High Speed Rail Illustrates Broken Relationship Between Feds, States (Excerpt)

The news that California is forging ahead with plans to build the first leg of a high speed rail system might seem puzzling considering their budget woes. That confusion clears up once you get to the real reason for the urgency.

The California High Speed Rail Authority is committed to breaking ground on a leg of the train that will serve passengers between the unincorporated town of Borden and the half-incarcerated town of Corcoran.

Whether you call it the train from nowhere or the train to nowhere, nobody will be riding it even when it’s done. That’s not libertarian cant: The actual plan for the $4.15 billion leg is that upon completion it will sit idle until other sections of track are completed.

The CHSRA needs to break ground by September 2012 or lose $2.25 billion in federal funds.

(Emphasis mine.)

(Read the rest of this article on Say Anything Blog)