All due respect, I have to disagree. California turned this thing into a patronage scheme from the get-go, mostly all on the Federal government's dime. The Party caved to San Jose, Fresno, Palmdale and the Ranch and did not give a damn whether this thing worked at all.

Even now it could be dead stopped and left to sit abandoned and the patronage goals would still have been accomplished. Like a defense contract that ended up dumped snd failed but meantime a whole bunch of money got transferred.