What the Oroville Dam Spillway Fail Says About California's Priorities

About 200,000 people near the Oroville Dam were evacuated as the nation watched to see if hundreds of homes and businesses would be destroyed in a full breach of the dam's emergency spillway.   In the meantime, we find out that there were past warnings that it was unsafe.  According to a story in the Washington Post, the fix to keep the spillway safe would have cost about $100 million 11 years ago.  But, the State of California had other priorities.

Instead of taking care of its huge infrastructure problems, the state opted to build a high-speed bullet train between Los Angeles and San Francisco.   The original cost projection for that was $98.5 billion. Already, the easiest part of the "build" -- the Central Valley -- is seeing a 50% cost overrun (as being reported by the LA Times).  To put the original cost of the bullet train into perspective; it is more than 1000 times the money needed to fix the spillway.  By one estimate, California will have to spend $500 billion dollars over the next 2 decades to fix, expand, and maintain the State's infrastructure.

Instead, the priority was to build a bullet train to save the world from climate change, by getting cars off the roads and planes out of the air; even though some studies have concluded that the impact on climate change will be negligible. In the meantime, thousands of people are left at risk in Oroville. How many more are at risk from unfunded infrastructure hazards in California because of "climate change" projects like a bullet train?

References:

The government was warned that the Oroville Dam emergency spillway was unsafe. It didn’t listen: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/02/13/officials-were-warned-the-oroville-dam-emergency-spillway-wasnt-safe-they-didnt-listen/?utm_term=.2812180ddd0c

Taking California's bullet train to a greener future - LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-kelly-california-high-speed-rail-20140129-story.html

High Speed Rail Won't Impact Climate Change - California Policy Center: http://californiapolicycenter.org/high-speed-rail-wont-impact-climate-change/

California's Bullet Train to Cost $98.5 Billion: What Else That Can Buy: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Californias-Bullet-Train-to-Cost-985-Billion-What-Else-That-Can-Buy-133041823.html

California's bullet train is hurtling toward a multibillion-dollar overrun, a confidential federal report warns: http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-bullet-cost-overruns-20170106-story.html

California’s Crumbling Infrastructure: An Urgent Priority: http://www.westerncity.com/Western-City/February-2014/PresMsg-CA-Crumbling-Infrastructure/

Shocking rain damage is wakeup call to fix ailing roads, infrastructure, experts say: http://www.dailybreeze.com/general-news/20170218/shocking-rain-damage-is-wakeup-call-to-fix-ailing-roads-infrastructure-experts-say 

Gov. Brown's Greased Pig Deficit Problems

At State Fairs, it always good for a laugh to see the greased-pig events with the competitors flopping and flailing around while trying to get their hands on that slippery little hog. But, when a Governor does the same thing while trying to define his State's deficit problems, it's not so funny.

Back in January, Governor Jerry Brown projected California's budget deficit to be $9.2 billion.  Then, on May 14th, he said his "new" projection was $16 billion.  Five days following that declaration, a non-partisan, independent analyst of the State legislature said that number was off by a billion dollars; indicating that the actual deficit number is closer to $17 billion. 

It seems to me that if you don't even know how big a problem you have, you won't be able to fix it.  For that reason alone, Governor Brown is totally incapable of rectifying California's debt problems.  However, Brown's budgetary incompetence goes even further.  In typical liberal fashion, he wants to solve California's budgetary ills by raising taxes on the rich while, at the same time, talking about spending $100 billion for a high speed rail system and another $15 billion for a revamp of the State's water system.   On top of all that, he wants an immediate increase of $5 billion a year in education.  And, if he doesn't get his tax increases?  Well, he's told the voters that he will be forced to make "painful" cuts in education and public safety.

Obviously, Governor Brown doesn't seem to understand that spending is at the heart of California's deficit woes.  The state is drowning in debt and he keeps filling the pool with water. Even if he does get his millionaires tax, the spending will still exceed revenues.  It seems everyone knows this except  the governor and all the voters who elected him.  Obviously, Chicago columnist Mike Royko's labeling of Brown as "Governor Moonbeam" in 1976 is as true then as it is today.  Royko was also right when he said that California was “the world’s largest outdoor mental asylum.”