When will the MADNESS END?! Not only can we NOT AFFORD this expensive high tech train but they are CONTRACTING OUT THE WORK TO FOREIGN NATIONS! California's UNEMPLOYMENT RATE is above 12%! STOP THE MADNESS PLEASE!!! California is heading down the crapper at an accelerated rate. This LUXURY project should NOT even be considered right now! Is the opportunity cost worth it? What say you Mr. President and Gov. Schwarzenegger. I think NOT! Basic public services are being cut that we have already paid for with our taxpayer dollars that YOU MIS-MANAGED and MIS-SPENT such as public education funding and public libraries being closed. Building this high tech train that WE DON'T NEED is how you choose to spend the PUBLIC RESOURCES?! Your priorities are all screwed up!!! How the heck do you plan to pay all of this money back Gov. Schwarzenegger?! Oh that's right you will no longer be governor of California so you don't give a damn what the consequences of this decision will be for Californians.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the economic term "Opportunity Cost" it generally means the value of a good or service in terms of what had to be sacrificed in order to obtain that item.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the economic term "Opportunity Cost" it generally means the value of a good or service in terms of what had to be sacrificed in order to obtain that item.
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Bloomberg News
written by Chris Cooper and Kiyotaka Matsuda
Monday September 13, 2010 at 6:56pm
Japan said it’s ready to lend California money to help pay for a planned high-speed railroad as trainmakers from Asia to Europe compete for work on a project that will cost at least $40 billion.
The state-owned Japan Bank for International Cooperation is prepared to lend funds, Japan’s Transport Minister Seiji Maehara told reporters late yesterday in Tokyo after meeting with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He declined to comment on the amount of the possible loan.
Schwarzenegger was today set to ride a Japanese bullet train able to reach speeds of 275 kph (171 mph) as part of an Asia tour that includes looking for contractors and funds to help with a planned 432-mile Los Angeles-to-San Francisco high-speed rail link. Japan is offering a loan to California, which is wrestling with a $19.1 billion deficit, to help companies including East Japan Railway Co. compete with Chinese, South Korean and European rivals.
“They have to get money from some place,” said Edwin Merner, president of Atlantis Investment Research Corp. in Tokyo, which manages about $3 billion in assets. “Japanese trains are going to cost more, but they’re going to last.”
Encouraging Bids
Schwarzenegger rode on a Chinese high-speed train on Sept. 12 and he is also set for a similar trip in South Korea. California has encouraged Asian companies including East Japan Railway, China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corp. and Hyundai Rotem Co. to bid on the high-speed rail project.
“Japan has a genius mind,” Schwarzenegger said today at an American Chamber of Commerce Japan breakfast in Tokyo. “California wants to have that kind of mind and technology to build our high-speed train.” The state is encouraging bids on the project from Japan, China, South Korea, France and Germany.
Maehara yesterday said he may go to the U.S. next year to help stoke sales of Japanese bullet trains. He’s visited the country twice this year after U.S. President Barack Obama awarded $8 billion of federal funds to help support high- speed rail projects nationwide.
Japan earlier this year made it possible for JBIC to provide financing for U.S. high-speed train lines to help the sales push.
Japan’s ‘Strength’
“Japan’s strength lies not only in being able to provide finance but also in the quality of the product,” said Ryota Himeno, an analyst at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. “China and South Korea lag behind in terms of operating experience.”
Schwarzenegger also met with Japan Prime Minister Naoto Kan, Maehara said, without elaborating.
“By exporting Japanese technology we can strengthen ties with another country and help Japanese companies,” Maehara said.
California won $2.3 billion of federal funds to help build the high-speed train, the biggest award in Obama’s high-speed rail funding program. The state also approved in 2008 a $10 billion bond sale to help fund the line, which is due to start services in 2020.
The California State Auditor has said that the state’s business plan for the high-speed rail network doesn’t include steps to replace all of the $17 billion to $19 billion in federal funds initially envisioned for the system.
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