In the dystopian novel 1984, George Orwell wrote, “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” The true meaning of that line was never more clear than watching the truly bizarre photo op of California governor Gavin Newsom heralding the success of the greatest boondoggle in history: his high-speed train to nowhere. Without laying a single yard of track after burning $12 billion, Newsom showed a diesel freight train on a conventional track to create the appearance of a working railroad.
I have been writing about this boondoggle for years. Newsom promised years ago that the project would be transformative. It was, but not as he promised.
Voters approved a $9.95 billion bond issue in 2008 after absurdly low estimates of the projected cost. Influential figures and companies stood to make a fortune, and the key was to secure a “buy-in” worth billions, so that it would become increasingly difficult to abandon the project as overruns and delays sent costs soaring.
Now the official estimate of future ridership has dropped by 25% , and it demands billions more to complete a project delayed by decades. Remember that this entire project was meant to create a rail line of only 171 miles. It is projected to exceed $128 billion and could ultimately cost a billion dollars per mile. There are still uncompleted environmental assessments and challenging rail lines through the mountains.
There is still no train and not a yard of track almost 20 years later.
The inspector general, Benjamin Belnap, issued a scathing report on the first phase of the still uncompleted project. That is only the stretch from Merced to Bakersfield which was supposed to be completed by 2033. Belnap wrote:
“With a smaller remaining schedule envelope and the potential for significant uncertainty and risk during subsequent phases of the project, staying within the 2033 schedule envelope is unlikely. In fact, uncertainty about some parts of the project has increased as the authority has recently made decisions that deviated from the procurement and funding strategies that were part of its plans for staying on schedule.”
Rather than deliver on the promise of high-speed rail from Los Angeles to San Francisco, the Merced-Bakersfield line would now cost $35.3 billion, exceeding the 2008 projection for a complete system.
Merced and Bakersfield have a combined population of roughly 500,000. That works out to roughly $22,000 per person, based on state ridership estimates.
However, Newsom still wants to be president even as citizens are fleeing his state in record numbers. The “train to nowhere” is a problem. Even the New York Times is writing editorials on whether Newsom will be the next mistake of the Democratic Party.
Newsom’s response is to arrange for gushing columns like Maya Singer’s embarrassing piece in Vogue:
Let’s get this out of the way: He is embarrassingly handsome, his hair seasoned with silver, at ease with his own eminence as he delivers his final State of the State address…
Newsom’s lanky frame was folded onto a sofa a bit too low-slung for him. This made him lean back—away from me. Or it could be that his body language had nothing to do with ergonomics and is a function of Newsom’s quality of being at once gregarious and aloof.”
It is the type of teenybopper heartthrob coverage that Newsom is counting on from the media. It is not the billions burned on a non-existent railway but his glorious hair and “eminence.”
However, others beyond Vogue readers may be interested in his actual record. Hence, the need to release this absurd photo op that would make a propagandist blush:
“All of the hard work behind us. Now we’re going to see the fruits of that. We’re going to start seeing precisely what you see here. Real tracks, real progress.”
It is like paying for a meal at a restaurant and the Chef charging you ten times what was on the menu, not producing the meal for hours, and then showing you a picture of a different dish as a sign of his progress.
The difference is that Newsom has taken almost two decades to deliver and cut the original dish to a fraction of its original size while increasing the price exponentially.
Californians are now captives on a train to nowhere. The state must continue to burn billions because too much is invested economically and politically. They must ride the train with Gavin Newsom to the very end.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
This column also appeared on Fox.com
It’s not a train. That’s was just the lie sold to the idiots to vote for the bond 18 years ago. What it really was and still is and will be forever is a fraud to send tens of billions of tax dollars to corrupt politicians and special interests. A train will never be built and this fraud will never be ended.
Meanwhile in China …
“China high speed trains, also known as bullet or fast trains, can reach a top speed of 350 km/h (217 mph).
Over 9,300 bullet trains numbered by G, D or C run daily connecting over 550 cities in China and covering 33 of the country’s 34 provinces. Beijing-Shanghai high speed train link the two megacities 1,318 km (819 mi) away in just 4.5 hours.
By the end of 2025, China keeps the world’s largest high speed rail (HSR) network with a length totaling over 50,000 km (31,069 mi). The world’s longest high speed rail line, Beijing – Hong Kong High Speed Railway, extends 2,440 km (1,516 mi). …’
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/high-speed/
Gads! There’s got to be a plethora of broken laws in there somewhere! PROSECUTE!
Check with Mexico.
SBA Uncovers Massive Fraud in California: 111,620 Borrowers Linked to $8.6 BILLION in Pandemic Fraud
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has suspended 111,620 California borrowers linked to $8.6 billion in suspected fraud across Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) pandemic-era relief programs in the Golden State.
By: Debra Heine – American Greatness ~ February 6, 2026
https://amgreatness.com/2026/02/06/sba-uncovers-massive-fraud-in-california-111620-borrowers-linked-to-8-6-billion-in-pandemic-fraud/
‘More Corrupt Than Minnesota’: Trump Announces Federal Fraud Investigation into ‘Newscum’s’ California
resident Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a fraud investigation into the state of California, claiming it is “more corrupt than Minnesota” under Governor Gavin Newsom, whom he referred to as “Gavin Newscum” on his Truth Social platform.
Trump stated, “The Fraud Investigation of California has begun,” without providing specific details about the scope, the agency leading the probe, or the departments under scrutiny.
By: Debra Heine – American Greatness ~ January 6, 2026
https://amgreatness.com/2026/01/06/more-corrupt-than-minnesota-trump-announces-federal-fraud-investigation-into-newscums-california/
The perfect example of the Sunk Cost Fallacy.
All of the preening, fawning and puff pieces are for naughty. As a white male heterosexual (of sorts) he is ineligible for the Democratic Party nomination. Three strikes you’re out.
. White eyes doesn’t qualify. He’s betting on reciprocal altruism.
Newsom’s non-existent train: A “rail line of only *171* miles.” *Twenty years* later, there’s still not a single mile of track. (Mind you, this is the *21st* century.)
The Transcontinental railroad took *six* years to complete. It covered about *1,900* miles. It was built in the *19th* century.
Perhaps Newsom should lower his ambitions to meet his talent: A narrow, dirt walking path of 1 mile. And run for dog catcher.
It’s got to be a cash generator system for the dnc and its associates, like the national Somali network. More fleecing of nieve voters who support these people and the innocent taxpayers who don’t…
Finally: Newsom Announces Finished Construction Of High-Speed Rail Between His House And French Laundry
https://media.babylonbee.com/articles/697fad01d7f50697fad01d7f51.jpg
https://babylonbee.com/news/finally-newsom-announces-finished-construction-of-high-speed-rail-between-his-house-and-french-laundry
A few thoughts on Gavin
https://torrancestephensphd.substack.com/p/california-dumb
Thoughts? But not yours. Of course.
Here is an article that explains the railway milestone that is connected to the photo op (an explanation and context that Professor Turley neglected to provide). https://krcrtv.com/news/local/newsom-marks-major-high-speed-rail-milestone-as-track-work-nears
Huh? ‘Milestone’?🤣🤣
Bids opened up in 2013. 13 years later, not one foot of track has been laid…and it’s BILLIONS of dollars over budget.
You obviously aren’t from here if you’re attempting to defend Newsom on this one. Not even his most ardent water carriers are coming to his defense on this one.
Merced to Bakersfield has little to no commerce in either town…or in between. They are farming communities that are fiscally depressed.
KERN COUNTY, Calif. — California is getting closer to laying high-speed rail tracks after state officials finished a new rail facility in Kern County, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced.
_____________________________________
You really fell for that line of BS?
Key words fool ( getting closer)
Idiot.
Key words: “finished a railway facility” and key point is that JT not provide that information to the reader.
And you believe that provides some legitimate bit of justification for it all?
Colorado: “Home of the Million-dollar railway.”
California: “Hold my beer…”
Milestone? 18 years, $15 Billion, and not one track has been laid. The people of California and the country have paid the highest price yet to get f’’’’ed.