Brown has often lamented California’s inability to do the big projects that were a hallmark of the state during the post-World War II era, such as freeways, dams and canals. He’s tied that lament to his own pet projects, twin tunnels to carry water beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and a north-south bullet train.
However, when the Bay Bridge’s construction defects were uncovered, thanks mostly to tireless reporting by the Sacramento Bee that overcame resistance from his administration, Brown’s reaction was a dismissive “shit happens.” And his Department of Water Resources was less than forthcoming about defects at Oroville Dam, which had been built during his father’s governorship.
One must ask this question: If the state can’t operate the Department of Motor Vehicles efficiently and conveniently, tolerates shoddy construction and maintenance in big public works projects, and has a long string of information technology failures, why should we believe that the tunnels or the bullet train would be done right?
Looking to the future, if DMV is a hot mess, how could the state possibly run a $400 billion single-payer health care system that Brown’s almost certain successor, Gavin Newsom, and other Democratic politicians so stridently advocate?
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