Over the years I've written a bit about the California high-speed rail boondoggle and the bottomless money pit that it's always been.
In an earlier story I talked about the laughable nature of Gov. Gavin Newsom's "major milestone" for the project. After 18 years, that "milestone" is that it's almost ready to start putting track down.
NEW: California Governor Gavin Newsom announces a “major milestone” for the CA bullet train.
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) February 4, 2026
18 years after CA voters approved the project, it is almost ready to start laying track!
The project was originally supposed to connect SF & LA by 2020 & it is $100 billion over its… pic.twitter.com/h9S6qqOPBa
After that story was up I ran across the video that Newsom posted and it gets even more embarrassing.
Here's Newsom's post, and the backdrop says it all. Watch:
We've taken another critical step in the track-laying stage for California's @CaHSRA high-speed rail! pic.twitter.com/qVYw7eJQbn
— Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) February 4, 2026
That's like posting "we've taken a major step in our space program development" when taking a picture in front of the Wright Brothers' airplane.
Newsom is standing in front of a stationary freight train and talking about high-speed rail https://t.co/IYKCBwkP3S
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) February 4, 2026
After 10 years and a $135 billion price tag of wasteful spending for taxpayers, @CAgovernor is standing in front of a freight train that’s not moving and touting his high-speed rail scam as a success. (Note: actual high-speed rail tracks are nowhere to be found in the video.)… https://t.co/7cQNRxYA3o
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) February 4, 2026
Then again, building a "high-speed rail system" doesn't seem to be what any of this is really about...
California’s high speed rail program did exactly what it was supposed to do.
— Jerry C (@JerryChilds) February 4, 2026
No, not what the public was told it was for. Just what it was supposed to do. https://t.co/DuSx8dyrOT
As usual, it's about appropriating and handing out billions and billions of dollars. Anything actually being constructed isn't really a major concern... obviously.
