Dog bites man, I know, but Joel Fox, who was part of the failed No on Prop 1A campaign, has a call for voters to repeal Prop 1A today. It deserves a reply:

California’s high speed rail program was in danger before the debt ceiling debate in Washington. Given the desire to cut trillions of dollars from federal spending that both sides of the debate advocate, seeing a $20 billion payment to California’s questionable high speed rail system is doubtful.

As Governor Jerry Brown’s spokesman said earlier this week, by that logic everything the state does in under threat, from public schools to law enforcement. The teabagger Congress’ commitment to the basic stability and prosperity of this country is doubtful. We should not then suddenly give up on our future just because of a temporary fit of insanity in the House of Representatives.

And yes, it is temporary. Nancy Pelosi is very well positioned to become Speaker again in 2013. The GOP is going to lose seats across the country in 2012. The public is fed up with their extremism, and the wingnuts who won office in 2010 are going to have a difficult time keeping their seats in 2012, especially with an Obama-friendly turnout. So blowing up HSR because 2011 is a difficult year for sanity in Congress is not a smart move.

If the federal money fails to appear, private investors are unlikely to kick in with their expected share of the project. That leaves Californians on the hook.

Not so. It’s entirely possible that private investors could kick in the money even if the feds won’t. It might not be wise, but it’s possible. There is a lot of money to be made on high speed rail, which Joel Fox, being an ideologue, refuses to acknowledge.

As to Californians being on the hook…um, no we’re not. We can if we want to be, though. If voters decide they want to fund a statewide rail plan, then yeah. But if no other funding materializes, we don’t build the entire system. Simple as that. No risk.

Since that time, reviews and studies on the proposed rail system have criticized the project. Projected ridership numbers that were attacked during the campaign have been continually challenged many times since the measure passed. The lack of a business plan has been cited. Costs estimates have grown — no surprise there.

The reviews and studies come from project opponents or from people like the Legislative Analyst’s Office who have no expertise in the subject. The ridership numbers have been challenged but never debunked, and a cursory glance at HSR ridership across the globe – including the Amtrak Acela – show high ridership numbers that will be repeated here. There is no reasonable, evidence-based case to be made that HSR ridership in California will not be high.

Proponents of the plan say, “Don’t worry,” money is not always lined up immediately for big infrastructure projects that have become a reality. The plan is needed, they say, because California’s projected population growth will demand alternative transportation systems.

But, if the money is not there to build the system, how does it get built? If only pieces of the system are put in place, how does it continually get funded if the original cost projections are low and the ridership projections are high?

Notice how Fox ignores the very important questions he raises, and instead changes the topic. If we want to build it, we can go out and find funding. It’s not difficult. A combination of federal taxes and bonds, combined with state, local, private and overseas contributions, can do the job. Fox’s problem is that suddenly we’re talking about taxes, and oh my god taxes are evil. At least they are if you’re a right-winger like Fox is.

Maybe the real question to ask is: Would the voters reconsider their decision on authorizing the bond sale?

All the polling suggests the answer is no, they wouldn’t.

How’s this sound: Resolved, being made aware with new information from current studies and projections that the high speed rail plan is unsustainable, we rescind the bond authorization.

If Fox thinks he can sneak that hugely misleading title and summary past Attorney General Kamala Harris, he’s deluded. And if he thinks he can raise the $2 million to get it on the ballot, and the $10-$20 million to pass it, he’s got even more money to burn than I realized.

Given the situation with the state budget, the dollars designated for the bond could be used elsewhere. Something like the above resolution is worth considering.

HSR will be a net contributor to the state budget, not only repaying its own state bonds but creating enough jobs, economic activity and tax revenue to make California much better off – to the tune of tens of billions of dollars a year.

Fox doesn’t tell you that either. Instead he wants Californians to be chained to their cars and their gas pumps. He believes the status quo, of 12% unemployment, is just fine. Why do anything new that might save the state money and create new jobs and revenue?

He can fantasize about going back to the ballot all he wants to. The facts are clear: HSR is good for Californians, good for the state’s bottom line, and remains popular with the public.