Bonzoboy1
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Bullet train to no where
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http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/14/local/la-me-0114-bullet-train-20120114
A surprise shake-up of senior leaders at California's bullet-train agency this week was partly Gov. Jerry Brown's response to a growing crisis of confidence and credibility in recent months that has threatened the political viability of the project.
As criticism of the project has intensified, Brown has moved to exert more direct control, installing two representatives on the board of the California High Speed Rail Authority and, on Thursday, playing at least a peripheral role in replacing the authority's chief executive, Roelof van Ark. Several state government sources said Van Ark, an engineering manager and high-speed rail expert, had become personally frustrated and lost the confidence of some key legislators.
Brown is under pressure from unions, engineering firms, big-city mayors and the Obama administration to stabilize and press ahead on a nearly $100-billion project that would be the biggest in California's lofty history of extraordinary public works gambles. With so much at stake, Brown is putting his own people in charge, although their ability to quickly reverse the damage of a wave of negative outside reviews of the project remains unclear.
Amid the turmoil at the top, the project's planning is proceeding at the hands of about 500 employees of contractors, led by New York City-based engineering giant Parsons Brinkerhoff, a firm that helped bankroll the 2008 bond proposal passed by voters.
The price has gone from 35 billion to over 100 billion, the first leg is projected to go from Bakersfield to Chowchilla, Bakersfield to Chowchilla 
Of course Jerry Brown the unions and the Obama administration are working towards something that makes no sense. Seems the democrats are once again treating tax money as if it had Monopoly stamped on it.
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paulg_68
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Bullet train to no where
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This is how it always goes with this kind of big government project. They pitch the project based on projected usage and cost. They show that the project will be worth a whopping 25% more than it will cost. How can we not afford to do a project that good?
Then come the revisions. The price just went up 35%. Usage will be 15% lower than initially thought. Actually the cost just went up another 60%. The revised price quote is actually just for phase one which is only half the project. On and on and on like that.
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__Bonk__
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Bullet train to no where
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California needs to fall into the sea
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BubbleDude
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Bullet train to no where
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And take Washington with it.
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__Bonk__
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Bullet train to no where
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Without Washington there would be no Windows, Boeing, or Valve
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reesescups
Title: //Captain America
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Bullet train to no where
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The cost to build infrastructure in the US is insane!
Having said that, every journey starts with what would appear (for all intents and purposes) to be an insignificant step.
America doesn't have any significant truly modern cities - and most likely never will...
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reesescups
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Bullet train to no where
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__Bonk__ posted:
Without Washington there would be no Windows, Boeing, or Valve
And, your point?
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Bjorvald
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I've been saying for a long time that it should be a lot cheaper to build infrastructure. We make it waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more expensive now than it needs to be.
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__Bonk__
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reesescups posted:
The cost to build infrastructure in the US is insane!
Having said that, every journey starts with what would appear (for all intents and purposes) to be an insignificant step.
America doesn't have any significant truly modern cities - and most likely never will...
Build the bullet train in Mexico
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GrilledCheez
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Bullet train to no where
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milking an open ended gov't contract is SOP for nearly every gov't contractor.
it is really a different world. I suggested we do something for "increased efficiency" once and the owner of my company immediately called me into his office to tell me that was the opposite of how we work.
Ultimately it isn't a great fit for me, but I am bringing so much success to the team, I'd feel bad about leaving. Deal with the devil I guess.
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