants fall;
While thou shalt flourish great and free,
The dread and envy of them all.
"Rule, Britannia! rule the waves:
"Britons never will be slaves."

3

Still more majestic shalt thou rise,
More dreadful, from each foreign stroke;
As the loud blast that tears the skies,
Serves but to root thy native oak.
"Rule, Britannia! rule the waves:
"Britons never will be slaves."

4

Thee haughty tyrants ne'er shall tame:
All their attempts to bend thee down,
Will but arouse thy generous flame;
But work their woe, and thy renown.
"Rule, Britannia! rule the waves:
"Britons never will be slaves."

5

To thee belongs the rural reign;
Thy cities shall with commerce shine:
All thine shall be the subject main,
And every shore it circles thine.
"Rule, Britannia! rule the waves:
"Britons never will be slaves."

6

The Muses, still with freedom found,
Shall to thy happy coast repair;
Blest Isle! With matchless beauty crown'd,
And manly hearts to guard the fair.
"Rule, Britannia! rule the waves:
"Britons never will be slaves."
Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:11 | 2595021 Prince Eugene o...
Prince Eugene of Savoy's picture

England is overrun by Islamists. Dewsbury, West Yorkshire is now a center of Jihad, Muslim Sharia court and Taliban-style bombs. Only by chance just hours before an English Defense League rally, a car carrying a deadly cargo was pulled over and impounded for not having insurance. Later a police search found weapons.

It is one thing to be tolerant of views that you find distasteful or unpleasant. It is quite another to tolerate intolerance, or to accept religiously sanctioned violence. Responding to criticism with violence is not the mark of a civilised people, but of people living in a brutal 7th century world, where tribal loyalty trumps all other concerns.

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2012/07/counter-jihad-ed...

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 15:09 | 2595148 Diet Coke and F...
Diet Coke and Floozies's picture

So that's where that cigarette thing came from... It is here in Ontario, Canada as well...

Sun, 07/08/2012 - 07:52 | 2596037 Golden monkey
Golden monkey's picture

So true, Canucks are on their knees in front of the law... Sad that bunch of dumbass will be invaded by the US in just a few years.

Evidence1 : Average mariage lenght : 5 years.

Evidence2 : I'm still breathing, suckers.

And and and, one out of 100 is a weapon owner...

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 12:30 | 2594848 Fix It Again Timmy
Fix It Again Timmy's picture

"The world seems to be a complete madhouse - with occasional pockets of sanity" - John Cleese

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 12:30 | 2594849 Diet Coke and F...
Diet Coke and Floozies's picture

LMAO awesome episode...

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 12:43 | 2594852 slewie the pi-rat
slewie the pi-rat's picture

this idea had its political birth here during the obama campaign of '08

here is a piece from the modestoBee  California narrowly approves high-speed rail initiative

the next thing to do to understand this to put the google on "CA earthquake maps" and you will see the ground here will not support hi-speed for much of the "route" so thePeople who narrowly approved this probably would not have done so if the correct information had been given to them BEFORE the vote the propaganda was well-designed for the soccer mom opinion-shapers in the communities (who vote) to read about this over coffee and say to each other:  why, i don't think that's a bad idea! no!  it is a good idea! soon, the uninformed opinion state-wide and been honed to such a point that riding the bus to the casino, for example, some of those who understand english would start talking about what a wonderful idea it was and others would join in;  a few of us would just  <eye rolls> till the chatter died down and then start a conversation @ a volume possibly borderline rude for the situ:  that is all bullshit based on lies!  and then the first group would do the <eye rolls> they won again! they still think theywill be able to get on a train in SF and get off near LA 2 hours later or something only no airport or TSA 2 hours maybe getcha to gilroy, same as today, if things don't get too much worse
Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:42 | 2595085 slewie the pi-rat
slewie the pi-rat's picture

i tried to edit that post abt 4 times

honest!  i couldn't get a cab!  my tux was at the cleaners!

tyler & sac may have me on double secret paragraph probation

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 12:31 | 2594853 markar
markar's picture

Wow. First segment from Fresno to Madera Now there's a thriving ,bustling transportation corridor! Why don't they just pay 5000 union workers to dig ditches and another5000 to fill them in. A much less expensive make work program and about as useful

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 12:34 | 2594861 bob_dabolina
bob_dabolina's picture

Fresno to Madera is the manufaturing hub of the world...for methamphetamine

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:52 | 2595110 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

We'll have that track laid in no time.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 12:33 | 2594857 Jumbotron
Jumbotron's picture

Here's your Monorail, California......

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_E9ebt1a_s

 

 

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 12:34 | 2594864 FeralSerf
FeralSerf's picture

". . . Federal tax collections were just used to give California a very fungible cash injection. Where the money ends up now is anyone's guess."

Those aren't federal tax collections.  The money is created (printed) by the Fed buying treasuries which are created by the US Treasury to pay this nonsense.  No collecting at all, unless you mean collecting the minimal residual value of the U.S. currency that the people of Earth are holding.   Why is this concept so difficult to comprehend?

 

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:40 | 2595077 Prince Eugene o...
Prince Eugene of Savoy's picture

Money printing is a tax by debasement of the currency.  This steals wealth from all fed researve note based accounts.  This is the harshest form of taxation actually.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 12:37 | 2594869 WileyKileySmile...
WileyKileySmileyinThailey's picture

I guess its true. 'Just Baffle Them With Bullshit'. Its the only rule left people respect it seems, still just Bullshit nonetheless. This porky pig project will never fly and nobody will look too deep into it and nobody cares either. Its more Bullshit-long time since I walked with the man on the street in the US. But I gotta figure that we gotta start hitting the meat of the bell curve in comprehending what just one of the many trillion dollars of debt is??? What is it that allows most to suspend logic in the face of total reason??? Thats a gift if ever I dun seen one---fat dumb and happy. 

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 12:46 | 2594883 digalert
digalert's picture

Will never be built! California, land of fruits & nuts, voted for the train bonds in 2008 (pre-depression). Tony Vilar, that would be Antonio Villaraigosa for the latino crowd, mayor of Los Angeles wants to 'use' the money now for bills and stuff, like pensions, unions and teacher salaries. Promises to pay it back when they get more funding...

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 12:46 | 2594884 Rainman
Rainman's picture

I can fly time LA/SF in 50 minutes on standby with a flight leaving every hour, 16 hours per day. Done it many, many times. This high speed line will never get done. All of it is smoke, mirrors and porkulus.

The silver lining is that Moonbeam's November tax hike vote will go down in flames, as a big majority in the state are pissed off big time with the approval of this fiasco.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 13:28 | 2594945 FeralSerf
FeralSerf's picture

Including getting to the airport, parking, getting a shuttle from the parking lot to the terminal, checking in, getting through security (a real big one) and waiting at the gate until your group is called, boarding the aircraft, waiting for everyone else to board, taxi out, wait for the planes in front of yours, and taking off?  Then much of the same bullshit at the other end plus the time and hassle of transport from the airport to the final destination.  50 minutes is a small portion of the trip.  I find I can often drive to from SF Bay Area to LA (that's from where I start to where I want to go, but then I don't live in one airport and work in the other airport) in about the same time that it takes to take the plane.

 If the worthless (but very expensive) fucking California Highway Patrol toll/extortion takers on I5 would use the German system of speed limits, it would be no contest vis-a-vis flying.

It used to be easier.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:01 | 2595005 Monedas
Monedas's picture

I borrowed my wife's 1984 V6 T-Bird to go visit my brother in San Jose !  I left South Pasadena at 3:30 AM on Sunday .... when the Saturday night drunks were put to bed !  I was at my brother's door at 8:00 AM !  On I-5 I was going 95 to 105 mph .... so was everyone else !  The cops were sleeping !             Monedas       1929           Comedy Jihad Statute Of Limitations Abuser

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 15:01 | 2595133 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

I used to live in LaLa and had a girlfriend in SF, 3:15 door to door. Avg 120 mph. I miss that bike, but I married the girl.

Pussy make ya brave! Stupid too!

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 15:29 | 2595180 DoChenRollingBearing
DoChenRollingBearing's picture

Monedas!  GMad!  Nice, + 1 to each!

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 12:50 | 2594888 CaptainObvious
CaptainObvious's picture

This is awesome.  Kalifornia is on the bullet train to hell literally now.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 12:53 | 2594895 Freewheelin Franklin
Freewheelin Franklin's picture

 

 

Instead of running trains on the rail, they should just put big purple dildos every 10 feet, or so, so the residents of California can go screw themselves whenever they want.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 13:07 | 2594913 Antifaschistische
Antifaschistische's picture

Madera to Bakersfield?  Seriously?   For those unfamiliar with California geography..just know that this section is almost perfectly flat, has very few obstacles, a lot of farm land, etc.   But the problem with this from a project perspective is that this line will offer zero value.  If the project were to be abandoned (which is a risk of all projects) then we'll all be left with a useless chunk of rail.   This is a political strategy to get as much track on the ground as possible to make it look like they've accomplish a high "percentage" of the overall route.

Also, it's not just where the money comes from, it's where it goes to.  A chunk of rail doesn't have a bank account.  Who's the contractor behind all this that's laying in the weeds that will make billions on the deal?  That's where the rats are, and you can guarantee they're deep in the pockets of Sacramento VIPs.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:09 | 2595017 Monedas
Monedas's picture

WJAFM (Wait Just A Fucking Minute) .... the I-5 passes through ranch country 30+ miles to the west of old US 99 where all the old "Grapes of Wrath" cities are !  Are they going to take the old US 99 route so people can board .... or are they going to follow the express route of I-5 through the cow pastures ?      

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 16:24 | 2595279 FeralSerf
FeralSerf's picture

People are a pain in the ass.  They plan on doing as Amtrak has done and make it as inconvenient as possible to ride it.  There will likely be few possibilities of public transit to get to the stations except for taxis (like Amtrak).  There will be parking lots so the criminals can get the benefit of your possessions while you're gone.  It will also doubtlessly be so expensive to ride that one will do so only once as an experience, much like Magic Mountain.

When it rains, it pours.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:25 | 2595046 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

It's about tackling the less troublesome parts of the project first so they can do the more complicated sections (both legally and technically) with more and better prep.

I don't think it's a smart project for the money, but I can think of less intelligent approaches to the engineering side.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:47 | 2595094 Ropingdown
Ropingdown's picture

The engineering side?  There is almost no engineering involved in the first section.  The land involved has already been studied to death geologically.  The equipment is available almost off-the-shelf from Japan, China, France, and Germany among others.  They've postponed ALL the heavy engineering.  I ride the Spanish trains once or twice a year.  Lovely.  Under-used.  Very expensive.  Oh, and the heavy maintenance bills are just starting but there's no money to fund them. 

 

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 15:53 | 2595226 smiler03
smiler03's picture

I think you're all forgetting the potential value of this line as a movie set.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 18:09 | 2595439 magpie
magpie's picture

After all, they had that train in the Hunger Games.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 13:28 | 2594946 Morrotzo
Morrotzo's picture

When is this monorail supposed to be completed? Also, 68 billion my ass. Who wants to say the "overrun" is at least 50 billion on that?

The very first thing I thought of was Boston's "Big Dig" scandal.

"The Big Dig was the most expensive highway project in the U.S. and was plagued by escalating costs, scheduling overruns, leaks, design flaws, charges of poor execution and use of substandard materials, criminal arrests,[2][3] and even four deaths.[4] The project was scheduled to be completed in 1998[5] at an estimated cost of $2.8 billion (in 1982 dollars, US$6.0 billion adjusted for inflation as of 2006).[6] The project was not completed, however, until December 2007, at a cost of over $14.6 billion ($8.08 billion in 1982 dollars)[6]as of 2006.[7] The Boston Globe estimated that the project will ultimately cost $22 billion, including interest, and that it will not be paid off until 2038.[8]"

Ground broke in 1991...said to take 7 years, wasn't done until December 2007. That was just a 3.5 mile change to existant streets and routes. How much harder has it to be to build a 550 mile rail system?

 

 

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 17:33 | 2595394 Trajan
Trajan's picture

it already has, that 68Bn is vapor, the number is 98Bn, the LA Times has been all over this from day 1.

the ticket price is now pegged at  $70 ( now before the inevitable labor union starts working it and the subsidies start).

 

plane fare? $120-140 and you get there in a hour and ten, I'll call the car/abc to the terminal or airport time a wash.

 

The train is supposed to a 3 hour ride, thats pie in the sky. I'd say, 4, 4.5.

so you get there by plane,  cab to a meeting, have the meeting and to go back back to the airport before you arrive by train...wtf? 

 

only the numbskulls who approved this would use it..................

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 13:32 | 2594950 Monedas
Monedas's picture

It will be based on boarding on the honor system .... on each car one ticket will be purchased and they will pass it around when the bi-lingual, non racial profiling Ticket Police show up !  Illegal alien farm workers will use it as a real life shell game to avoid "La Migra" (Immigration Authority) !        It's like Obamacare .... the first part is easy .... later on will come the expensive right of way sections !          Monedas      1929        Comedy Jihad Even My Sick And Fevered Brain Can't Keep Up With These Natural Born Clowns   

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 15:31 | 2595186 DoChenRollingBearing
DoChenRollingBearing's picture

+ 1

Un millon a este!

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 13:34 | 2594955 Heroic Couplet
Heroic Couplet's picture

Europe does not have a standing army and does have public rail. In a kleptocracy, we would consult the Big Oil and the Big Bank ragheads.

But in a democracy, the people of California have a right to decide if they want public transport. If it's an inconvenience to Big Oil, so be it. Big Oil doesn't have to ride on it. If it's an inconvenience to Big Banks, ditto. Let the banks total up the damage caused by Phil Gramm and the bull crap derivative products--the CDOs, CDO Squared. Credit Devault Swaps, and Squared, mortgage backed assets. Let's hear the total dollar amount of damage caused by the Republicans who want deregulation in the finance and bank industry. Let's hear that gigantic effin dollar amount.  Let's let Californians determine their local transport.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 13:42 | 2594970 CaptainObvious
CaptainObvious's picture

"Let's let Californians determine their local transport."

How 'bout if Kalifornians PAY FOR their own local transport?  Ah, thought not.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:08 | 2595015 Catullus
Catullus's picture

As a current resident of Maryland, do I have the right to not pay my taxes to pay for a rail line in California?

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:21 | 2595037 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

No, at least not any more than I can not pay mine to fund the Lindsey Graham Memorial Concert Hall in NC.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:35 | 2595055 Catullus
Catullus's picture

It's ok. I suppose everyone's paying for everyone else's sports stadia. But there has to be some distraction for middle-aged men to not talk about politics.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 15:32 | 2595188 DoChenRollingBearing
DoChenRollingBearing's picture

South Carolina?

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 13:40 | 2594960 Monedas
Monedas's picture

I pray for a head on collision of two trains of commuting bureaucrats in a tunnel deep inside the San Andreas fault !    They'll have to dyna-mite the entrances to make a common grave !                Monedas      1929         Comedy Jihad When Is Moonbeam Coming Out ?    He became mayor of Oakland to be near a source of young black men !  You don't need a governor's mansion to give blow jobs .... just a small attic studio apartment will do !

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 13:42 | 2594971 Temporalist
Temporalist's picture

Some govt. douche is spending too much time playing Railroad Tycoon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railroad_Tycoon

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:03 | 2595009 Joebloinvestor
Joebloinvestor's picture

Giving the idiot another bite of the apple was Californians big mistake.

Calif. could/should become the next "silicon valley" of stem cell research but the govenor is stupid and inept.

We already have our equivalent of TEPCO (Edison).

Notice how Jerry doesn't say shit about the raids on dispensaries?

 

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:17 | 2595036 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

You can almost see the smoke billing out of the "club" now...

...hippies running frantically, crying, "But I thought he was a socialist maaannnn!!"

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:38 | 2595075 Ropingdown
Ropingdown's picture

California's become, on average, dumb, but Jerry's smart:  Just look at Spain and their high-speed rail paid for, more than 50%, with grants and loans from northern Europe.  The politicians can get their kids out of the basement and into RENFE, oops, CALTRAN permanent jobs as conductors of automatic trains, as monitors of self-monitoring equipment, and so forth.  They should just expand their airports 100% and start commuter airlines with "secure passenger passes" for regular users of these airlines.  Cheap.  Fast to implement.  Doesn't destroy the countryside but instead leaves the noise and destruction where it belongs...in the big over-populated cities.  Mandate tele-conferencing whenever feasible.  Do we really want the people of SF and LA getting together much more? Enough to make the entire US pay for it?  No.  Definitely not.  The moonbeams of CA all start in SF and LA.  Don't encourage them interbreed.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:15 | 2595034 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

 

- Small Business: $1.1B (2012 budget)

- Finding the Higgs: $10B

- High-speed rail to places you can get on SWA for 10 Big Macs: $20B (my estimate when all is said and done, not counting debt entered after completion to save face)

- Teaching the babies this year: $55B

- Feedin' the babies this year: $72B

- Payin the card minimum this year: $520B

- Beatin up dem A-rabs for a year: $620B

- Bailing out the syphilitic gambling robots of sausageville: $780B

- Takin' care of the old folks this year: $1.8T

 

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:24 | 2595050 clagr
clagr's picture

Hopefully this one won't be built with imported Chinese labor like the repairs to the Golden Gate Bridge

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:24 | 2595051 MFL8240
MFL8240's picture

68 billion given to the bankrupt California circus by the bankrupt Federal Goverment circus.  This is acutally quite amusing!

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:29 | 2595058 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

Wait until you see drywall guys trying to lay gauge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPaIXfVZjdY

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 17:56 | 2595417 Tom Green Swedish
Tom Green Swedish's picture

And how is this 68 billion railroad exactly going to get them out of the deficit?  Is it going to be a 52 billion dollar railroad with 16 B to pug the gap? Or is it going to become a 176 billion dollar underestimated iraq war style railroad? What is this railroad that nobody is going to use going to do to get rid of their deficit?

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:28 | 2595052 Monedas
Monedas's picture

A few Libertarian, hard money types having fun .... and not feeling guilty about the imminent demise of the Keynesian Socialist World Order .... is an attractive target for True Believer Socialists like GoForgin .... to spin !             Monedas       1929         Comedy Jihad It's Never Too Late To Blame Capitalism For Everything

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:28 | 2595056 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

Hey Cali, whatcha need all those trains for?

Oh....shit.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:30 | 2595060 Monedas
Monedas's picture

Mobile Farting Patios !

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:30 | 2595061 jonjon831983
jonjon831983's picture

Nice Simpsons ref.

 

Well... testosteronepit aint gonna be happy bout this.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 14:30 | 2595063 world_debt_slave
world_debt_slave's picture

dum and dumber

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 18:14 | 2595173 Michelle
Michelle's picture

After spending 3 days in Los Angeles driving their overcrowded freeways, I can understand their desire for alternate means of transportation. Biggest question I see is who will use it? The hubris in Southern Cal is obscene, hardly any cars over 3 years old on the freeways and the majority of them were luxury models - Lexus, Mercedes, and BMW's. Very unlike anywhere else I've been. No doubt these folks can afford higher taxes but they may have to forsake buying a new luxury model every two years, jeopardizing the foreign auto makers' market.

Back to my point, the attitude of these people is that they want to be admired and respected for their net worth or at least their perceived net worth, and riding in a rail car isn't part of their makeup. They want the flash, the "notice me" goods that signify how they've "arrived", and arriving in a commoner's mode of transportation won't cut it.

If it seems like I don't like Southern Californians, it's not the people, it's the attitude.  This attitude is what has gotten this country into trouble.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 21:12 | 2595690 dolph9
dolph9's picture

I like California, I really do, but every time I go to Southern California I feel like I'm amongst airheads.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 15:49 | 2595217 smiler03
smiler03's picture

Why don't they get the subtantial prison population to build it? You know, like British prisoners of war built Japanese railroads. /s

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 16:38 | 2595304 Tom Green Swedish
Tom Green Swedish's picture

Communistfornia? Gulag Workers?

 

Here are the 10 tenets of Communism and my analysis of the features we have in the USA.

Central banking system - Check
Government controlled education - Half Check
Government controlled labor - Half Check
Government ownership of transportation and communication vehicles - Half Check
Government ownership of agricultural means and factories - Half Check
Total abolition of private property - Half Check
Property rights confiscation - Half Check
Heavy income tax on everyone - check
Elimination of rights of inheritance - Half Check
Regional planning - Uncheck

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 17:18 | 2595373 Divine Wind
Divine Wind's picture

 

 

Bruce Krasting will likely be the only person to benefit from this boondoggle project.

He will get tons of new graffiti to photograph...

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 17:38 | 2595401 Trajan
Trajan's picture

hey, these are the same barons of the legislature who built a 5th research UC in.....wait for it............I said, wait for it!!!!

 

 

Merced...

 

 

hello, while Santa Cruz UC is hemoraging money too...

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 17:46 | 2595409 Walt D.
Walt D.'s picture

 On a warm summer's evenin ' on a train bound for nowhere

They are going to call the Bullet Train "The Gambler", after the lyrics in the Kenny Rodgers song.


Sat, 07/07/2012 - 17:57 | 2595421 Tom Green Swedish
Tom Green Swedish's picture

Maybe if we are lucky the Chinese will give us the technology, since we don't have the technology of our own and the first few can crash a couple times.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 18:49 | 2595489 otto skorzeny
otto skorzeny's picture

great-now the Hollywood Hebes and the sodomites in SF can move quickly between modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 19:34 | 2595547 Venerability
Venerability's picture

Are you sure Los Angeles to San Francisco would come first?

I thought the first stage would head initially into the San Joaquin Valley, but then head towards Las Vegas?

That is, frankly, the line that makes the most sense as a demonstration project, because it's the one a whole lot of tourists would greatly welcome - as would Angelenos who frequent Las Vegas for business or pleasure.

Some of you Extreme Supply-Siders really have to learn more about Rail as an Economic Stimulator. We are incredibly behind the entire rest of the world - to our detriment.

My own party, the GOP, should seriously consider Rail investments the same way we look at Drill! Drill! Drill! - which I also support. It's simply that Rail as Stimulator affects an entirely different group of States, some of which are important swing states - like Florida.

I happen to think an extensive Florida high-speed rail project linking Miami, Tampa, and Orlando - with possible extensions to St. Augustine/Jacksonville and Key West - would be immensely successful and popular. Governor Scott is simply wrong-headed to be against it.

Ditto a high-speed rail system linking New York City with Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, and Toronto. I think a lot of us here would use that system immediately and embrace it with enthusiasm.

This latter system WILL be approved sooner or later - probably sooner - since both Governor Cuomo and, I believe, the Harper government - or much of it - are now behind the idea.  

 

 

 

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 20:58 | 2595667 YouThePeople
YouThePeople's picture

The people of California don't want this. It's absurd. This is 'sustainable development' in the eyes of the whacked progressives who run this state.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 21:10 | 2595687 dolph9
dolph9's picture

Some smart Asians will figure out how to game this, we'll import more Mexicans to build it, and America will circle the drain just a little longer.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 21:23 | 2595704 Downtoolong
Downtoolong's picture

Madera to Bakersfield.

You can't know how laughable this is until you've actually been to these places. I can't wait to see how many people from LA and San Francisco take the the family out for a roundtrip ride between these two shitholes on a Saturday afternoon. Maybe this is what you're supposed to do when you can't afford a day pass to Disneyland, or when you want your kids to run away from home so you don't have to pay for their college tuition.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 22:33 | 2595805 A Cruel Accountant
A Cruel Accountant's picture

A train to nowhere with no passengers.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 22:33 | 2595806 squexx
squexx's picture

SoCal is a giant full toilet that needs to be flushed by Mother Nature. Come on Big One!!!!!!!!!!

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 22:39 | 2595812 tom
tom's picture

Because obviously the top economic priority for California is to reduce commute times between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Just imagine how much more productive the LA and SF areas will be.

Sat, 07/07/2012 - 23:16 | 2595838 tongue.stan
tongue.stan's picture

Funny thing is (not ha ha funny, but kill me now funny) is that there are already tracks running north south, and amtrack already has a service going north south, and everyone in my state wants a vegas line, and our state government is captured by the corrupt money just like every other government, and no one can find a job, and the schools are shit, and the police state is well developed, and the radiation is everywhere, and....and... wait, what were we talking about? Shit, I need another hit.

Sun, 07/08/2012 - 00:33 | 2595880 monad
monad's picture

quoting a zh post I read a few weeks ago,

CA Governor Jerry Brown's sister, Kathleen Brown, former CA State Treasurer, "currently serves as head of public finance for the Midwest region for Goldman Sachs, after taking positions as president of private banking for Bank of America from 1995 to 2000 and as head of public sector and infrastructure investment for Goldman Sachs from 2001 to 2010.[2] Staying in California for public sector banking would have likely posed a potential conflict of interest." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Brown
Love the part about "potential conflict of interest". She and Jerry must get a real laugh out of that one at the family dinners.
And that bullet train Jerry wants so badly. Who's going to underwrite the bonds? GS? Hahahahahaha.

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