What was old is now new. Take, for example, electric cars. Electric vehicles were experimented with by several auto manufacturers as far back as the 1830’s, in Scotland. Attempting to find a suitable battery was difficult, inasmuch as electricity for charging was still widely unavailable.
After a period of deep thinking, European auto manufacturers decided, in 1901, that the internal combustion engine was far less expensive to manufacture and maintain than electric vehicles. But now they’re new again in 2025.
Then there are bell bottom britches. Exactly where bell bottom pants were born is a mystery, but they were adopted by the U.S. Navy in 1901, for use by sailors. They were found to be more easily able to be doffed by an overboard sailor preventing drowning. Used during World War I, they became accepted as a fashion must for both men and women.
Eventually, they disappeared until being “rediscovered” in the 1960’s and 1970’s as an accessory in the fashion world, again, when thought of as new. (As an aside, I also had a pair of bell bottoms, and I looked good.)
Not to be outdone, the brain trust of California’s transportation system thought it would be a terrific idea to make traveling throughout the Eureka State more safe, comfortable, and efficient by building a railway system.
You read that right. Someone who didn’t learn about the rail systems of America, Europe, or the Far East, in elementary school apparently stumbled upon something termed “trains.”
Trains have been around for hundreds of years in varying forms to include electric, steam, plus diesel, that have not only proved efficient, but cost effective, as well. They were successful in transporting both goods and people across a developing nation for many, many years.
Trains began waning following the Civil War ending in 1865, in favor of the new mode of transportation called the automobile.
As with all things, they age; some things age better than others. And just because they were once beneficial to ‘their times,’ doesn’t mean they should or could be revived.
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| Gavin Newsom pointing to the direction his popularity is heading |
Creating the California High-Speed Rail Program (CHSRP), California Gubernor Gavin Newsom thought it would be amazing if he could build this much-wanted boondoggle to showcase his forward-thinking abilities.
Promising this rail system would service areas from San Francisco to Los Angeles, was the easy part. Using a media blitz to promote and continue enthusiasm has become arduous, though.
With the CHSRP using the ol’ razzle dazzle game, they continue to cheer lead this bottomless money pit. Visiting
will take you to a website of fluff, along with nebulous platitudes that may actually invoke a case of Type 2 Diabetes.
Enthusiastically bragging about working on 171-miles of track, following the creation of more than 14,500 construction jobs, this statement from CHSRP gives one the impression this exercise was making great headway.
Unfortunately, this saga has been seemingly never ending. Beginning with early visions in the 1990’s, this high speed rail system had planned to remove cars from the roadways thereby relieving congestion.
With $9.95 billion in bonds sold in 2008, this pipe dream was well underway to becoming a reality.
Officially breaking ground in 2015, the section between Bakersfield and Merced, seemed like the easiest place to start. “The goal was to complete this segment first and then connect to the more populace areas,” according to brilliantmaps.com. That was ten-years ago, for your information.
This lofty project was expected to be complete by 2020, but the timeline has now reached beyond 2030. Financial issues have also plagued the project. “Originally projected to cost $33 billion,” brilliantmaps.com continues, “the project’s estimated cost has ballooned to over $128 billion. As a result, the funding shortfalls have become a significant obstacle. The federal government initially provided some support through stimulus funding during the Obama administration.”
Gubernor Newsom has arrived at a place where he, as well as his CHSRP, must explain where all those billions and billions of tax dollars went over the last 17-years. The bigger mystery is where the additional $95,000,000,000 will go. However, the biggest enigma is what are all those 14,500-construction people doing? Something to ponder.
California is proud to declare itself a state in which a resident needs a vehicle to travel. Widespread, Los Angeles itself is nearly impossible to navigate without a car, thereby demanding more wider roads, which create more pollution, necessitating additional traffic enforcement, besides vehicle registrations and inspections – all of which demand additional citizen’s taxes, handled by an obese bureaucracy.
Leading this charge, Gubernor Newsom fancies himself as frugal, when in fact, he is a spendthrift. Showing little regard for taxpayers, residents, drivers, and consumers, Newsom has been attempting to use this as one of his résumé items for 2028 presidential bid.
It’s too bad he’s desperately reaching backward into 1865 for tomorrow’s answers; not the brilliance for which one would hope in a leader.
His 2024 visit to The White House appeared to signal his own intention to run for the highest office. Seemingly measuring the Oval Office for new drapes, Newsom remained tight-lipped when asked speculative questions concerning this clear perusal of his future Washington, D.C. residence.
Pretending to not know of what reporters are referring, Newsom, to this day, has been making ‘presidential-like’ statements regarding current President Donald Trump’s behavior and actions concerning day-to-day operations. His scowl, complimented by his furrowed brow is a dead giveaway when determining if his audition is, indeed, authentic.
With poor decisions dangling from his neck much like cheap jewelry, Gubernor Newsom has been ignoring those faux pas collected akin to cheesy Mardi Gras beads. Wildfires, riotous protests, anti-Semitic rallies, transgender (Title IX) sports issues, illegal alien invaders, his environmental debacle, accompanied by outrageous and punitive tax policies, have all been gleefully explained away as “progress.”
Newsom apparently feels as though there’s a secret reset button that he’s able to push that will effectively erase all his past sins.
Sniffing out media cameras and microphones better than a bloodhound, Newsom seems to enjoy any and all havoc he creates in the name of forward thinking.
Unfortunately, all this forward thinking doesn’t include a Venn Diagram that encompasses from where all his stellar policies and dictums funding will come.
As with many – maybe most – guvment projects, funding monies be damned. The populace is seen as a giant cash cow to create a facade that rarely can be called a success without politicians and other guvment honchos digging into the wallet pockets of constituents.
If Gubernor Newsom wants to sit at America’s helm, he will need to quickly learn that our nation is not hankering for another spend-then-tax the populace. Based on his political track record, he doesn’t have a clue about budgets, much less constituents.
It’s time to send him into the private sector for a taste of how a real job works.
