The high speed rail hoodwink

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom has bailed on the Rube Goldberg project, stating that California should be spending its money on more important things. There is a petition drive in the works for an anti-bullet-train measure because polls are showing that California voters have followed Elvis out of the building on this folly. Maybe we should be calling It the "Slug Strain." High Speed Rail Authority executives themselves are pretending that all is well and are forging ahead. The are supported by the California High Speed Rail Authority Board, whose meetings must resemble the campfire scene from "Blazing Saddles." 

Editorial Board - Santa Clarita Valley Signal -- 07/13/14

California High-Speed Rail-the critics' case

For today, a survey of the opposition, which I will lay out as fairly as I can, saving responses for an upcoming post. Here's why I'm happy to do so: Even the most stalwart supporter of the original Medicare plan, or today's Obamacare, had to know that there were uncertainties and drawbacks. Big decisions are more often 55-45 than 90-10. You have to weight the pros and cons, the knowns and unknowns. I think the pros still prevail in this case, but we have to look at the cons. 

James Fallows - The Atlantic -- 07/11/14

California bill would delay cap and trade transportation fuel permits

The state's "cap and trade" program requires energy companies to buy permits for greenhouse gas pollutants they emit above the state limit. Democratic Assemblyman Henry Perea of Fresno says the cost of the transportation fuel permits will likely be passed on to consumers and his bill would give them time to adjust. 

Max Pringle - Capital Public Radio -- 07/04/14

Can High-Speed Rail opposition boost California GOP?

One big question now is whether, despite spending billions already, the project will ever be completed. Another is whether high-speed rail is the issue that can rejuvenate California's moribund Republican Party. For his part, Brown continues to embrace the undertaking, which has faced a series of legal, financial, and practical hurdles that have driven up costs and delayed construction for years. Even news that some members of his own party have abandoned the project hasn't dimmed Brown's unyielding optimism. 

Adam O'Neal - RealClearPolitics-- 07/10/14

Fresno County supervisors to reconsider high-speed rail stance

In 2012, supervisors crafted a letter to the high-speed rail authority but continued to support the plan. Poochigian said those questions - ranging from business dislocation, projected revenues and cost estimates - went unanswered. The price of the project, Poochigian said, has skyrocketed since it was first supported by voters, doubling to $68 billion. And, she said, trips will take longer and be more costly for riders and on a slower train than originally envisioned. "As far as I'm concerned, California cannot afford this," she said. Borgeas said he, too, is concerned about skyrocketing costs. "It is of a nature and financial scope not contemplated when residents voted on this issue many years ago," he said. 

Marc Benjamin - Fresno Bee -- 07/12/14

Madera family's life in limbo due to drought, high-speed rail uncertainty

Their rural property at the corner of Tremaine Avenue and Lake Street in the Madera Acres neighborhood sits just north of the first section of the bullet-train route that the California High-Speed Rail Authority wants to begin building this summer. While the rail agency has identified the Haflichs' home as one of hundreds of parcels it will eventually need in the central San Joaquin Valley, it's not yet in a position to buy the property. "We've been held hostage here for five years," Sheryl Haflich said. "We don't know what to count on. We don't know what to do." 

Tim Sheehan - Fresno Bee -- 07/13/14