As California voters last year considered Proposition 1B, the $20 billion transportation bond sponsored by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature, they were told that the money would be distributed through normal channels -- not earmarked by politicians eager to bring home the bacon without regard to the greater transportation needs of the state.

At the same time, however, the governor and legislative leaders promised voters in every part of the state that they would benefit if the bond passed. As they campaigned, the leaders distributed lists of specific highway projects they said would get money from the bond, easing congestion and shortening commutes.

But those two sets of promises were in conflict. The politicians could not guarantee that any project would be built if they were really going to let the professionals in the state bureaucracy hand out the money. Now we are seeing the results of that contradiction.