As Ray LaHood fumbled around in the Peoria area supporting an Interstate from Peoria to Chicago starting near a new far north bridge that would be built to accommodate Caterpillar, just as he fumbled around on an unpopular Rt. 29 interstate to Rt. 80, as he fumbled around with an unpopular (with the ordinary citizens) a ring road from Morton to this new bridge and direct highway to Chicago, he tried to force high speed rail from Tampa to Orlando, 80 miles away, his gift of billions wisely declined by the Republican Governor) he is now trying to convince Congress that California needs a bullet train from Merced? to Fresno, nowhere to nowhere, and in the next thirty years, connecting these two cities to Anaheim to San Francisco and other more populated areas.
If the public will allow the politicians to continue to spend money they don't have nor no guarantee of any return except for union jobs and a few major corporations.
Remember the union motto, 'We don't care what you build, just build it. We need jobs."
As LaHood pleads with Congress, California voters are clamoring for a new referendum which they say would defeat this boondoogle by a 2-1 margin today.
In 2008, voters approved a $10 million bond to fund the 500-mile bullet train, but cost estimates have exploded to $100 billion and the mirage of federal and private funding has disappeared. The state has no money to build and electrify the tracks and the federal government is broke and deeply in debt to China all due to the likes of politicians like LaHood who love to spend OPM and support their big financial supporters who like all special interest groups have dozens of lobbyists in Washington, confusing an already confused body politic.
Give credit to the Republicans who have refused to appropriate funds while of course the private investors want a guarantee (think FireFly, Pro-Bass and the new Marriott Courtyard, the City Councils biggest boondoogle to date.
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