This article should be required reading in every highschool civics class (do they even still have that in school??). Amazing quote from the king of machine politics Willie Brown: “In the world of civic projects, the first budget is really just a down payment,” he wrote in a guest newspaper column in 2013. “If people knew the real cost from the start, nothing would ever be approved. The idea is to get going. Start digging a hole and make it so big there’s no alternative to coming up with the money to fill it in.” <- Can't make this shit up.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/28/us/infrastructure-megaprojects.html