WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:04.360 When you do a daily radio show, you have to do a daily little 2 00:00:04.360 --> 00:00:10.039 bit of scanning the newspapers and scanning local news outlets for stuff to talk about. 3 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:18.199 And one of the things I realize is just how many stories there are 4 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:30.039 about construction, delayed construction, anticipated construction, anticipated construction that is going to 5 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:35.280 cause a bunch of delays and traffic snag ups, et cetera. And all 6 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:40.960 of it revolved, and all of this money and all this time, and 7 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:48.039 all of this energy, and all of this infrastructure, all of it surrounding 8 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:59.359 rail not even just the high speed rail, though that's much of it high 9 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:10.840 speed rails stuff to spruce up our existing rail lines. There's just so much 10 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:22.519 city infrastructure stuff in Fresno that is revolving, as if the whole city is 11 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:32.840 so hyper focused on the downtown area and the railroad systems around it, and 12 00:01:33.319 --> 00:01:41.599 that this is the focus of city investment, state investment, maybe at some 13 00:01:41.640 --> 00:01:48.959 point federal investment to spruce all this up. That we're going to have years 14 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:53.280 and years and years and years and years and years and years and years of 15 00:01:53.319 --> 00:01:57.879 construction and infrastructure spending, and we're getting money for downtown revitalization and all this 16 00:01:57.959 --> 00:02:08.520 stuff to build up this corridor of downtown Fresno around the rail line, around 17 00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:23.039 the railroads, to get what end towards what end? What is the end 18 00:02:23.080 --> 00:02:27.039 result of all of this investment in high speed rail, all this stuff going 19 00:02:27.080 --> 00:02:37.800 to be I just think we are going to be sewing so much into this 20 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:45.479 field and we're gonna be reaping very little out of it. So the story 21 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:52.159 that precipitated this after a couple of weeks ago, talking about how the entire 22 00:02:52.400 --> 00:03:01.680 intersection of Fresno of Blackstone and McKinley. All right, so Blackstone and McKinley 23 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:07.560 a very busy little intersection, not a little intersection, a very busy intersection, 24 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:15.199 big intersection to the single biggest north south street in Fresno and one of 25 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:21.919 the biggest east west streets Blackstone and McKinley. That the city is doing eminent 26 00:03:21.960 --> 00:03:30.080 domain seizures for a ton of it and is going to lower the entire intersection 27 00:03:30.360 --> 00:03:38.120 down about twenty feet so that the rail line can pass over cars without stopping 28 00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:42.520 traffic. Right now, that is you know, I'll admit that is a 29 00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:49.120 somewhat frustrating traffic situation there at Blackstone and McKinley. If a train. If 30 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:52.800 you're trying to go to Fresno City College, and I remember in high school 31 00:03:52.840 --> 00:03:54.159 I took a couple of classes at City College. You're trying to go to 32 00:03:54.159 --> 00:04:00.879 Fresno City College for a class. You get off at you know, you 33 00:04:00.919 --> 00:04:04.719 take the forty one to McKinley. You get off at McKinley. You're heading 34 00:04:05.800 --> 00:04:10.479 west on McKinley to go to Presdo City and then what happens, Holy cow, 35 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:13.560 a train. Now I got to sit here for another three minutes. 36 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:16.680 I'm running late for class. How many people have been late for a class 37 00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:25.439 at Fresno City because of that specific situation, I'd bet thousands of people over 38 00:04:26.439 --> 00:04:30.240 the last several decades. So admittedly it's a traffic SNEPHU, but we're gonna 39 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:38.439 tie up that intersection between about twenty twenty six through twenty thirty to dig under 40 00:04:38.439 --> 00:04:42.040 it to allow that rail line, which is not even one of the high 41 00:04:42.040 --> 00:04:50.879 speed rail trains. It's like a I think it's an Amtrak slash normal rail. 42 00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:57.720 We're gonna dig that intersection up for it's estimated between like twenty twenty six 43 00:04:57.759 --> 00:05:00.120 and twenty thirty. We're doing the City's doing all the eminent domain stuff. 44 00:05:00.120 --> 00:05:05.120 Now, So that was a few weeks ago. Here's a story from the 45 00:05:05.160 --> 00:05:18.040 fifth of July about high speed rail work that's gonna close McKinley Avenue just west 46 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:28.680 basically a big stretch of McKinley Avenue from about Golden State Boulevard all the way 47 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:34.720 to Marx. Actually this big stretch, but this square made, this rectangle 48 00:05:34.839 --> 00:05:46.759 made between Clinton Avenue, West Avenue, McKinley and Highway ninety nine. Actually 49 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:48.079 it's not gonna go all the way to Marks. I think it's it's gonna 50 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:58.639 get the ninety nine corridor sout out that ways. High speed railwork will close 51 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:02.399 McKinley Avenue for a year. How it affects your commute from the Fresno b 52 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:06.199 by Tim Shechean. McKinley Avenue will be closed east of Highway ninety nine and 53 00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:13.199 west Central Fresno for about a year for construction of a new overpass above existing 54 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:17.319 freight railroad tracks and future high speed rail tracks. The McKinley closure is set 55 00:06:17.319 --> 00:06:23.160 to begin on Monday and continue through July twenty twenty five between Highway ninety nine 56 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:28.879 and West Avenue. The McKinley Avenue off ramp from Highway ninety nine will also 57 00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:31.839 be closed. According to the California High Speed Rail Authority, the overpass is 58 00:06:31.879 --> 00:06:36.279 to create a grade separation to eliminate the potential for collisions between California's future high 59 00:06:36.279 --> 00:06:42.959 speed high speed rail and vehicles on McKinley Avenue. The overpass will also do 60 00:06:43.079 --> 00:06:47.480 away with the existing Union Pacific Railroad crossing at McKinley Avenue. Also to be 61 00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:51.279 closed as part of the construction are West Avenue between Golden State Boulevard, Nallave 62 00:06:51.319 --> 00:06:56.800 Avenue and Weaver Avenue. Weber is Webber, Weaver. I don't know Weber 63 00:06:56.839 --> 00:07:00.360 Avenue between Clinton and McKinley Avenues, but local traffic will be permitted on Weber 64 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:04.480 between Clinton and Weldon Avenues. Signs will be in place to direct drivers to 65 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:09.120 detour routes, and access to businesses in the area will be maintained. The 66 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:14.680 Rail Authority reports then it gives a list of all the different kind of detours 67 00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:18.160 you're gonna see. The McKinley overpasses one of numerous structures in Fresno that will 68 00:07:18.199 --> 00:07:24.600 create grade separations between street traffic and high speed trains that by some time between 69 00:07:24.600 --> 00:07:28.120 twenty thirty and twenty thirty three are expected to carry passengers at speeds up to 70 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:33.800 two hundred and twenty miles per hour through the Sanwalking Valley between Merced and Bakersfield. 71 00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:38.480 Up to two hundred and twenty miles per hour, folks, although then 72 00:07:38.519 --> 00:07:42.040 you have to stop in hand for you have to stop at this little town 73 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:44.360 and that little town, and that little town and that little town. So 74 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:47.920 you know, the total average miles per hour speed is probably not going to 75 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:50.920 be two hundred and twenty miles per hour. Just my guess, just my 76 00:07:51.040 --> 00:08:00.519 guess. Future extensions of the line are in the planning stages west and north 77 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:03.680 to San Jose and south to Palmdale, Palmdale Burbank, Los Angeles, Nina. 78 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:09.279 Yeah. Yeah, we've been hearing about the future plans for extensions of 79 00:08:09.319 --> 00:08:16.160 the high speed rail for quite some time. Here we are. Now this 80 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:24.160 is let me let's get to what I'm my point here. This is another 81 00:08:24.680 --> 00:08:28.079 big traffic snafu that people in this part of Fresno are gonna have to live 82 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:31.759 with. People are gonna have to live with traffic snaffoos. There's all kinds 83 00:08:31.799 --> 00:08:37.440 of traffic snaffoos around all of the rail systems Downtown. I sort of put 84 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:39.879 two and two together. I'd always wondered my whole life, like, why 85 00:08:41.080 --> 00:08:45.639 is Fresno Clovis on a north south east west grid? But then for some 86 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:52.759 reason, downtown Fresno is like a separate grid that's turned you know, forty 87 00:08:52.759 --> 00:08:56.440 five degrees, so it's it's no longer north south east west, it's now 88 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:03.840 you know, uh, northwest, southeast, northeast, southwest. And I 89 00:09:03.879 --> 00:09:07.840 realized, well, I think it's because I'm not a historian, so I 90 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:11.200 don't know this, but it's my guess. Well, it's because of the 91 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:16.279 rail system. The railroads went through Fresno there. Okay, the railroads more 92 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:20.399 or less followed the ninety nine, or the ninety nine was built to follow 93 00:09:20.440 --> 00:09:24.039 the railroads in all likelihood, I'm guessing. Again, I'm not a historian 94 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:28.480 here, So that's why. Because all the rail systems are there in downtown 95 00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:33.279 Fresno, and the railroads were going a certain direction. And then they started 96 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:37.480 building up the city of Fresno, and they built it along the you know, 97 00:09:37.080 --> 00:09:43.519 built it, you know, continuously with the railroad system. So instead 98 00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:48.559 of building everything north southeast west, they built everything northwest, northeast, southwest, 99 00:09:48.559 --> 00:10:00.799 southeast. And I guess I'm I sort of wonder we're going to have 100 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:07.840 tons of construction happening in the Chinatown area. Dyer is already sounding the alarm 101 00:10:07.879 --> 00:10:11.919 about how frustrated he is about the construction he wants to do in the Chinatown 102 00:10:11.960 --> 00:10:15.879 area. How long the High Speed Rail Authority people are taking for their renovations, 103 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:20.840 how long everything is taking, and how much traffic snapho this is taking. 104 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:26.240 How much longer construction is taking than planned. We've got that, We've 105 00:10:26.279 --> 00:10:33.720 got the McKinley and Blackstone lower It by twenty feet project. We've got this 106 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:41.879 project around McKinley in ninety nine to create an overpass that's going to you know, 107 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:43.919 snaggle things up for a year. We say a year, what do 108 00:10:43.960 --> 00:10:46.519 we really mean, Probably, you know, a year and a half. 109 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:54.360 Maybe it means two years, God knows. And all of this is for 110 00:10:54.559 --> 00:10:58.320 what is the end goal of all this work. The end goal of all 111 00:10:58.360 --> 00:11:05.639 this work is is a big, shiny high speed rail station in downtown Fresno 112 00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:13.039 that will encourage new businesses to come down there, that will encourage investment. 113 00:11:15.159 --> 00:11:18.559 We'll get all this money from the State of California to help build up downtown 114 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:22.919 Fresno's infrastructure to allow about ten thousand more people to live in downtown Fresno. 115 00:11:24.200 --> 00:11:31.679 Well, maybe Gavin Newsom has delayed that two hundred million dollars and it's in 116 00:11:31.720 --> 00:11:37.399 giving it to us for the last two years. You know, it's easy 117 00:11:37.399 --> 00:11:39.519 to make those kinds of promises in the bumper years of twenty twenty two, 118 00:11:39.559 --> 00:11:43.600 when the state budget was flushed with all this COVID money, when the state 119 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:46.399 yeah, when the state coffers were flushed with a bunch of federal COVID money. 120 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:48.279 Oh, yeah, we'll give Fresno two hundred fifty million dollars over three 121 00:11:48.360 --> 00:11:52.399 years. Here's your first fifty million. And then in twenty twenty three, 122 00:11:52.440 --> 00:11:56.320 when we have a massive budget deficit at the state level, Oh, we 123 00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:58.639 can't give you that first one hundred million this year, We'll do it next 124 00:11:58.679 --> 00:12:01.960 year. Then twenty twenty four along, Oh we can't give you that one 125 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:05.120 hundred million this year, We'll do it next year. Guys, that that 126 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:11.000 two hundred million ain't coming. So I don't know, I mean, I 127 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:15.399 just find it highly unlikely that we're going to get all of that two hundred 128 00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:20.639 million in time before Gavin Newsom leaves office. And then God knows who's gonna 129 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:24.240 open. Maybe it's Rob Bonta. Maybe, you know, God knows who's 130 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:30.600 going to replace Gavin Newsom. You know, maybe it'll be someone less, 131 00:12:31.039 --> 00:12:33.759 you know, amicably disposed towards Jerry Dyer and towards the city of Fresno. 132 00:12:37.879 --> 00:12:43.240 I just feel like, we are going to invest all of this money, 133 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:48.519 and what will the end result of it all be? Will people really will 134 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:52.799 we really be able to have more people living in downtown if we do, 135 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:58.159 will it really help it be revitalized? Will businesses really come? I'll address 136 00:12:58.200 --> 00:13:05.559 all that next. This is the John Juraradi Show on Power Talk. We're 137 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:13.480 doing all of this construction surrounding rail in Fresno. We're doing so much construction, 138 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:20.559 so much infrastructure, so much investment. We're lowering the McKinley Blackstone intersection 139 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:24.279 by twenty feet to allow a real thing to go over that's gonna snag up 140 00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:30.000 that whole intersection by for the next five years or so. We're spending all 141 00:13:30.039 --> 00:13:33.919 this money for eminent domain seizures to get all these business all this property around 142 00:13:33.960 --> 00:13:37.799 there. We've got tons of construction happening around the Chinatown area for building a 143 00:13:37.879 --> 00:13:43.080 high speed rail station again for a rail line that does not yet have any 144 00:13:43.159 --> 00:13:48.720 active trains moving on it. We've got another construction project for an overpass for 145 00:13:48.759 --> 00:13:54.240 a rail system around McKinley in ninety nine. All of this, we're wanting 146 00:13:54.279 --> 00:14:00.759 to do this massive infrastructure investment in downtown Fresno to allow to thousand more people 147 00:14:00.759 --> 00:14:03.559 to live there, with the idea that once we have this grand, new, 148 00:14:03.720 --> 00:14:09.200 shiny central rail system, you know, rail station in downtown Fresno that 149 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:13.159 looks like a giant glass tube. It looks like one of the worms from 150 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:16.559 the Dune movies. Once we have that, then all these businesses will want 151 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:22.519 to locate in this part of Fresno and we'll have restaurants and the grand dream, 152 00:14:22.679 --> 00:14:26.399 the dream, the dream of the dreamer that we've been dreaming since you 153 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:31.840 know, two thousand, as long as I've been politically aware of Fresno politics, 154 00:14:31.879 --> 00:14:33.960 when I was, you know, twelve or thirteen years old, that 155 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:41.559 we're going to have a revitalized downtown. We're going to revitalize downtown. We'll 156 00:14:41.559 --> 00:14:43.440 have ten thousand more people living there, we'll have all this business, all 157 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:54.039 that will we for rail, for high speed rail. This is my big 158 00:14:54.120 --> 00:14:58.919 fear with all this, This is my big fear every time I read an 159 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:11.639 another story about another major expensive traffic thing, a major expensive construction project, 160 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:16.679 and it's usually all around downtown Fresno. And it's more and more of these 161 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:22.600 stories about these projects for quote, revitalizing downtown, and they all in some 162 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:31.360 way are circl They're orbiting around the central axis of rail, which last I 163 00:15:31.559 --> 00:15:41.240 checked, is just not a booming medium of transportation. It's just not. 164 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:50.279 And the rationale behind high speed rail twenty years ago, when the voters in 165 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:56.639 California voted to approve a high speed rail system disastrously not really understanding what it 166 00:15:56.679 --> 00:16:03.600 would cost, not really under massively underestimating its cost, its complexity, it's 167 00:16:03.639 --> 00:16:14.159 difficulty, it's it's timeline. I think if you had told all the well 168 00:16:14.519 --> 00:16:17.600 people did tell them, if you told all the proponents of the high speed 169 00:16:17.639 --> 00:16:22.200 rail twenty years ago when it passed, hey this thing is going to be 170 00:16:22.200 --> 00:16:26.320 you know, twenty years on. Actually, what year was high speed rail 171 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:32.200 passed? One second here, okay, that was in two thousand and eight. 172 00:16:32.200 --> 00:16:36.559 It was Proposition one. A gosh, the two thousand and eight, 173 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:41.480 the November two thousand and eight election in California was wild. You had Barack 174 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:47.879 Obama, you had Proposition eight, which actually passed a majority of Californians, 175 00:16:47.879 --> 00:16:52.480 defined marriage as being between one man and one woman, and you had the 176 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:56.120 high speed rail approved. Wow, what an election that was. Anyway, 177 00:16:57.080 --> 00:17:00.720 if I told so, we're sixteen years. If in two thousand and eight 178 00:17:03.080 --> 00:17:10.039 someone said aloud, hey, sixteen years from now, not one inch of 179 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:14.000 the high speed rail system will be active, not an inch, the cost 180 00:17:14.119 --> 00:17:17.240 will of balloon from about forty four billion was kind of the number of people 181 00:17:17.240 --> 00:17:23.079 were thrown around to well over one hundred billion. The only thing we've actually 182 00:17:23.160 --> 00:17:32.759 got planned out is a stretch of the rail from Bakersfield to Mercede, not 183 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:37.839 even you know, Bakersfield to La not even merced to San Francisco, not 184 00:17:37.880 --> 00:17:42.480 even the Bay Area sections of the high speed rail or the Southern California sections 185 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:45.160 of the high speed rail. No, all we've got is the San juan 186 00:17:45.240 --> 00:17:52.799 Quin Valley, you know, the least populous, flattest, simplest from an 187 00:17:52.839 --> 00:17:59.240 engineering standpoint, stretch of the rail system. That's the only thing that we've 188 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:03.839 even got a plan for. If you had said that in two thousand and 189 00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:06.480 eight, none of the proponents would have believed you, And in fact, 190 00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:08.400 many people did say it in two thousand and eight. Many people did accurately 191 00:18:08.440 --> 00:18:12.039 predict this in two thousand and eight. I think actually Chuck Putigian, was 192 00:18:12.680 --> 00:18:18.799 longtime state senator, Republican state senator from the Fresno area, did in fact 193 00:18:18.920 --> 00:18:29.119 predict precisely this. He was one of the opponents of it. And this 194 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:33.960 is the thing. One of the big rationales behind high speed rail was one 195 00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:37.200 the idea that it was premised on. This is a San Francisco to La 196 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:41.799 connection, not a Merced to Bakersfield connection. First of all, and while 197 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:45.519 Gavin Newsom has said, well, let's finish merceaid to Bakersfield and then that 198 00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:51.200 can establish the viability of the system, I don't know how Merced to Bakersfield 199 00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:56.319 establishes the viability of the system, because basically it's going to be a high 200 00:18:56.359 --> 00:19:03.240 speed rail system going along the ninety night And I just defy you to explain 201 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:06.519 to me how if I'm in Fresno and I want to go to Bakersfield, 202 00:19:06.839 --> 00:19:11.359 why would I take a high speed rail train to do that when I could 203 00:19:11.400 --> 00:19:15.440 just get in my car and drive to do the high speed rail. I'd 204 00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:18.119 need to buy my ticket in advance. I'd have to go to the train 205 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:21.960 station probably forty five minutes before the train leaves, or so, just to 206 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:25.200 be safe on the safe side, give myself some cushion so I don't miss 207 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:29.720 the train. Take it to Bakersfield. I think it's probably gonna stop one 208 00:19:29.799 --> 00:19:32.319 or two times along the way, so it's not like I'm blazing two hundred 209 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:36.480 twenty miles per hour the whole route. Finally get to Bakersfield, and then 210 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:41.960 hope I'm in walking distance or of my destination, or I need to take 211 00:19:41.960 --> 00:19:45.200 an uber to wherever it is in Bakersfield I wanted to go in the first 212 00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:51.839 place. Or do I need to rent a car? Or I could just 213 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:53.440 get in my car and get on the ninety nine and go to Bakersfield, 214 00:19:56.799 --> 00:20:02.680 says I just don't. I cannot fathom how many people in the Fresno area 215 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:07.599 would opt for the train option when they can just get in their car and 216 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:11.160 drive to Bakersfield. Along with what's one of the big rationales for high speed 217 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:15.799 rail, save the environment. Have an electric train that's not emitting a ton 218 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:21.039 of fossil fuels, get fewer people driving up and down California in their cars, 219 00:20:21.960 --> 00:20:27.319 get them on this train to lower emissions. Well, California is mandating 220 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:32.160 that one d percent since two thousand and eight, this little thing called Tesla 221 00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:37.480 came along, and now by twenty thirty five, California's mandating that one hundred 222 00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:41.440 percent of all new car sales have to be electric vehicles anyway, So by 223 00:20:41.480 --> 00:20:47.799 the time the high speed rail is actually ready, what percentage of cars are 224 00:20:47.799 --> 00:20:55.720 going to be zero emission cars? Anyway? It's massively undercutting California's insistence on 225 00:20:56.680 --> 00:21:03.000 zero emission cars. You know, let's ignore how the electricity gets to those 226 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:11.039 cars. California's insistence on zero emissions cars massively undercuts one of the central rationales 227 00:21:11.079 --> 00:21:14.960 for high speed rail. So how many people will actually ride on this thing? 228 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:21.640 I don't think it's a lot. And yet so much of our downtown 229 00:21:21.880 --> 00:21:29.519 investment, so much of our city, our regional infrastructure investment, building up 230 00:21:29.559 --> 00:21:33.119 downtown, building this station downtown with the idea that all these businesses will go 231 00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:36.440 there, and that people will want to move to downtown and will build up 232 00:21:36.440 --> 00:21:41.680 all the infrastructure we're getting California funding that we're seeking to direct towards downtown rather 233 00:21:41.720 --> 00:21:51.599 than other parts of the city, all premised around this idea that the high 234 00:21:51.640 --> 00:21:56.200 speed rail station will be the like like River Park South, that it will 235 00:21:56.240 --> 00:22:03.039 just be this hub of local life, and I just don't think it's going 236 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:08.400 to be that. I think it's going to very quickly demonstrate to all we're 237 00:22:08.440 --> 00:22:15.720 going to spend the next decade building up all this investment around a high speed 238 00:22:15.799 --> 00:22:22.240 reil CIS train in downtown Fresno that I just don't know is really going to 239 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:27.480 feel forgive the pun, take us anywhere, all right. When we return, 240 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:32.880 I want to talk about Senator jd Vance, a possible Trump hopeful, 241 00:22:33.559 --> 00:22:37.000 and we'll talk about it more on Right to Life Radio, But I just 242 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:41.160 want to talk about sort of compromising to win elections and how that's happening with 243 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:48.920 the abortion issue. That's next on the John Girardi Show. Winning a presidential 244 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:53.559 election is obviously a delicate balance. It's a very difficult thing that Donald Trump 245 00:22:53.599 --> 00:23:02.240 has done successfully once and I have done successfully zero times. So you can 246 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:07.319 take everything I say with a bailable grain assault in that regard. But there's 247 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:18.000 also this difficult dance that both parties have to do. It's basically you get 248 00:23:18.519 --> 00:23:25.799 nominated through the votes of your base. You win the Democrat primary, you 249 00:23:25.880 --> 00:23:33.799 win the Republican primary because your base supports you. This is the odd thing 250 00:23:33.880 --> 00:23:40.640 about America's system for nominating and then electing a president is that people are just 251 00:23:40.759 --> 00:23:45.960 not as the average mass of the populace is just not as locked in on 252 00:23:47.160 --> 00:23:51.640 the primary stage of things. There are a lot of people who will maybe 253 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:59.519 vote in November, but a lot fewer people will vote in their state's primary. 254 00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:03.000 And the people who are going to vote are the people who are more 255 00:24:03.240 --> 00:24:10.880 hardcore, ideologically committed conservative primary voters. You know, Republican primary voters are 256 00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:17.160 generally more hardcore conservative than Republican general election voters. Democrat primary voters are generally 257 00:24:17.240 --> 00:24:22.119 more hardcore liberal than Democrat general election voters. Okay, that's true of both. 258 00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:29.640 So to thread the needle, you need to find a candidate who makes 259 00:24:29.720 --> 00:24:37.640 the base happy with ideological commitments, but can be appealing enough to the more 260 00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:47.599 moderate, broader swath of the electorate who votes in a general election. And 261 00:24:48.119 --> 00:24:53.279 often what this means is that after a candidate wins the primary for either the 262 00:24:53.279 --> 00:24:56.880 Republican Party or the Democrat Party, what do you see them do for the 263 00:24:56.920 --> 00:24:59.920 general election, they run to the center. They run to the center. 264 00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:08.720 They start offering either compromises or sort of more watered down versions of different policies, 265 00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:18.440 et cetera. And that's okay to do as long as though you keep 266 00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:23.599 what are the key priorities, what are the central goals that have to be 267 00:25:25.160 --> 00:25:33.799 accomplished for your base. I think, for example, Barack Obama did this 268 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:40.359 perfectly, where you know, he ran on certain things, he had a 269 00:25:40.440 --> 00:25:45.000 very broad, appealing general election sort of message, and then he gets into 270 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:51.920 office and what does he do. He really aggressively pursues and gets Obamacare passed. 271 00:25:52.920 --> 00:25:56.960 And Obama had to take a lot of lumps, and the Democrats had 272 00:25:57.000 --> 00:26:03.880 to take a lot of lumps for passing Obamacare. They lost Congress because they 273 00:26:03.960 --> 00:26:11.480 passed Obamacare. Okay, they lost the House in twenty ten, and they 274 00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:19.079 lost the Senate in twenty fourteen. They had to take their lumps, but 275 00:26:19.960 --> 00:26:23.680 they got it passed. They got it over the finished line. And guess 276 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:30.519 what, Obamacare is here to stay. Trump's not even talking about repealing Obamacare 277 00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:33.680 anymore. Republicans are not even talking about repealing Obamacare. Why because they tried 278 00:26:33.680 --> 00:26:41.880 to do it in twenty seventeen, they were unsuccessful in doing it, and 279 00:26:41.920 --> 00:26:45.880 a whole bunch of members of the House lost their seats. You know, 280 00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:51.359 Republicans quickly proceeded to lose the House of Representatives in twenty eighteen. Why because 281 00:26:51.359 --> 00:26:55.599 a bunch of Republicans took this unpopular vote to repeal Obamacare. So guess what. 282 00:26:55.799 --> 00:27:00.119 Obamacare is here to stay. That ratchet only goes on and there's no 283 00:27:00.200 --> 00:27:11.119 way to get rid of it now. I would say that conservatives achieved a 284 00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:23.240 similar caliber of victory on the abortion front. Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell got 285 00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:30.720 three Supreme Court justices appointed in a four year term. They had to fight 286 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:40.119 like hell to get each of those three in McConnell heroically refused, along with 287 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:41.319 all the Republicans in the Senate who had his back. And by the way, 288 00:27:41.359 --> 00:27:45.640 I think there are prior Republicans. This is the one thing I don't 289 00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:48.799 you know, I don't grovel at Mitch McConnell's feet. I don't think he 290 00:27:48.880 --> 00:27:51.960 is perfect. I don't think he's the most wonderful man who ever lived. 291 00:27:52.440 --> 00:27:55.799 But what I will say is, after Antonin Scalia died in twenty sixteen, 292 00:27:55.880 --> 00:28:00.279 in February of twenty sixteen, we were, you know, nine months out 293 00:28:00.279 --> 00:28:04.640 from the election still and McConnell was facing all this pressure to have hearings for 294 00:28:06.359 --> 00:28:10.880 vote on Merrick Garland. Maybe just take except that Merrick Garland was going to 295 00:28:10.920 --> 00:28:15.640 fill antoninsically a seat. Obama deliberately, i think, picked Merrick Garland because 296 00:28:17.000 --> 00:28:21.400 he was a little older, you know. He didn't pick someone who was 297 00:28:21.519 --> 00:28:26.000 in their late forties who would be on the court for the next forty years, 298 00:28:26.880 --> 00:28:32.680 and he picked someone who was perceived as much more moderate. Merrick Garland's 299 00:28:32.680 --> 00:28:34.559 tenure as Attorney General has shown he was not very moderate, but that was 300 00:28:34.599 --> 00:28:38.200 the perception in twenty sixteen. So Obama is like trying to say, look, 301 00:28:38.240 --> 00:28:41.599 I'm being the reasonable one here. Obama loved doing crap like that, 302 00:28:41.839 --> 00:28:45.680 pretending like he was the reasonable one in the room. I'm the adult in 303 00:28:45.680 --> 00:28:49.319 the room. I'm being reasonable. I'm I'm not giving you a hardcore leftist 304 00:28:49.359 --> 00:28:53.319 activist. I'm not giving you another soda mayor. I'm giving you a respected 305 00:28:53.599 --> 00:29:00.119 senior judge who's moderate, who had, you know, been a criminal justice 306 00:29:00.160 --> 00:29:07.400 guy at the Department of Justice. And and McConnell heroically said no, We're 307 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:10.200 not going to play ball for a whole year. McConnell said, no, 308 00:29:10.279 --> 00:29:15.759 we're not going to play ball. Donald Trump improbably wins and we're able to 309 00:29:15.799 --> 00:29:22.160 replace antonin Scalia with Neil Gorstitch. McConnell and Trump stick with their guy, 310 00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:26.559 Brett Kavanaugh throughout the ridiculous proceed I think more and more the more distance I 311 00:29:26.599 --> 00:29:29.880 get from all the Brett Kavanaugh stuff, the more I think all the accusations 312 00:29:29.880 --> 00:29:33.440 against him were utter nonsense. They stick with their guy, Brett Cavanaugh. 313 00:29:33.640 --> 00:29:42.000 He gets confirmed. Ruth Bader Ginsburg improbably dies in September before the November twenty 314 00:29:42.039 --> 00:29:48.599 twenty election. McConnell and Trump stick with their guns. They get Amy Cony 315 00:29:48.599 --> 00:29:52.119 Barrett confirmed, and Trump even had like a really inspired I need to find 316 00:29:52.119 --> 00:30:00.319 the exact quote, but for Barrett's confirmation, Trump was reported to have said 317 00:30:00.400 --> 00:30:04.680 something to the Republican senators, this is the doing stuff like this. This 318 00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:10.680 is the reason we were elected to take these difficult kinds of votes, these 319 00:30:10.680 --> 00:30:14.519 difficult kinds of actions. This is why people put us in office, is 320 00:30:14.559 --> 00:30:19.400 to accomplish these goals. And he was one hundred percent correct. We now 321 00:30:19.480 --> 00:30:27.000 have this much more conservative Supreme Court. It's not perfect by any stretch, 322 00:30:27.039 --> 00:30:32.720 but it's much more conservative than it's ever been. And unbelievably, it overturned 323 00:30:32.759 --> 00:30:34.799 Roe v. Wade. It actually did the thing that pro lifers have been 324 00:30:34.839 --> 00:30:40.920 wanting for the last fifty years, the impossible goal. I never thought i'd 325 00:30:40.920 --> 00:30:45.640 see Rov Wade overturned in my lifetime. Overturning Roe v. Wade. What 326 00:30:45.720 --> 00:30:51.880 an amazing victory. Have conservatives taken their lumps for it? Yeah, just 327 00:30:51.960 --> 00:30:56.240 like Democrats have since the overturning of Obamacare. But you know what Democrats never 328 00:30:56.279 --> 00:31:00.440 did after Obamacare. They never compromised, they never wavered on it, stood 329 00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:04.119 true to it, and guess what, over time took about ten years, 330 00:31:06.559 --> 00:31:14.319 public opinion went in their favor. The law had this educative effect. People 331 00:31:14.440 --> 00:31:25.960 came to like it. I'm getting really concerned about. Yes, I understand 332 00:31:25.960 --> 00:31:27.839 that Donald Trump needs to win, and I understand the one issue where he 333 00:31:27.880 --> 00:31:32.839 pulls worse than Joe Biden right now is abortion. I get it, I 334 00:31:32.920 --> 00:31:37.000 understand it. I am even I'll even go so far as to say I'm 335 00:31:37.039 --> 00:31:42.000 okay with Donald Trump saying I don't want to pursue a federal abortion restriction like 336 00:31:42.599 --> 00:31:47.960 a federal ban on abortion after fifteen weeks, and for one thing, I'll 337 00:31:47.960 --> 00:31:51.839 say, because I understand there's no way he's going to get it passed, 338 00:31:52.039 --> 00:31:56.000 because as long as Democrats have even forty one seats in the Senate, they 339 00:31:56.039 --> 00:32:00.079 can block it with the filibuster. Okay, So if Trump wants to say, 340 00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:05.400 I'm not going to push for a federal abortion ban because I know I'm 341 00:32:05.400 --> 00:32:09.440 never gonna get it, Okay, you want to compromise there, that's fine. 342 00:32:09.680 --> 00:32:15.799 But if it's stuff that's entirely within the control of the executive branch that 343 00:32:15.880 --> 00:32:20.000 he can do that, if he's elected he can do that, I still 344 00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:28.240 expect to happen. That is stuff push as far as you can for the 345 00:32:28.279 --> 00:32:32.279 possible. If you want to compromise on stuff that's politically impractical anyway, Okay, 346 00:32:32.839 --> 00:32:39.559 that's all right. What am I talking about here? Jd Vance, 347 00:32:40.240 --> 00:32:45.880 who's clearly a vice presidential hopeful along with Trump himself, during the debate, 348 00:32:46.799 --> 00:32:53.799 indicated that they don't want to push for restrictions on the abortion pill. And 349 00:32:53.799 --> 00:33:00.000 it's one of those tiny, little sounding political details that has massive problems. 350 00:33:00.359 --> 00:33:06.680 If you are pro life, I want you to understand this. Almost nothing 351 00:33:07.039 --> 00:33:13.680 about the abortion issue matters as much as restricting the abortion pill, and probably 352 00:33:13.680 --> 00:33:19.799 most of you don't even really know what it is, miphipristone, aka the 353 00:33:19.839 --> 00:33:22.000 abortion pill. This is not the morning after pill. This is not a 354 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:28.640 pill that you take the morning after some encounter. This is a pill to 355 00:33:28.839 --> 00:33:36.319 bring about basically an artificial miscarriage up to ten weeks into a pregnancy. Baby 356 00:33:36.319 --> 00:33:38.119 had ten weeks of pregnancy's got arms, legs, fingers, toes, heartbeat, 357 00:33:38.119 --> 00:33:50.319 brain activity. President Biden loosened all the FDA regulations around it to allow 358 00:33:50.359 --> 00:33:53.079 the abortion pill to be shipped to people directly through the mail or picked up 359 00:33:53.079 --> 00:33:57.440 at major pharmacies, and as a result, the number of abortions in America 360 00:33:57.480 --> 00:34:01.279 since twenty twenty one when Biden did that, have skyrocketed. It used to 361 00:34:01.319 --> 00:34:07.319 be something like eight hundred thousand plus abortions per year back in like you know, 362 00:34:07.359 --> 00:34:10.280 twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen. Today the total number of abortions per year 363 00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:19.079 in America is around one million, and now the abortion pill is the majority. 364 00:34:19.199 --> 00:34:23.880 Almost two thirds of all abortions are done via the abortion pill. I'm 365 00:34:23.920 --> 00:34:30.480 not talking about trying to pass some law through Congress, like you know, 366 00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:35.400 even you know the partial birth abortion ban that Republicans passed it during the during 367 00:34:35.440 --> 00:34:37.360 the Bush years. They fought like hell to get it done. How many 368 00:34:37.400 --> 00:34:42.280 abortions did it actually stop? Every single one of those lives is precious in 369 00:34:42.679 --> 00:34:46.559 but let's be real, the total number of lives saved by that law were 370 00:34:46.679 --> 00:34:54.639 very, very very small number. Trump controls the Department of Health and Human 371 00:34:54.679 --> 00:35:02.519 Services, which controls the FDA. He could bring back the pre Obama health 372 00:35:02.559 --> 00:35:06.639 and safety restrictions on the abortion pill. Not let it be sent through the 373 00:35:06.639 --> 00:35:08.199 mail, not let it be picked up at major pharmacies, only let it 374 00:35:08.239 --> 00:35:16.280 be distributed at clinics. That would result in probably given that we see the 375 00:35:16.360 --> 00:35:22.800 numbers of abortions when the abortion pill was restricted like that, he could stop 376 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:27.320 something like one hundred thousand abortions per year by doing this. And it's entirely 377 00:35:27.360 --> 00:35:34.679 within his control. And he's saying I don't want to touch it, and 378 00:35:34.719 --> 00:35:37.599 that I find it when we return. I want to talk about this idea 379 00:35:37.599 --> 00:35:43.199 of compromising versus what are your end goals? Because I got to tell you 380 00:35:43.400 --> 00:35:46.519 that's a compromise pill. That is I am going to have a very hard 381 00:35:46.519 --> 00:35:52.119 time swallowing, if at all that's next do. On the John Girardi Show, 382 00:35:54.559 --> 00:35:59.760 President Trump is sort of signaling that he doesn't want to do anything to 383 00:35:59.760 --> 00:36:04.360 touch regulation of the abortion pill. This is not the morning after pill. 384 00:36:04.519 --> 00:36:08.719 This is a pill to basically bring about an artificial miscarriage up to ten weeks 385 00:36:08.760 --> 00:36:12.559 into a pregnancy, not just the morning after, up to ten weeks into 386 00:36:12.599 --> 00:36:15.199 pregnancy. It is now the most common method of abortion in America. Something 387 00:36:15.199 --> 00:36:21.320 like sixty three percent of all abortions are done this way since President Biden deregulated 388 00:36:21.360 --> 00:36:28.199 it the abortion pill in twenty twenty one, his FDA passed regulations allowing the 389 00:36:28.239 --> 00:36:32.599 abortion pill to be prescribed without an in person visit to a doctor who could 390 00:36:32.639 --> 00:36:36.679 confirm justtational age, who could confirm you're not having an ectopic pregnancy. All 391 00:36:36.679 --> 00:36:38.360 the health and safety stuff you would need for this got rid of it all. 392 00:36:38.960 --> 00:36:43.320 He's allowing the abortion pill to be shipped to people directly through the mail 393 00:36:45.679 --> 00:36:52.960 and allowing the abortion pill to be picked up at major pharmacies. Since then, 394 00:36:52.039 --> 00:36:57.960 the total numbers of abortions in America have jumped by one hundred thousand per 395 00:36:58.039 --> 00:37:00.559 year. We're talking about we use to be at something like eight hundred thousand 396 00:37:00.679 --> 00:37:07.599 abortions per year prior to twenty twenty today, and it's sharply jumped since twenty 397 00:37:07.599 --> 00:37:12.599 twenty one when Biden issued those regulations. Total number of abortions in America is 398 00:37:12.599 --> 00:37:19.880 about a million. I keep hearing conservatives saying to me, well, Trump 399 00:37:19.880 --> 00:37:22.639 has to compromise on this to get elected. You got to get elected first 400 00:37:22.679 --> 00:37:25.039 before you can do anything. And maybe he'll do a switch root. No, 401 00:37:25.119 --> 00:37:29.639 he's committing himself to one position, and I guess this is my thing. 402 00:37:31.480 --> 00:37:36.039 I'm not going to fight like hell to get a guy hired to be 403 00:37:36.079 --> 00:37:38.920 a baker. If he commits on the front to end that, he's not 404 00:37:38.960 --> 00:37:47.960 gonna make bread. You don't compromise on the main thing. I can't accept 405 00:37:49.519 --> 00:37:53.000 as a pro lifer that we're going to compromise on the single most important aspect 406 00:37:53.079 --> 00:37:59.719 right now of the abortion question to accomplish what other goals? What other goals? 407 00:38:00.199 --> 00:38:04.000 Just keeping the Supreme Court as is the status quo, that's all we're 408 00:38:04.039 --> 00:38:10.679 pushing for. That's a very bad pill to swallow. And I hope this 409 00:38:10.760 --> 00:38:15.079 is not the route Trump goes. That'll do it. John Jerrorady Show, 410 00:38:15.079 --> 00:38:15.199 see you next time on Power talk,