California s Bullet Train Is a Model of Progressive Governance – WSJ

Under the Chinese economic model, the government spurs unproductive growth by subsidizing wasteful investment, whether it be in real estate, electric vehicles or public works. China has borrowed some $1 trillion to build nearly 30,000 miles of high-speed rail lines, many of which connect lightly populated towns and carry few passengers.

That s the future of Mr. Newsom s bullet train to nowhere. Companies routinely cancel and write off bad investments. Why won t Mr. Newsom and his Democratic Legislature? Because they fear voters will realize they were conned.

In 2008 Democrats sold the train to voters with fanciful promises the same sort they make about free, universal healthcare. Democrats claimed the train would cost a mere $33 billion and be complete by 2020. The 500-mile train trip from San Francisco to Anaheim would supposedly take only 2½ hours and cost less than flying. Yippee.

Democrats also assured voters the train wouldn t need to be subsidized because it would draw masses of riders. The state high-speed rail authority at the time projected 65.5 million annual riders by 2030, about five times as many passengers who take Amtrak s trains in the more densely and heavily populated Northeast Corridor.

Despite such deceptions, Democrats could have extricated themselves from their big dig had they focused early train investments on electrifying commuter rail in the Bay Area and Los Angeles, as many legislators wanted. But the Obama administration required the state to build the first leg in the Central Valley as a condition for $3.5 billion in grants. Why?

To help Rep. Jim Costa, a longtime champion of the bullet train. The Blue Dog Democrat faced a tough race in 2010 owing to his unpopular vote for ObamaCare, but he was able to ride the subsidy train to victory.

Federal dollars, state bonds and cap-and-trade revenue have since kept the project chugging along. But the rail authority is at least $7 billion short of what it needs to complete the first segment and needs more than $90 billion to build all 500 miles. Couldn t Democrats have spared some change in the $321 billion budget they just passed?

via www.wsj.com

Allysia Finley.