Although this article, below, would suggest that "The End is Near" as the billboards tell us, reality tells us otherwise. This Union-Tribune article from San Diego is in character for a newspaper that has opposed high-speed rail for some time, but what it presents -- that the Governor has taken the first step to HSR termination -- is premature.
"Thankfully, Gov. Jerry Brown may finally be ready to drop the happy talk that has so far characterized his administration’s views of high-speed rail."
Does this mean anything substantive? Here are some thoughts I just sent to a few of my colleagues.
It's all in how you choose to spin it. First of all, we have to set our wishful thinking aside. We have to stop latching on to every tiny inkling and glimmer of hope that comes from newspapers. Newspapers are not in the business of reporting the news; they are in the business of making money by reporting the news. So, any and all opportunities for conflict -- conflict sells newspapers and increases circulation -- will be seized upon.
We can be sure that Brown has been kept up to date. The key issue for him, as for every other California Democrat, as I keep saying, is the $2-3 billion from the feds. Cut the rail authority budget, as the LAO recommends, and it puts the DOT and FRA in a very tough spot.
My position has been, right along, that the Democrats, starting with Brown, will do nothing to harm the funds from coming to California. They all know what a disaster this project is and are very, very pissed with the rail authority and the weasels on the Board, not to mention Van Ark's ruthlessness and lousy communication skills. You can hear it every time Simitian or Lowenthal make public statements. But, the Democrats' hands are tied.
So this anti-rail San Diego paper is engaging in promoting some wishful thinking rather than actual news. It's a psychiatric and AA cliche to say that the first step to a cure is to acknowledge the problem. Note the "most intelligent" and "very premature" remarks from Brown which, translated, means he's aware of their mismanagement but won't do anything to stop the project.
Finally, as I've also said forever, the HSR problem will be solved in Washington, not Sacramento. If the Repubs. prevent any further funding (from FY2011 AND FY2012) for California, the rail authority will still a.) get the initial federal funding, and b.) start CV construction. And that's all the Dems. care about. What happens after the 2012 elections and all the funds are spent digging holes in the Central Valley is an entirely different set of issues.
Keep your eye on the beginning of the 2012 election cycle. What are the California Dems. going into the campaign with? Having brought billions of dollars into California. The Boxer and Feinstein letters already demonstrate that. And what will the White House have as bragging rights? "Winning the Future" with the California HSR project starting construction!
That vindicates the Administration's loss of the three rejectionist states. All LaHood has now, besides all those Amtrak upgrades spread around like peanut butter, is the only "real HSR" project on the books, California's. Can you imagine the uproar from the White House if a Democratic Governor shuts this down?
This is not only a state situation, it's a national situation with California in a leadership role.
====================================
Gov. Brown to end his high-speed denial?
BY UNION-TRIBUNE EDITORIAL BOARD
WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2011 AT MIDNIGHT
The California High-Speed Rail Authority’s attempts to build a $43 billion system of speedy trains linking Northern and Southern California have been so thoroughly criticized on so many grounds that it might seem unlikely that a big new problem was left to be unveiled. But that’s just what the respected, nonpartisan state Legislative Analyst’s Office did last week. It issued a report that – among many other criticisms – warned that the strings attached to federal funding for the project appeared to make it impossible for California to comply with Proposition 1A, the 2008 state initiative that provided $9.95 billion in bond seed money.
Specifically, the proposition banned the use of taxpayer subsidies to make up for operational losses. But the Obama administration is requiring that about $3 billion of the federal funding it is giving to California for the project go to building an initial high-speed rail segment in the Central Valley. That’s because the Federal Rail Administration wants construction to begin in the short term and believes the obstacles to getting a segment built are fewer in the Central Valley than in urban areas.
But as the LAO notes, a Central Valley segment is unlikely to ever generate enough ridership to operate without subsidies – which are illegal under Proposition 1A.
So it makes sense for the LAO to urge the state to seek a loosening of federal restrictions and “to only proceed with this project if this flexibility ... is forthcoming.” But even if it is forthcoming, the LAO report still says it is best to put the project on hold until its many problems are addressed: its lack of a solid business plan; the confusion over who would actually oversee the rail system; the deep doubts about future federal funding; the skepticism of needed investors, and more.
Thankfully, Gov. Jerry Brown may finally be ready to drop the happy talk that has so far characterized his administration’s views of high-speed rail. On Monday, Brown unexpectedly joined in a Finance Department telephone briefing for editorial writers on the state budget. A U-T editorial writer cited all the criticism of the rail project and asked the governor when his office would finally acknowledge its many problems.
“We are looking into the program,” Brown said, and not much information gathering was likely to be necessary because “all these problems have been identified for us.” The goal, the governor said, was to settle on the “most intelligent” way to fix the project, and that it was “very premature” to talk about scrapping the project entirely.
Unfortunately, his administration still plans to provide $150 million for high-speed rail efforts in 2011-12 – not the $7 million recommended by the LAO until the rail authority finally got its act together. But acknowledging a problem is real is the first step out of denial, so good for Brown – and, eventually, maybe good for taxpayers.
Find this article at:
© Copyright 2011 The San Diego Union-Tribune LLC.
