Paper or Infrastructure?

September 30, 2008

I just read over the California Voter's Guide for the upcoming Nov. election. On the ballot is a $9.5 billion bond issue for high speed rail service in California.

There are over 4 pages in the mail out voter's guide explaining this issue, and 2 additional small print supplemental pages in the back of the guide with the actual text of the proposition.

Last week the Secretary of the Treasury submitted a 2 page proposal to congress for a $700 billion bail out package.

It doesn't seem right to me. How can it be so hard to build something that is so over due and needed, and so easy to inject billions into financial black holes to buy what even the proponents of the measure have termed "toxic paper"?

Don't get me wrong. At this point the financial mess on Wall St. is so deep, maybe spending $700 billion MORE is not optional - but it is sad.

-- Greg