RIGHT SPEAK: Soon: Trump working on $1 trillion infrastructure plan, interested in high-speed rail?

Ah, I’m old enough to remember when high-speed rail was a punchline among Republicans, the paradigm example of big-government make-work boondoggles for which there isn’t much demand outside a sliver of the business class and the circle of contractors lucky enough to be hired to build it. Which is to say, I’m more than two years old.

Now that's what I'm taking about ...

The first phase of California’s infamous high-speed rail project could end up as much as 50 percent over budget and is already seven years behind schedule, an unsurprising turn for an initiative that’s heavy on eminent domain and involves mile after mile of construction. But it created some jobs, and that’s the important thing, I guess:

President Donald Trump pushed his White House team on Wednesday to craft a plan for $1 trillion in infrastructure spending that would pressure states to streamline local permitting, favor renovation of existing roads and highways over new construction and prioritize projects that can quickly begin construction.

“We’re not going to give the money to states unless they can prove that they can be ready, willing and able to start the project,” Mr. Trump said at a private meeting with aides and executives that The Wall Street Journal was invited to observe. “We don’t want to give them money if they’re all tied up for seven years with state bureaucracy.”

... Finally something I can support

Mr. Trump said he would was inclined to give states 90 days to start projects, and asked Scott Pruitt, the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency, to provide a recommendation. He expressed interest in building new high-speed railroads, inquired about the possibility of auctioning the broadcast spectrum to wireless carriers, and asked for more details about the Hyperloop, a project envisioned by Tesla founder Elon Musk that would rapidly transport passengers in pods through low-pressure tubes.