by Peter Fleming, Malibu Real Estate Confidential

One of the most important people in California is attorney Jon Coupal, president of Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, that gave all Californians Proposition 13 many years ago which stabilized and reduced property taxes for all time. HJTA is doing more than any other group to protect homeownership from the crazies in Sacramento, and Jon’s weekly columns, in my opinion, are the best investigative journalism in our glorious state. Here is an excerpt. I recommend you subscribe as I do.

C A L I F O R N I A  C O M M E N T A R Y

A weekly opinion column from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
Wheels Coming Off High Speed Rail
By Jon Coupal

When California voters barely approved a $9.95 billion bond measure for High Speed Rail in 2008, they had no idea how soon they would learn the true meaning of the phrase “being railroaded.” As more about this project is revealed, the backlash from the public and political leadership is sure to grow.

For purposes of full disclosure, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association ran the unsuccessful campaign against Prop 1A (not to be confused with 2009’s Prop 1A, an attempt to raise $16 billion in new taxes). The California Legislature had already stacked the deck by providing such a biased title and summary for the measure that the issue of that deception is still the subject of litigation today. The deceptive ballot material, in addition to the campaign contributions from those who would profit from the project, was enough to ensure victory at the polls – albeit by a very small margin.

Now our predictions have come true. A headline from the San Jose Mercury News last week reads “State High-speed Train Rides To Be Costlier, Ridership Lower Than Promised To Voters.” Describing the most recent “business plan” for the HSR, reporter Mike Rosenberg writes:

“The average ticket on the bullet train from San Francisco to Los Angeles is now estimated to cost about $105, or 83 percent of comparable airfare. Last year, the state said prices would be set at 50 percent of comparable airfare and predicted a ticket from San Francisco to Los Angeles would cost $55.” This near doubling of the projected fare price will have a major impact on ridership: “As a result of the higher fares, state officials now think the service will attract 41 million annual riders by 2035, down from last year’s prediction of 55 million passengers by 2030.”

The only good news is that it is still not too late to pull the plug on the entire HSR scheme. Legal authority exists to simply refuse to issue any more bonds or provide appropriations. Better yet, if the Legislature had the courage to do so, it would put the issue back before the voters and, instead of telling them a story of sugar plum fairies, tell the truth about costs and environmental impact.

But the chances the California Legislature will do the right thing here are zero. There are too many moneyed interests, too many cows to be milked to give up on this lucrative project to expect that rational thought will win the day. Between the p.r. firms, the contractors and bond brokers, they will push this horrible project as aggressively as possible before the real truth is realized. By then, they hope it will be too late for California to reverse itself.

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Jon Coupal is president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association — California’s largest grass-roots taxpayer organization dedicated to the protection of Proposition 13 and the advancement of taxpayers’ rights. This column in its entirety can be viewed online here.

At Malibu Real Estate Confidential, we’d love to hear from you – about real estate, freedom, citizenship and home ownership.  You can reach Peter Fleming directly at 310-454-1373 or email him at peterfleming@earthlink.net.  For all your home buying and selling needs shouldn’t you choose a real estate agent with a seasoned attitude and a commitment to home ownership?