"Experts close to the project estimate future costs could be covered roughly by a 20-cent-a-gallon gas tax or a half-cent sales tax or a 6% state income tax surcharge — though any of those would be a huge lift for Newsom and other Democrats focused on other progressive issues."


While I am not known as being exactly a fan of this project, and have every confidence in the $19-$25 billion Pacheco estimate range, one must remember that this is a story by Ralph Vartabedian.

And, once again, we see Ralph using his favorite "journalistic" tactic of "quoting" "unnamed" "expert" sources "close to the project" to push a line about a "gas tax", which no one has actually proposed, as we have seen Ralph do in his past reporting to help "sex up" his HSR narrative.

Who, what, why, when and where? "Experts" )more than one didn't want to be quoted?), really, we just have Ralph's word for that? How "close" to "what"? The project? The Governor? Close enough to blow smoke up Ralph"s butthole? And, Why would someone propose that or say that, what is their angle in that quite deliberate "spin"?

As I've noted, Newsom has always questioned this project and its "assumptions". And, the Legislative leadership has finally had enough of this fiasco syphoning off billions in scarce transportation resources and greenhouse gas reduction funds to fund the "runaway money train" project that fails to meet any of our real transportation needs, nor reduces any significant amount of GHG's for the vast sums of taxpayer money being spent.

It has, in fact, been Newsom that has chosen to go out and hold listening sessions that have challenged the assumptions and nonsense surrounding this bloated out of control fiasco.

Even Clem is now an apparent supporter of Plan B...

I expect to see legislation, in the next session, that will attempt to put all future HSR project elements under the California Transportation Commission and require all future increments to be subject to the conditions of planning and approval required by all other State transportation projects.

And, it would seem that none of this seems to have anything whatsoever to do with Putin's favorite Cheeto...