The high speed rail plan voters approved called for $10 billion in state bonds plus Federal and private funding. Most of the money has never materialized but officials are getting ready to build anyway.

U-T San Diego: Time for state honesty on bullet train front http://t.co/dB2euebP18 #sandiego #editorial

— California Opinion (@CalOpinion) June 11, 2015

Via Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association: ...harsh talk about the state’s high-speed rail program has been greeted with ridicule by Gov. Jerry Brown, who dismisses critics as “declinists.” Rail authority board Chairman Dan Richard often depicts skeptics as people who don’t understand basic facts – even insiders like former state Sen. Quentin Kopp, who launched the push for a California bullet train.

On Tuesday, however, Richard was more cordial, observing that it was “human nature” for affected communities to worry and promising to work with local leaders to address their concerns.

This tone couldn’t be more welcome. But if Richard and the CHSRA are sincere about addressing local concerns, it’s time they also sincerely address big-picture concerns, which hinge on legally binding promises made to state voters in 2008 to win passage of Proposition 1A. The measure provided $9.95 billion in bond seed money for the project....