Bush to seek Amtrak subsidy cuts

[Kidlicious]

There isn't a real difference between public and private in Japan.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Oerdin
They've been talking about building such a system in California for 20 years but nothing ever seems to get done. Even Arnie keeps making nice noises about the California High Speed Rail Network but he has yet to order any lines be constructed.

It's just dreamy political speech.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by DanS
The federal government collects $0.184 per gallon of gasoline in taxes. Each state sets its own taxes above and beyond the federal taxes. For instance, California collects an additional $0.18 per gallon. Here is a good state list.

http://taxpolicycenter.org/TaxFacts/TFDB/TFTemplate.cfm?Docid=345&Topic2id=90

These federal user fees are more or less distributed to fund the freeways. But the gasoline user fees also fund rail and other public transportation.

OK, that is a fair point gasoline is taxed and the fed does give some of it back. It would be interesting to see if the amount paid in gasoline taxes equals the amount paid in federal road subsidies. It was interesting that some of the most red states have the highest gasoline tax. Montana has 150% the tax of California, North Carolina has 303.75% of New York's tax, etc... It seems the blue state average is lower then the red state average even with Rhode Island's 30% tax.

[chequita guevara]

That may be because red states favor user taxes, while blue ones favor income taxes.

[DanS]

OK, that is a fair point gasoline is taxed and the fed does give some of it back. It would be interesting to see if the amount paid in gasoline taxes equals the amount paid in federal road subsidies.

It is, very roughly speaking. (Minus the money going to rail and public transporation, etc.) They have a big fight about it every year in the congress.

It was interesting that some of the most red states have the highest gasoline tax. Montana has 150% the tax of California, North Carolina has 303.75% of New York's tax, etc... It seems the blue state average is lower then the red state average even with Rhode Island's 30% tax.

Yes, but you will note that gas seems to be a lot cheaper in the Alabamas, since they don't mandate lower-emissions fuel. By and large, these states are not urban and can handled the externalities better.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by DanS
in the Alabamas, since they

Oh GOD! There's more than one!!!!

[Brundlefly]

It seems that Bush's proposed cuts to Amtrak are not flying well with congressmen from the Northeast. In my home state, PA Sen. Arlen Specter has said he would fight the cut and even Bush sycophant PA Sen. Rick Santorum has indicated he does not approve cuts as drastic as Bush has outlined.

[Dinner]

I hope you are right because I believe that every modern nation needs a strong rail network. We need as many transportation choices as possible so we should be investing in high speed rail in order to cut travel times and make rail more competetive with air. Planes get grounded every time it snows to hard but trains can just plow through it. After 9/11 a very big portion of the people stuck on grounded planes made their way home on Amtrak. It was nice to have that option.

[chequita guevara]

Oerdin

I'm so pissed at the Florida Repugs. We were constitutionall mandated to build a HSR, and they refused to spend money on it. Then they started a campaign against it to get it off the state constitution (where it honestly had no sense in being), lying about how it would force the state to take money from schools and highways.

[Dinner]

Sue them for breaking the state's constitution.

[chequita guevara]

It's moot. The Amendment was overturned in the election. For whatever reason, whoever stood to make money off building the line, didn't try to defend the amendment, so all we heard was the GOP's ads against it. I even got to listen to a push-poll asking how if I knew X, would I be inclined to vote for or against the HSR. Lucky them, since they were supposed to have the first line up and running this year.

Course, nothing stops us from building it once the GOP is tossed out.

On the other hand, it's fair to question the wisdom of building a network that requires precision in areas that are prone to natural disaster (CA & FL).

[Dinner]

Republicans love giving subsidies to companies and other republican voters like farmers but ask for a dime to improve mass transit... I wonder if all the lobbying by airlines and automakers has anything to do with this.

[chequita guevara]

Florida, like California, has a bunch of major cities scattered around the state. Moving people and tourists around is big business.

[Brundlefly]

Originally posted by Oerdin
Republicans love giving subsidies to companies and other republican voters like farmers but ask for a dime to improve mass transit... I wonder if all the lobbying by airlines and automakers has anything to do with this.

The problem is not subsidizing mass transit, per se. It is subsidising Amtrak - a company that has not turned a profit in 34 years. Bush is proposing that the States take greater responsibility for track and station maintenance and that rail service be open to competitive bidding. I think it is a good idea. Amtrak is obviously unable to manage all of things by itself. Maybe it is too much to ask of one company to manage all of these things. But there needs to be a change.

I ride the Keystone line between Harrisburg and Philadelphia every day for the past 3 years. They constantly have rail maintenance projects on this line that go 3-4 times longer than projected. This translates to major delays for the commuters. Obsolete railcars and poor customer service only make me more angry.. Amtrak must die.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by bfg9000
Bush is proposing that the States take greater responsibility for track and station maintenance and that rail service be open to competitive bidding.

In other words he's trying to shove the problem onto other people instead of actually trying to solve it. This is just another unfunded mandate.

They constantly have rail maintenance projects on this line that go 3-4 times longer than projected.

You cannot starve a company to success. There has never been a business where you refused to provide money for maintaince or upgrades and the business was successful. That's what the government has done to Amtrak, they refused to give money to make the necisary improvements to keep rail competitive and instead only gave enough cash to keep Amtrak alive. They don't even give enough money to repair the tracks or pay for track rental costs so of course the tracks are in poor repair. To set up a company for failure then say "see if failed" isn't honest.