Wrong issue?

Kudos to the feds for cutting future funding for Jerry Brown’s California bullet train boondoggle.

“Good luck with that” to the feds as they seek a 2.5b refund.

But this begs the real issue: Why in the name of the Golden Spike were federal funds ever allocated to this ignorant Golden State pipe dream in the first place? Ole’ Jerry may have fooled California voters, but when exactly did the rest of us jump on his Fruits and Nuts Railway?

Kudos to new California Governor Gavin Newsom for making the biggest no-brainer of a budget cut in history. But shame on him for trimming back Brown’s San Diego to San Francisco route when he should bury the project altogether.

OK, I admit the name Merced to Bakersfield Express has a magical ring rivaling the City of New Orleans and Orange Blossom Special. Who hasn’t dreamed of seeing the Moon over Merced on Amtrak? But the Moon is a lot closer than completion of this steaming pile of pork.

Artist depiction of Brown’s Bullet.

If we don’t need/can’t afford San Diego to San Francisco, do we really need to spend many more billions than promised on a Central Valley corridor connecting — get this — 2.5 percent of California’s population?

The Central Valley is a hard-working place where much of our food originates … in years all the water isn’t diverted to golf courses and estates with walls that work. All but 37 people in the valley have pickup trucks or SUVs, and when they want to go to Chowchilla, Clovis, Visalia or Tulare, they climb in and hop on Highway 99 or Interstate 5.

They don’t need no stinkin’ train that saves an hour but leaves them in Merced without wheels.

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