Monday, April 25, 2011

Fast Train to Nowhere

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/opinion/24white.html?_r=1

 My favorite part...



"
only two high-speed rail routes run without operating subsidies: Paris to Lyon and Osaka to Tokyo.


Without bond guarantees, private investors, which so far seem more prone
to due diligence than the California High-Speed Rail Authority, have
yet to put up money.





The most astonishing thing is that even as
financial problems force California to dismantle its social safety net,
eviscerate its educational system, and watch its roads crumble, it has
agreed on a plan for high-speed rail that demands substantial local
subsidies and certainly will involve further concessions by the state to
attract private investment.






It is as if a family, with one spouse out of work, unable to meet
mortgage payments or school tuition, eagerly takes out a loan to buy an
electric car after an uncle offers to share the cost. The catch is that
there is no upper limit on the price, and the neighbors have to chip in.
"



...Self-inflicted wounds are always the most
painful.  









From: Charles Atherton <cratherton@gmail.com>
To: "Atherton, Michael" <atherton42@yahoo.com>; "Dennis, Patrick & Rosemary"

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