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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRepugs continue their attack on Amtrak
(The Hill) The House is proposing a 40 percent funding cut for Amtrak construction in a new passenger rail bill that was unveiled on Thursday by the chambers Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Amtrak has traditionally received about $1 billion per year from the federal government since its inception in 1971.
Most of the proposed reduction comes in funding for new rail construction projects, which would be reduced from approximately $1.3 billion per year under the last Amtrak appropriations measure to about $770 million annually beginning next year.
The cut would be offset by a slight increase in spending for current train operations to appease Democrats, but Republican leaders on the panel said the end result would still be a funding reduction that would force Amtrak to streamline its operations. ................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/217411-house-rail-bill-cuts-amtrak-funding-40-percent
JEB
(4,748 posts)gordianot
(15,226 posts)deafskeptic
(463 posts)Given the GOP's attitude about rebuilding USA, they should be downsized out of this! At best they deserve a d on infracture.
lunasun
(21,646 posts)The last year -all good experiences
But if you have a private jet and don't care about alternative transport it just doesn't make sense I guess
Agschmid
(28,749 posts)I wish the dismantling of our infrastructure would stop.
MisterP
(23,730 posts)as they do to rail? after LA's Carmageddon they would've had the state governments burn 200M cars and/or tear down as many airports as they could--after all, they're nothing more than unionized crony-capitalist money sinks, right?
Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)To them, covering the entire country in asphalt is a public investment: Passenger rail, or any public transit at all is a wasteful subsidy.
MisterP
(23,730 posts)side of its, ah, entirely objective bottom-line cost-benefit analyses ...
Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)They've managed to weave their worldview into the fabric of large blocs even the non-partisan ( albeit apathetic ) public at large. They've hijacked the discourse to the degree they've got so many snookered into thinking utopia is a web of subdivisions connected by 4 lane highways to walmart supercenters. To them, railroads are either the freight trains that block their passage at grade crossings or commuter rail/light rail that bring "undesirables" to their idyllic little strip-malled congested suburban hells.
MisterP
(23,730 posts)were seen as under attack, so since 1971 they've been building think tanks to hoist the flag high against the teeming hippie hordes dragging down Civilization (yes, that's how they think)
(and the funny thing is the BART works great with suburbs)
Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)And it is the usual suspects, and yes, they are aware of their numbered days of hegemony...biology and demographic shifts being what they are and looming large in ( what's left of ) their minds.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)transit run by the government.
Initech
(99,914 posts)Tickets were cheap - $65 round trip, the seat next to me was empty. I could stretch out, plug my laptop in (which actually fit on the tray), drink some Stone Brew, no turbulence, it was pretty amazing. Beats flying by a long shot!