predicted – Moe Lane

“+” because this is going to crash and burn for years.

Let me summarize this LA Times article discussing the looming …singularity… of fiscal destruction.

California wants a high-speed rail system which will apparently solve all of their problems (“Then why don’t they have one, already?” “Because shut up, that’s why”).
This is scheduled to cost 68 Billion dollars. $68,000,000,000.
It will cost more.
Meanwhile, the state is deep in debt – and it’s an open question whether Jerry Brown and his Merry Band of Democrats have actually managed to stabilize revenues.
For example, I am waiting (with more than a little morbid curiosity) to see what California’s actual 1Q 2012 tax revenues are like. I suspect that they’re going to be… memorable.
But let’s get back to the high-speed rail. It’s not built yet.
That’s fine; construction isn’t supposed to start for another six months…
Oh, wait, not all of the land for the railway has been purchased, yet.
Oh, wait, none of the land for the railway has been purchased, yet.
Which is why the start of construction has already been delayed.