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December 30, 2009
The Julian News 13
California Commentary
Wheels Coming Off
High Speed
by Jon Coupal
When California voters barely
approved a $9.95 billion bond
measure for High Speed Rail
in 2008, they had no idea how
soon they would learn the true
meaning of the phrase "being
railroaded." As more about this
project is revealed, the backlash
from the"public and political
leadership is sure to grow.
For purposes of full disclosure,
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers
Association ran the unsuccessful
campaign against Prop 1A (not
to be confused with 2009's Prop
1A, an attempt to raise $16 billion
in new taxes). Our most potent
weapon was a devastating study
by the Reason Foundation which
revealed that the proponents'
representations regarding costs,
fare price and profitability were
pure fantasy. (Link: http://reason.
will attract 41 million annual
riders by 2035, down from last
year's prediction of 55 million
passengers by 2030."
Although this revised plan
calls into question the entire
viability of the project, the news
is bound to get a lot worse. In
short, even these revised figures
by the Authority were born in
dreamland.
Another fantasy: "The cost of
the project- recently pegged
at $33.6 billion in 2008 dollars --
is now estimated at $42.6 billion
in time-of-construction dollars."
Sure, that's a projected increase
of about $10 billion, which is
jaw-dropping by itself. But the
Reason study suggests the final
costs will be more than twice the
revised projection. Many who
analyze the trend lines of these
ridership compared against
current aircraft utilization rates at
70 percent)."
If building California's High
Speed Rail project results in
millions of metric tons of carbon
going into the atmosphere, and
its ridership is substantially less
than needed to make the project
viable - which is the current
trend line - a legitimate question
is whether HSR will inflict more
damage to the environment than
if it were never built.
The only good news is that
it is still not too late to pull the
plug on the entire HSR scheme.
Legal authority exists to simply
refuse to issue any more bonds
or provide appropriations. Better
yet, if the Legislature had the
courage to do so, it would put the
issue back before the voters and,
instead of telling them a story of
sugar plum fairies, tell the truth
about costs and environmental
impact.
But the chances the California
Legislature will do the right
HOMES. CABINS ° LAND. RENTALS. PROPERTY MANAGEMENT. VACATION RENTALS
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org/news/show/the-california- megaprojects think that, if it is thing here are zero. There are
high-speed-rail). But, from the everbuilt, the cost will far exceed too many moneyed interests, $319,000 3 br, 2 1/2 ba, plus t.200 sq, _ , .. ,
start, we had an uphill battle $100 billion, too many cows to be milked toft. guest house over garage on 5 acres, $295,000 Ju!ian IownsiTe, 2 br, 2 ba, on
convincing voters how poorly In a bit of poetic justice,give up on this lucrative project 2 horse barns, outbuildings and small :85 o.cre. Within walking, distance to all
thought out this measure was. another recent revelation will to expect that rational thought fruitorohard, Tne snops anaresTauranTs.
The California Legislature had cause some hardcore backers of will win the day. Between the v '?i
already stacked the deck by the project - environmentalists p.r. firms, the contractors and " ..
providing such a biased title and and urban activists - to suffer a bond brokers, they will push this .....
summary for the measure that case of buyers' remorse. True, horrible project as aggressively , __ ,!.. v
the issue of that deception is still some environmentalists who as possible before the real truth
the subject of litigation today, took the time to actually analyze is realized. By then, they hope it
The deceptive ballot material, the project concluded that it will be too late for California to ......
in addition to the campaign would do more harm than good. reverse itself. _ .,,, .., -- i Bw .
contributions from those who But groups like the Sierra Club Jon Coupal is president of .-~~
would profit from the project, jumped on board without critical the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers
Association -- California's largest ~! ~::. ~~.~.~
was enough to ensure victory at analysis. Like so many others, grass-roots taxpayer orgamzatlon ~~'~ $249,000- Kenlwood, ]bd, ].~...hn with
the polls-albeit by a very small they applied a simple mindset: dedicated to the protection of $285,000 Kentwood 2br, 1 ba, 864 sq. large loft All wood nteror, argo deck,
margin. Cars, bad. Trains, good. P;tPosit~Ons!3i;~dthe advancement ft. knol-h/pine interior .59 acres, completely furnished
Now our predictions have But it turns out that, from an p y g . ~ .... r-- ..... , ............
.... " " 4" ' " ' ,
come true. A headline from the environmental perspective, this i: ii !:i::ii!i " ?" "
San Jose M,ercury News last is not so simple. Recent studies @ As Heard On The :i iiii:
week reads State High-speed by the University of California Streets Of Juhan ©
Train Rides To Be Costlier, regarding the environment life-
Ridership Lower Than Promised cycle assessment of various by Eric Stamets
To Voters." Describing the most passenger transportation .
recent "business plan" for the systems cast specific doubt Mayor s List .......
HSR, reporter Mike Rosenberg on California's high speed
writes: rail project. In reporting on Of New Public
"The average ticket on the those studies, the Institute for ta _ [ ~ • l
bullet train from San Francisco to Transportation Studies noted WORKS rrolects $259,000 Whispering Pines. 2 br, 1 ba, + 8225,000 Kentwood II 2 br. 1 ba 2 car
Los Angeles is now estimated to that "if high-speed rail draws F,',,- .I, llan loft. Wood interior and soaring ceilings, garage, fireplace, hardwood, dual-
cost about $105, or 83 percent of only half the ridership it says ......... 1 ba separate apt. downstairs. Double glazed windows, A/C,
compambleai are Lastyea the it wil . attract, its environmental .... decks
i The mayor has re! ,.ased.ailist:'" = -- --
state said prices would be set at performance will be twice as
of new pubhc benefit projects , , , , Ha//O, lnn Lair}
50 percent of comparable airfare bad per passenger mile traveled. ' ":-" ...... Jailer Gastil K zi'elt Terr) Bonlli#. Slt( .'oil "r ,t, •
that he has proposed for railer
and predicted a ticket from San And, if compared to typical ...... cell 760-445-1829 ceh 19-417-0481 cell 619-992. e111760) 803 1195
inclusion in the sdmutus Dill wnite " • / -
Francisco to Los Angeles would aircraft travel in situations where in Washington D.C. lobbying for
cost $55." This near doubling of 70 percent of rail passengerthe Julian area. It seems very the unions get involved and cry also be air conditioned. Other ---- ][ J.lntBI --
the projected fare price will have seats are filled, high-speed rail ambitious and in many casesfoul. Then everything goes on events and movies like that in ---------
a major impact on ridership: "As performs worse (the crossoverunneeded, but the mayor stated, like they had the money. We Balboa Park could be held. Also Artswer5
a result of the higher fares, state occurs when high-speed rail "If you collect a little money to could have probably gotten we could install comfy stadium Solution time: 27 rains.
officials now think the service achieves65 percent of estimated get the ball rolling and a project almost all this done if we had seating economically from some s]o]31J, lllulvlsl3131 ]
fits in a certain category on only had our lobbyist in on the bankrupt movie theaters. All ololzlPIvlulal, l^lNlal
R.F.D. by MikeMadand a earmark on a bill slipped first bailout" He said the folks trees could remain.
through the legislature like the in Washington recognized the 4. Similar to the animal i v u u
first bailout or is an innocuous Harley. sculptures in Borrego, metal s a v 3 a u I v ] _
sounding addendum to a state 1. Tunnel bypass of town. sculptures of the trees that used t ,l o IN El [ V In [ I N [ V[ Z [
ballot proposition that passes, 2. Stadium like dome built over to be here before the Cedar Fire. v!El!31J-!°!8!°lEl!°!s! I !
A d d V H ± :::1 E)SE) OH
money then pours in from the town to combat slipping on icy 5. Approval of monument
state or federal governments, sidewalks in winter and keeping to drilling record in town. The A -I ] n 8 " - s d V ....
"-.. Pay no attention to the budget town cool in summer, workers buy lots of cold drinks, v 0 3 d O "] 3 N 3 d
concerns. These payments are 3. Construction of a smaller6. Re-bankingofcertaincurves i iaJ i i ivi*'li ioi i
I week Ilaw and they'd rather threaten test dome over the site of the and cutting down certain trees Sldl'lNlalvl±lSldlVlZl
cuts to fire protection, education Bluegrass Festival in Frank Lane on Highways 78 & 79 so that
and law enforcement so thatPark. Thiswould provide needed speeding motorcyclists would be -- Weekly SUDOKU --
everyone makes a big stink and shade for the festival and could ensured of a fun ride instead of Answer
being killed. Change all broken I -"• -- L ,. ,. ,.. . _
lr ', T111Pi! P,v,t oc-q, Alt/ lt,t passing lines to solid double I I
I ' by Linda Thistle I -- J.l.UOoYyVJl.t,,l. lines so that motorcyclists could 18 It ]9 I' tL I81 6 j z is
pass anywhere
ACROSS ............. " I~I~ISl61elzI~'I¢I9
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7 4 5 4 Impale, ..... Quite a few Julianites had the I ISl 1et 1 1¢191z
8 Puppys I l" 1 I I Iprocedure at the townhall and I z1¢1 1g11,1 IslsI
9 2 7 6 attacks 19 are now much better looking and I I I I I I I I I
12 Lem~eux ~ L t' ~ /. 6 9 cJ g
• ^ ....... better connected- you're next. IIIII
milieu Iz° I [ I IIzz Iz= II 8 Donkeys on patrol in town [8191zlsI=Iel =lsl
8 3 2 13 Harvard rival " . . .
14Redact 24 25 26 27 28 from12m,dn,ghtto5A.M. Th,s I~l'l~l'l~'l'l~
15 Mrs. 29 30 31 ensures nobody would mess
9 6 7 Odysseus ...... with nothin' while the sheriffs get
17 Gauchos I I I I I I I some rest.
weapon 35 36 9. Create a motorcycle and ik • I
3 9 1 18 Bugle call baby carriage lane in town.• •
19 B~g man on
p7 13, I I /40 I I I / 10. Renaming of Banner Grade
..,. campusY 42 43 to "The Highway of Death." The
4 2 5 8 ~ ~)?d phone ~ Jl~~ boost to Julians economy would I J~!-L~(~ (~.[~.~~. I
feature • be tremendous just from the tee I A I
6 7 9 1 24 Swine149 I I I I1 o I I I 1115 I I 1shirts atone. I I
25 lg30Harold I I
Arlen song 48 Menagerie 9 American 30 100 dinars ~ / • • I -*--.,.~. I '~~~;~~' I
7 , 1 4 29 Equi- 49 Lawyers' --" 33 Polish 41UIIIll,,lllllII I ~-~_~.~._.~L.~'-~ 4
30 Automaton salaries 10 Dosage, silver? Likr-, , Hn,,r,= III
31 Historic time 50 Bohemian maybe 34 Junior of the --• • ---- --II I Z]fsBeEi~ingtoL°°k ~:~1
8 5 3 32 It merged 51 Recede 11 Go nowhere NFL Monday closed II [,~ ';~l
with 16 Diner sign 36 Marshlike Tuesday 9.00 8 II Christmas in Kilarnev 'l
/ Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way / Tanganyika DOWN 19 Thai money 37 Staff leader "_ : " H , " !
/ that each row across, each column down and / in 1964 1 Energy 20 Genius 38 Top-rated Wednesday 9.oo- I* I
/ each small g-box square contains all of the / 34 Winter 2 Expert 21 Parks or 39 Wander Thursday 9:00 - 611 I I
forecast 3 Big brass Bonheur 40 Summertime .... .^^ ~ [I I b.~nta£.'ta~ ~.~.I
numbers from one to nine. / 35 Hideaway container? 22 Exclude pest rrlaay Y.UU - ~"[I I IsComingto Town I
/
36 Abacus bits4 Graceful girl 23 "Believe 42 Handhold Saturday 9"00 - ~ [I I ,t.- ~7 li.ffal~ll~ ~'~'~I
/ /37 Yu'etide 5 New Mexic° - n°t organizer Sunday closed III "Jl I
refrain art colony 25 Asian desert 43 Blunder I~~'~.'Y~ I
40 6 orn
Matterh, 26 Fine, maybe44 San [j~ v. ~u~mgm I
/ "~" Moderate 'k -k Challenging / 41 Booty for one 27 Cattleman's Francisco's ~ 10. GodRestJ...I
42 Aquatic birds 7 Spell-down tool -- Hill [ "" YeMerrvGentlemen~ I
46 Jealousy 8 Outer-space28 Goes off 45 Weep loudly I .. " .... I
| *** HOO BOY, / .47 Type of race cloud course I ~ource:ww~:gonzagaDtmeun.com I
/ © 2009 King Features Synd., Inc. I 1850 Highway 78 ]I '
© 2009 K'ng Features Synd ~c. ~ 765- 0370 ' "
Janet Gastil Kaaren TerO, Bonnie Sharron Hall0, Ann & Larrr
Faller
cell 760-445-1829 cell 619-417-0481 cell 619-992-3868 cell(760) 803-1195
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