Governor Brown in his State of the State address saved advocating for High Speed Rail until the very end.  Trying to impress, he made sure that everyone knew he had authored the original legislation over 30 years ago.

One really should examine that history and learn the result of that legislation. With these facts in hand, one must wonder why the Governor would be so proud to have everyone know he endorsed that legislation.

The original legislation was the subject of much investigation, and about 6 months later, the project was dropped when numerous devious practices were uncovered. (worthless business plan, unbelievable ridership numbers – on and on ).  A good summary can be viewed here.

If you need even more information just do a Google search on “Richard Trainor High Speed Rail”

So here we are thirty years later, with the same problems.  In this case, however, somehow the project has managed to keep moving ahead.  This is despite severe criticism from the Legislative Analyst Office, the State Auditor and key members of the State Transportation and Housing committee, which was charged with oversight of the project. State Senator Joe Simitian, a major supporter for years, beautifully summed up why the project should die with his quote:

“Regrettably, the only conclusion I can come to today is that this is the wrong plan in the wrong place at the wrong time. And I will be a no vote.” For the video, click here.

The Governor made a big deal, in his address, about passage of Prop 30 with a 55 to 44 percent vote. The High Speed rail project now has over 60% of the voters wanting to stop the project.  It is time to get real, stop the project and save the taxpayers from this disaster.