UPDATE, MAY 22, 10:23 A.M.: State Senator Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach) has contacted yours truly with proof that the veteran Orange County politician can take a place in the long line of folks who just don't share my sense of humor. This is evident in his emailed rewrite of the jokey headline to my original post on the next page about Democrats hopping aboard the Blast the Boondoggle Bandwagon when it comes to the state's high-speed rail project.
]
Democrats, Think Like State Senator Tom Harman, on California's Bullet Train: Finally–That should have been your title. Republicans have long been skeptical of the projected ridership and construction costs associated with High Speed Rail. If you'd watched the hearing you would have seen Senator Lowenthal and other Democrats had been mercilessly lambasting the HSR witnesses. And, rightfully so. When asked by the chair for the Republican opinion, I replied “I think we just got one.” The important thing is to reach some consensus on killing this boondoggle before the taxpayers are on the hook for billions of dollars, not creating an echo-chamber. Just trying to set the record straight.
Sorry I failed to watch that Senate hearing, Tommy. I had a pressing engagement to yank my own teeth out with a rusty pair of pliers that had been dipped in turpentine.
And yes, Harman's statement is nearly word-for-word what his communications director wrote in the comments section.
ORIGINAL POST, MAY 16, 1:10 P.M.: Hat tip to the Sacramento Bee's The Buzz political column for this one.
After Democrats in his chamber beat up on California's high-speed rail boondoggle project, State Sen. Tom Harman gave a pithy response after being asked for the Republican perspective on the money pit (phase one: $6 billion).
“I think we just got one,” Harman answered.
Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.