Generally I’m inclined to view CA Governor Gavin Newsom as a doofus, but when he does something right I should recognize it. In his state of the state address Newsom indicated he plans to stop pushing Governor Moonbeam’s high speed rail boondoggle. That’s good.
On the other hand, he wants to build out the portion between Merced and Bakersfield. One suspects he chose this because flat farmland is cheaper to condemn than residential property and cheaper to build on than mountainous terrain.
The fact that most Central Valley passenger traffic originates north or west of Merced and terminates south of Bakersfield seems to have eluded Newsom. His rump rail project is a route from nowhere to nowhere, with apologies to the unpretentious cities of Merced and Bakersfield which truly are places in CA’s version of “flyover country.”
A Democrat CPA should explain the finance concept of “sunk cost” to Newsom. While he’s figured out he is in a hole, he doesn’t yet understand the “stop digging” part of the adage.
The human temptation to throw good money after bad is so strong and so very wrong.
