[jeffbee]

I don't think this is a good idea specifically, but I do think state acquisition is an under-utilized tactic. For example the SF-LA railroad would be much cheaper if the state simply acquired the Union Pacific, which would hardly cost anything compared to the total project. But according to our state law, eminent domain can only be used when the acquisition is minimal and there are no alternatives, so the state could only buy such things on the open market from willing sellers.

[bombcar]

I feel we could use more "government buys a thing, does a thing, sells the thing" - not quite eminent domain but also not entirely "let the market figure it out".

CA could have bought the entire UP for $150 billion or so, done a high-speed rail, and then sold it back to Buffet or whatever. But our system isn't setup to handle that kind of scenario.