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It's really shitty if this is a selective action against California and not large projects overrunning costs in other states. At the same time, when the project

It's really shitty if this is a selective action against California and not large projects overrunning costs in other states. At the same time, when the project costs 10x what was promised, saying no seems like a good thing. If this kind of cancellation was applied to all projects going as poorly as this, it'd be a really fair decision.

Lendal 7y ago
Oh don't worry. The Trump administration is taking its War on Government to all the states.
- succleaf 7y ago
  Well, at least you aren't being hyperbolic
tathougies 7y ago
The issue isn't the cost but rather that California decided not to build it but take the money anyway. The money was set aside for a train between LA and San Francisco, two of the most important economic hubs in the States. The State of California decided to instead squander the money on a rail line between Bakersfield and Fresno, two cities that half the country have never heard of.
LanceH 7y ago
It was well pointed out before it started that it would cost multiple times the estimates the state was claiming. It should never had made it this far.
- xienze 7y ago
  >It was well pointed out before it started that it would cost multiple times the estimates the state was claiming. It followed the trajectory of basically every progressive pet project: “We need to do X! It’ll only cost $Y!” >Yeah right, it’s gonna cost 10 times that and be 20 years late. “Typical Republican fear mongering! Ignore them!” Years later on HN: “It was obvious from the beginning that project X could never be done for $Y. How come no one realized that at the time?”
Rebelgecko 7y ago
Perhaps a different administration would have let things slide, but the state of CA is pretty clearly in the wrong on this one. All of that federal money was tied to specific parts of the high speed rail project. For example a lot of it was intended for connecting the HSR to Union Station in Los Angeles. If the state has no intention of doing that, it really doesn't deserve that money. For the Central Valley HSR that is still supposedly being built, the federal money was supposed to be used as matching funds for the state's own money. Even after getting the HSIPR agreement amended to let CA spend its own money more slowly, the state didn't spend anywhere close to what it was supposed to have spent to match the federal funding.

Lendal 7y ago

Oh don't worry. The Trump administration is taking its War on Government to all the states.

succleaf 7y ago
Well, at least you aren't being hyperbolic

tathougies 7y ago

The issue isn't the cost but rather that California decided not to build it but take the money anyway. The money was set aside for a train between LA and San Francisco, two of the most important economic hubs in the States. The State of California decided to instead squander the money on a rail line between Bakersfield and Fresno, two cities that half the country have never heard of.

LanceH 7y ago

It was well pointed out before it started that it would cost multiple times the estimates the state was claiming. It should never had made it this far.

xienze 7y ago
>It was well pointed out before it started that it would cost multiple times the estimates the state was claiming. It followed the trajectory of basically every progressive pet project: “We need to do X! It’ll only cost $Y!” >Yeah right, it’s gonna cost 10 times that and be 20 years late. “Typical Republican fear mongering! Ignore them!” Years later on HN: “It was obvious from the beginning that project X could never be done for $Y. How come no one realized that at the time?”

Rebelgecko 7y ago

Perhaps a different administration would have let things slide, but the state of CA is pretty clearly in the wrong on this one. All of that federal money was tied to specific parts of the high speed rail project. For example a lot of it was intended for connecting the HSR to Union Station in Los Angeles. If the state has no intention of doing that, it really doesn't deserve that money. For the Central Valley HSR that is still supposedly being built, the federal money was supposed to be used as matching funds for the state's own money. Even after getting the HSIPR agreement amended to let CA spend its own money more slowly, the state didn't spend anywhere close to what it was supposed to have spent to match the federal funding.