The Federal Railroad Administration announced last night that California will be receiving $2.25 billion in stimulus dollars for use in constructing the high speed rail system. Huzzah! While this is only about half the amount the state requested and five percent of the estimated project cost, it's still a sizable chunk of change and basically guarantees that construction on the project will begin in the autumn of 2012.
If not, we can sit around picking our noses and watch that money go to horrible places like that inferior citrus producing swamp state, Florida. About $1.3 billion of the grant will go towards constructing a line there, no doubt connecting poor white trash and serial killing hookers in the east to drug lords and old raisins in the west. Um, yay Florida. The rest of the $8 billion rail grant will go to other, less interesting states out there somewhere.
Anyway, go high speed rail!