Calif high-speed rail debacle

If the government is going to do something, you can count on it being done wrong in every conceivable way. This time it's the California high-speed rail system.

Then, emphasis mine, from AP:

The initial estimate to build the system when voters approved bond funding for it in 2008 was $43 billion. In non-adjusted, 2010 dollars that amount is now $65.4 billion, showing the costs have risen significantly.

Now:

The new business plan for California's high-speed rail system shows the nation's most ambitious state rail project could cost nearly $100 billion in inflation-adjusted funding over a 20-year construction period...

Future: Several hundred billion dollars, guaranteed. My estimate is probably very low. Hell, we've gone from $43 billion to $100 billion as easily as spitting on the sidewalk.

Waste, fraud, and stupidity are the hallmarks of every government project. This is why I laughed when supporters of Obamacare showed colossal naivete in claiming that the bill, passed in the middle of the night without a single lawmaker reading it, would not cost taxpayers anything. The NY Times called Obamacare "budget neutral." Watch closely; this will be anything but "budget neutral". Waste, fraud, stupidity.