In Washington, the Trump Administration has pretty much adopted the budget recommendations of the Heritage Foundation, one of the libertarian “think tanks” supported by the Koch brothers. As far as Amtrak is concerned, that means no federal dollars for the national network. The probable result, while perhaps not immediate, would be the loss…
As I guess most of us already know, the Trump budget for 2018 eliminates the federal subsidy for Amtrak’s long-distance trains. This doesn’t come from within the Trump Administration, of course. It’s right out of the Heritage Foundation’s playbook. That’s the Washington based libertarian “think tank” that opposes federal funding for pretty much everything, but…
I really don’t understand the argument that if passenger trains can’t operate at a profit, they should go out of business. That’s what the Libertarians and the people presenting the Trump budget are saying: mass transit, commuter trains and Amtrak’s long-distance trains all lose money, therefore eliminate their federal subsidies and let ’em sink or…
With good reason, passenger train advocates are up in arms over the news that the Trump Administration’s budget zeros out federal funding for Amtrak. More specifically, it targets the long-distance trains. Is it short-sighted? Yes. Does it mostly hurt the people in fly-over country who voted for Trump? Yes, again. But…