Which Way, L.A.?
Is High Speed Rail Too Big a Gamble for California?
The claim that railroads built the West is being re-examined by historians, as is the claim that high-speed rail will solve the state's future transportation needs...
By Warren Olney • • 52m ListenThe claim that railroads built the West is now being re-examined by contemporary historians, and the claim that high-speed rail will solve the state's future transportation needs is also being questioned. Why is the first leg from Fresno to Bakersfield? Have the costs been underestimated and ridership wildly exaggerated? With construction scheduled to start next year, is it time to put on the brakes? Also, more cuts at the LA Times, including columnist Tim Rutten, who's been there since 1972. On our rebroadcast of today's To the Point, how does gridlock look from outside the Beltway?
In this episode
3 storiesIs High Speed Rail Too Big a Gamble for California?
Based on plans laid in 1996, California voters in 2008 approved almost $10 billion in bonds to begin building a bullet-train system to connect the state's major cities. The ballot argument promised hundreds of thousands of jobs, a billion in annual profit and no need for state taxpayer subsidies.
Read the story19 minMore Layoffs at the LA Times
Since 1972, Tim Rutten has been reporter, editor and columnist at the Los Angeles Times. He's four years short of retirement and his son is about to start college. Yesterday, he was told, he's being laid off. He will be missed.
Read the story7 minHow Is America Reacting to the Debt Ceiling Drama?
Nobody knows what the first default in US government history might look like, and it might take until midnight Tuesday before the world knows whether it's going to happen. The House and the Senate are still going in different directions.
Read the story27 min
