> I think the end-goal is to extract resources and money from taxpayers to wealthy individuals and corporations.
Don’t forget unions. The big large union networks (like SEIU, teachers unions, etc) corrupt politics but also benefit from that corruption.
Of course, and having to pay certain land owners billions of dollars to build a couple tracts passing through their property doesn’t help either. At least the union members will spend that money within that community and not stash it in Cayman Islands or some other tax shelter.
I don't think unions are the primary problem. Maybe cal can use immeninent domain to get land for tracks. $231 billion is a stupid number whatever the goal.
That's right, we're just raking it in! Laughing over here and smoking a stogie thinking about you uncorrupt saps in [checks notes] the Ycombinator forum
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> Is that why other countries with substantially more unions are wildly cheaper and astoundingly faster?
Unions, the laws around them, political systems, and union culture are different everywhere. In the US, unions blindly support candidates who support more government spending, more big projects, more benefits for their union or projects, etc. They get money by the forced collection of union dues from workers and use it to influence politics. They extort the public by regularly striking - for example the seasonal predictable strikes by teachers, hurting a critical service of education - all while resisting accountability and competition. The collusion inherent to industry wide unions leads to reduced competition and increased labor prices.
Unions are definitely a part of the CA HSR problem. They benefit greatly from this boondoggle, and taxpayer money is basically stolen from others and funneled to them. But I do acknowledge that they may not be the biggest problem in terms of the cost overrun.
However they play a big role in the politics of it - supporting legislation, candidates, and contracts that help them. It’s why Newsom keeps talking up the union labor involved in CA HSR and how so many union jobs are created by it.
> With all do respect, and I mean this sincerely, it makes you look stupid.
Read the site guidelines.
Again, that's zero empiricism.
Your hypothesis: a causes b
Observation: a does not cause b and the outcome of b is unrelated to a
Your conclusion: a causes b
You have a pure ideological commitment and do not consider evidence as a basis for your opinion