Amtrak – Once Again a Target of Conservatives
In every new session of Congress, Republicans talk about reducing or even eliminating the federal government’s subsidy for Amtrak. But now the GOP has taken control of the House and that means they’re chairing important committees, and the anti-rail, anti-Amtrak talk is getting louder and louder.
I really don’t get it. The pro-rail, pro-Amtrak arguments are so conclusive, so persuasive to any objective person . . .
Wait! That’s it, isn’t it! The critical missing ingredient: objectivity.
The real problem, I think, is that conservatives hear the word subsidy and, as in the cartoons, their eyes bulge and start spinning in their sockets. The knee-jerk conservative ideology immediately rejects the idea of subsidies.
Yes, of course Amtrak is subsidized. But the gasoline tax subsidizes highways. The airlines are subsidized by specific taxes on every ticket and by government in other ways. For example, the federal government provides the air traffic control system. And municipal governments build and maintain airports. If there are buses operating in your town, your taxes are subsidizing them. For that matter, who paid for that sidewalk in front of your house?
According to Congressman John Mica (R-FL), the feds are shelling out five billion dollars for one new runway at Miami International Airport. That’s three times Amtrak’s annual subsidy for just one runway at just one airport!
When it comes to a transportation policy, what’s needed – badly needed – is a large dose of objectivity in Congress. And there’s a lot at stake, because eliminating Amtrak’s roughly $1.5 billion annual subsidy would effectively cause the shut-down of our national passenger rail system at a time when every other country in the world is building and operating more and better and faster trains.
And, by the way, Amtrak carried some 27 million passengers this past year … a ten percent increase in ridership. Kill Amtrak and all those folks are back on the highways or in the very unfriendly skies.
Yes, what we need is objectivity. We need a little old-fashioned common sense. And we need trains!
Right!! Which is why all of us should get on the horn to the folks representing us in Washington and let them know loud and clear that we support more and better trains. And, if you’re not a member already, join NARP, the National Association of Railroad Passengers. You can do so at http://www.narprail.org
I Agree! I also think we should be investing in high-speed rail, a nation wide system that is an alternative to air and automobile travel. Air travel has its place but it is expensive and in my opinion, dangerous. In bad weather a train can still run, if a mechanical problem arises it doesn’t fall from the sky. It would be far harder for terrorist to shut down an entire rail system. A government backed new rail infrastructure could be similar to the “new deal” putting millions to work building, running and maintaining the system.
There would be so many ways to fleece money you think anyone in congress who owned or had ties to large general contracting interest would gladly jump on board! Getting more vehicles off the road would definitely ease the strain on the environment not to mention ease our relentless thirst for foreign oil. But what makes sense usually never benefits the people in charge… wait, we the people are in charge! Right?