Costly high-speed rail not good for state or San Diego

San Diego Union Tribune reports:

When the San Diego Foundation asked in 2012 if high-speed rail should be built “to connect San Diego to Los Angeles and other major cities in California,” San Diegans said yes by a 4-1 margin. When you omit the price tag, of course the answer is, why not?

So what about the price tag? High-speed rail was a $43 billion project when Californians approved it in 2008 with 53 percent of the vote. Now, we are talking about a $68 billion dollar project. That’s not a price we should be omitting from the cost-benefit discussion. Now that the price estimate has increased so dramatically, public support has plummeted. Yet the state broke ground last week.

If the railroad is such a great idea why does it need taxpayers to subsidize it?