The L.A. Times reports that U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood came to Sacramento today to convince California leaders to include funding for the $68 billion high-speed rail plan in the upcoming budget:

"What I have said to them is, 'We need a strong signal that you are committed to the money for the match, sooner rather than later. We can’t wait until the end of summer,'" LaHood recounted at a news conference following his meeting with state Senate leaders.

LaHood said he was "reassured" by Assembly Speaker John Perez (D-Los Angeles) and Senate President Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) "that they are committed to high-speed rail and they are committed to making sure that California is able to provide the match that is needed."

When last we left California's budget, Jerry Brown was admitting he needed to make significant cuts to it, the state's budget deficit was $16 billion, and this year has already seen a $3.1 billion shortfall in projected revenue.

As for the train project, experts worried that the rail authority had vastly underestimated the operational costs for the project, necessitating annual subsidies should the thing ever actually get built. The CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) quit in January. Polls say voters would like a revote on the $9 billion in bonds that authorized the train construction in 2008, and if such a vote were to happen, the authorization would be reversed. According to a Reason-Rupe poll, 55 percent of Americans prefer private enterprise build and operate high-speed rail, not the government






California is a deep fucking hole, and Obama is telling us to make the hole even deeper by spending it on high speed rail that no one wants.