Sunday, June 15, 2008

Amtrak Budget: Is the Glass Half Full, or Just Half Cracked?

If it is the objective of Congress to thumb it's collective snotty nose at the taxpayer in general and at Amtrak in particular, then the pathetic Amtrak appropriation just passed by the House is a measure of success.

$14.9 billion for Amtrak for FIVE fiscal years 2009 thru 2013.

At the very same time, The Associated Press is reporting just about $14 billion in earmarks (called Pork) going to Members' districts in just ONE year. And, if the AP is just half right, that means that about $700 million is going into the pockets of lobbyists for the district and/or organization - read political contributors - that pushed for the earmark. (The AP is guessing about 10%, so conservatively, 5% isn't any stretch at all.)

And supporters of the Amtrak appropriation had to beat back amendments that would have gutted and hamstrung any Amtrak management efforts at improvements.

Let us pray, for remember, with Congress, it's never too late to screw things up.

© 2008 - C. A. Turek - mistertrains@gmail.com

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Mr. Trains:

I like trains. But I don't care for amtrak. While roads are subsidized by the government, that does not mean that amtrak should be. Instead the public gets to decide if roads get the money, or amtrak gets the money. The people currently vote for people who wants money to move to the road subsidies.

It is my firm belief that us voters who are paying taxes, will switch the funds elsewhere if we think it necessary. However, I doubt this will happen. As much as we can harken back to the days of luxury train travel, nowadays trains are like every other public transport medium: the service is thin, the workers generally rude (and quite secure in their jobs), and the speeds slow. Add to that us voters would rather use the land for asphalt, and the outlook is not good for trains.

From the inception of trains in America, passengers have just never been a profitable proposition. Add to that the freedom a car gives you (even if you are stuck in traffic, you're still in *your* car with your tunes, cellphone, etc.), and just can't see glory days of passenger rail returning.

mistertrains said...

Just can't go away without commenting on this one. David, you either have HUB disease or you haven't been reading this blog. We know passenger trains don't make money. We also agree that Amtrak isn't the end-all. However, Amtrak is a creation of government and not of the people. It's nice that you actually believe that our representative democracy works as you state. In reality, our legislators vote for the money, not for the vote. Money blinds a lot of eyes. It is impossible that Congress is seeing straight on this one. The one-way slide into transportation extinction that is likely if things don't change will eventually open your eyes.

Christopher Parker said...

Some of those "earmarks" are for rail projects.

Anonymous said...

The quality of passenger services at the present time is rather important. The company should necessarily operate across the whole country to be able to stay on the market. At www.pissedconsumer.com I found out that Amtrak is the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. The company operates passenger service on routes across the continental United States of America connecting hundreds of destinations in 48 states; routes to Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. In addition to the passenger service, Amtrak expanded into freight transportation market and now operates a captive bus service. I think the company is worth trusting.