“This is a bad project. I’m ashamed of my party”

High-speed rail in China

Michael Christopher Brown for Time

 

The title quotation is from William Grindley, one of the authors of a

thorough analysis of California's high-speed rail project:

The best hope for an immediate breather, if not a total elimination of the [high-speed rail]program, appears to be congressional Republicans. Besides Peninsula lobbyist Mehta, financial whiz Grindley, a lifelong Democrat, is headed to Washington this week with a copy of his report to talk to House Republicans. This is his third trip, and Grindley has given up on the congressional branch of the party that led him into the Peace Corps under Kennedy, and later to work for USAID and the World Bank. “They’re very courteous and say, ‘You’re going to get this $3 billion whether you like it or not.’” He adds, “This is a bad project, and I’m ashamed of my party.”

From The Bullet Train to Bankruptcy by Lou Dolinar

See also California's high-speed rail plan buried in partisanship by Michael Doyle