Yes it's always reasonable to ask if money on public works projects is being well-spent, but liberal pundits are rarely goaded into applying those same questions to road and highway projects which we always have with us. As with war, roads are "free," and the question is only "can we get the money," not "should we spend it."
Is $80 billion for the 400 or so miles of HSr from Anaheim to San Francisco (couldn't find precise route length for some reason) worth it? I don't suppose there's any correct answer. But is $1 billion to add 10 miles of HOV lanes to an existing highway worth it? Again, I don't think there's any correct answer. The benefits of all such infrastructure projects are very hard to quantify.
