"Last week, both houses of Congress voted to strip all high-speed rail funds from 2012 spending legislation."
11/23/11, "Congressional Republicans want to take back high-speed rail funds," LA Times,
"California's proposed bullet train, the nation's largest public infrastructure project, has become the focus of an intense federal funding battle that could undermine its survival, as Republican leaders in Congress attempt to claw back as much as $3.3 billion in federal grants already approved for the start of construction next year....
The threat is serious enough that the Obama administration, which strongly backs high-speed rail development, is attempting to secure the money for the California project through a step known as "obligating."
On Tuesday, the California High Speed Rail Authority said it had signed a cooperative agreement with the Federal Railroad Administration that "secures" through the obligation process remaining portions of the $3.3 billion needed to start construction. That action covers $928 million set aside for the project last year....
Denham, a subcommittee chairman on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said he believes all of the project's grants can be rescinded by Congress and should be reallocated to highway construction in the Central Valley. Republican staffers are formulating plans to grab the bullet train money, which they said has not been spent or put under contract.
"We can't afford it when we have a $15-trillion debt that continues to grow and California is broke," Denham said. "The cost of it continues to balloon out of control with no private investors willing to put money into it....
Any attempt to take back the federal money would face an uphill fight in the Democratic-controlled Senate. But the effort demonstrates the growing opposition to the California project by House Republicans,
- and weakening support across the board.
Denham once voted for the bullet train as a state senator but now says the program's worsening outlook makes it a "bait and switch." And last week, both houses of Congress voted to strip all high-speed rail funds from 2012 spending legislation.
If California were to lose the money, it could put the project — the only remaining high-speed train proposal in the country — in jeopardy. State voters approved a $9-billion bond for the project in 2008, based on a commitment that federal and private money would pay the balance.
Gov. Jerry Brown said he intends to ask the Legislature to provide approvals necessary to start construction next year. The state plans to start building an initial 130-mile segment of track from Chowchilla to Bakersfield next year with $6 billion, including $3.3 billion in federal money and $2.7 billion from the bonds. The completed system, stretching from the Bay Area to Southern California,
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More than a third of SEIU's entire US membership is in California.
Spring, 2010, "The Beholden State-How public sector unions broke California," City Journal, Steve Malanga
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California's San Joaquin Valley. Mass murder by caring 'greens.'
12/28/10, "Fresno, Zimbabwe," IBD editorial
"Environmentalism: Fresno, Calif., stands as the de facto capital of California's mighty Central Valley, the breadbasket of America. So why is that city preoccupied with
- winning a $1 million prize to stave off hunger?
Local newspapers and Fresno County officials are trying to rally Facebook users to vote for Fresno in a corporate contest sponsored by Wal-Mart for $1 million in charity food donations for the hungry. Fresno, a city of 505,000, has taken the national lead because
- 24.1% of Fresno's families are going hungry."...
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9/22/2009, "Senate rejects measure to turn California water on," Washington Times, Amanda Carpenter
7/25/11, "Bleeding Out: California Lost More Than A Million Jobs In The Last 5 Years," LAist.com
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