This is more unwelcome news for California Governor Gavin Newsom, aka Randall Flagg-lite.

His state is a wreck on damn near every front - burning down, sliding off hillsides, washing away, just falling to pieces, economically derelict - and there is little shiny for him to point to as progress.

He's mostly been exceptionally fond of his 'bullet train' project, championing the idea long before he ever slid his lithe, serpentine form into a chair at the governor's office. Admittedly, that enthusiasm has waxed and waned some through the years, depending on what Newsom thought polls were saying about him and how it impacted whatever office he was angling for next.

While mayor of San Francisco, Democrat Gavin Newsom supported high-speed rail in California so strongly that he partnered with Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2008 to push for a $10-billion state bond measure to help build it.

Six years later, Newsom pulled his support, citing exploding cost overruns and delays. Two years after that, he was back on board.

Newsom has made several about-faces during his two decades in politics. Early in the 2018 governor’s race, his shifting stances were targeted by Democratic rivals, who accused the lieutenant governor of flip-flopping or equivocating on high-speed rail and other pivotal issues facing California, including a single-payer healthcare system and sanctuary policies. Newsom’s rival in the November election, Republican John Cox, is sure to continue that criticism as he highlights his opposition to the front-runner on several issues.

Similar to other politicians on the campaign trail, Newsom has made pronouncements that can be interpreted in different ways, allowing voters to hear what they want to hear, said political scientist Melissa Michelson of Menlo College. That strategy can create doubt in voters’ minds about what a candidate will really do if elected, she said.

“As a politician, you’re trying to both read and lead the public,” Michelson said. “You certainly don’t want to say things that make you unpopular.”

Newsom of the glittery smile cannot abide the thought of being unpopular.

Speaking of that smile, did you know that's as calculated and phony as everything else about that oleaginous, photogenic politician with the 'pearly whites'?

Politico on Newsom's smile... pic.twitter.com/340mZd5TPW

— Grace Curley (@G_CURLEY) December 1, 2023

(Politico? Now I'm wondering if my tax dollars paid for the article.)

Two years ago, I wrote a piece on the state of Newsom's 'Hi-Speed Rail to Nowhere.' 

What spurred it was a CNBC report that not only was the railway going nowhere, nothing was going, period, after 15 years and billions of dollars.

In 2008, California voted yes on a $9 billion bond authorization to build the nation’s first high-speed railway. The plan is to construct an electric train that will connect Los Angeles with the Central Valley and then San Francisco in two hours and 40 minutes.

But 15 years later, there is not a single mile of track laid, and executives involved say there isn’t enough money to finish the project. The latest estimates from the California High-Speed Rail Authority suggest it will cost between $88 billion and $128 billion to complete the entire system from LA to San Francisco. Inflation and higher construction costs have contributed to the high price tag.

The project has spent $9.8 billion so far, according to Brian Kelly, CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority.

We are now two years later, the FIRST TRACKS in the entire boondoggle were only laid LAST MONTH (!), although some infrastructure has been constructed, like bridges, etc.

But, man - are they in a money hole for 'the first segment' - not the completion of the line - and pushing completion dates for an already shortened projected rail line back again.

The first segment - segment, mind you -  is projected to be three years behind and $6.5B in the hole.

I mean, wowsahs.

The California inspector general tasked with reviewing the state’s high speed rail program issued a new report stating the first segment is likely to be more than three years behind schedule and faces a $6.5 billion funding gap. 

 “Based on our review of the latest project information, the 2030 target date has been pushed back to 2031, in part because the Authority has extended the timeline for completing construction that is currently underway in the Central Valley,” wrote the Office of the Inspector General in its report. “With a smaller remaining schedule envelope and the potential for significant uncertainty and risk during subsequent phases of the project, staying within the 2033 schedule envelope is unlikely.”

Before the report’s release, Republican Congressman Kevin Kiley had announced a bill to eliminate further federal funding for the project. 

The initial 171-mile project will run through the sparsely populated Central Valley and connect the cities of Merced and Bakersfield, with the goal to eventually add spurs to this “backbone” that connect Merced to San Francisco and Bakersfield to Los Angeles. 

The first tracks were laid for the project, first approved by voters in 2008, at the start of January, highlighting the system’s lengthy delays. 

The entire thing is an unconscionable waste of money, and God bless that GOP congressman trying to drive a stake through its heart.

Today I'm officially introducing the No More Funds for California High Speed Rail Act. This disastrous project has embarrassed our state and robbed our taxpayers long enough. pic.twitter.com/cd2sSC8poJ

— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) January 6, 2025

It is going on sixteen years, billions of dollars, and they only laid the first tracks last month on the least difficult section of the planned route to do so, from both an environmental fights perspective and not having to exert themselves physically, as when they try to tackle tunneling through the mountains north of LA. That's supposing they ever get that far.

You knew that sort of glaring progressive, spinning-your-wheels inefficiency, waste, and mismanagement was sure to catch the eye of the builder-in-chief, and so it has.

With President Donald Trump’s announcement Tuesday that he will be launching an investigation into the high cost of California High Speed Rail fulfilling a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) promise made late last year, many are celebrating.

Not the Fresno Bee with this absurd headline: Trump pledges to investigate California high speed rail. Is it actually over budget?

Let me count the ways.

Originally estimated to cost $33 billion in 2008 with a San Francisco to Los Angeles line  to open by 2028, the California high speed rail system has since ballooned to $128 billion, and $135 billion+, with an estimated partial completion somewhere in the late 2030’s. And last year, the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHRSA) actually confirmed that the system still needed $100 billion to link up San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Even while Jerry Brown was still governor, the true cost of High Speed Rail was estimated to be closer to $350 billion… if it ever actually gets built.

From a 2008 $33B original estimate to $128B now, with no completion date in sight.

...“The train that’s being built between Los Angeles and San Francisco is the worst managed project I think I’ve ever seen,” Trump said. “It’s the worst managed project I think I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen some of the worst. I read that every person who would ride the train could instead take a limousine back and forth, and you’d have hundreds of billions of dollars left over. It is the worst overrun that there has ever been in the history of our country.”

Oh, yeah, you'd better bet Trump's going to send someone looking.

pic.twitter.com/3kakvBCqqB

— Gossboss (@jgoss65) February 4, 2025

For sure, the Duchenne smile thing is fascinating. Newsom needs to keep practicing his. 

I have a feeling he's going to need to be at his most convincing when Elon's team of Boy Wonders hits the tarmac and wants to see the paperwork.

You're going to smile 'til your face breaks and your eyes crinkle off trying to 'splain this one, governor.