Honestly, I can’t stop thinking about this high-speed rail mess in California.
Seventeen years. $16 billion. And still not a single damn track laid.
Not one.
Just imagine lighting $16 billion on fire in slow motion for almost two decades.
The U.S. Department of Transportation just dropped a 310-page report basically saying, “Yeah... we’ve got nothing.” They’re demanding answers. California says, “No no, we’ve made a lot of progress!” But the numbers say otherwise.
Back in 2008, this whole thing sounded kind of exciting. A high-speed train, 800 miles long, connecting San Francisco, L.A., Sacramento, San Diego. Cost? $33 billion. Finish it by 2020.
If you find value in what I write, consider becoming a paid subscriber-it’s the only way this stays alive.
Well, it's 2025 now. Budget’s exploded to $128 billion. And the only thing that’s been built is... maybe some powerpoint slides and a few broken promises. The line’s been chopped down to 119 miles between Merced and Bakersfield. And they still haven’t laid any track. Literally. Nothing
.
It’s just wild.
Meanwhile, President Trump is raging online about it being a “Democrat failure.” Musk is rolling his eyes. And Americans are in the comments asking what the hell happened.
But what really gets me is this:
If this happened in China?
No way it would’ve dragged on like this.
Let me break it down the way I’ve seen things work in China.
First thing:
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection would already be knocking on doors. That’s like China’s internal affairs squad for corrupt officials. People start sweating real quick.
Then:
The cops - economic crimes division - would look at every cent. Where did the money go? Which companies were fake? Which "consultants" got rich?
Next:
The National Audit Office runs a full audit. And the results don’t get buried. They get handed to prosecutors.
And yeah - people would be charged.
Officials? Dereliction of duty, bribery. 10 years minimum. Assets seized.
Executives? Embezzlement, bid rigging. 5 to 15 years. Massive fines.
Companies? Licenses revoked. Shut down.
And it doesn’t stop at prison. The government would sue to get the money back. They’d rewrite the rules, send a special team to take over the project, and make sure it never happens again.
Even retired officials don’t get away. There's a rule in China that says you're still responsible even after you leave office. They’ll dig you up for it if they have to.
That’s what accountability looks like.
But in America?
You burn $16 billion and nothing really happens.
No one’s fired.
No charges.
No refunds.
Just more applications for more funding.
Every time a scandal like this comes up, it just... fades. Replaced by the next one. And the cycle repeats.
From where I’m sitting - across the border - this isn’t just wasteful. It’s depressing. How can a country this rich, this developed, struggle to build a train line it promised almost 20 years ago?
Meanwhile, China’s built an entire high-speed rail network - over 40,000 km - in that time. That’s not just infrastructure. That’s focus. Discipline. System design.
America keeps saying it wants to "compete" with China.
But it can’t even finish a train between two dusty towns in California.
At this point, it’s not about politics. It’s about basic competence.
