Here’s a SUPERB U-T op-ed on California HSR — especially the “outing” of the generally ignored “private” HSR boondoggle from Victorville to Las Vegas. The piece is authored by my friends at the REASON Foundation.
I had not previously seen this expose’ of the Vegas HSR scheme. Turns out it’s a gigantic taxpayer loan subsidy. More crony capitalism.
Subsidized HSR (there is no other kind) is a pet peeve of mine. One of hundreds, actually. But the madness surrounding HSR moves it easily into the top five.
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http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/aug/30/train-seeks-taxpayer-money-in-hopes-of-private/
Train seeks taxpayer money in hopes of private profits
By Wendell Cox & Adrian T. Moore
Thursday, August 30, 2012
San Diegans are being asked to pay for a couple of costly trains they likely won’t ride very often. State and federal taxpayers are picking up the bill for California’s high-speed rail line from Bakersfield to Madera in the Central Valley. With no funding source identified and ridership between two Central Valley locations likely to disappoint, the train’s chances of ever extending all the way to San Diego seem iffy at best.
A little bit closer to home, a private company is trying to build a rail line from Victorville to Las Vegas. But to build this “private” train, the company needs a taxpayer-backed loan from the federal government of $5.5 billion or more. In simple terms, it’s similar to the loan that solar panel company Solyndra received before going bankrupt, costing taxpayers over $500 million. Only the train’s loan would be 10 times bigger.
XpressWest believes it will be able to pay back the loan from its profits. The problem: There will be no profits. Our new Reason Foundation study demonstrates that XpressWest, if built, would be likely to lose between $4 billion and $10 billion over its first 24 years, making it impossible to pay back taxpayers.
. . .
To read the full article, go to the link:
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/aug/30/train-seeks-taxpayer-money-in-hopes-of-private/