Yes, Because Children Learning to Read and People Getting Places is the Whole Budget Problem
Quit, Mitt.
Seriously? You think that cutting Public Broadcasting and Amtrak is the answer?
Romney identified subsidies for Amtrak, PBS, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities as things he would eliminate. The government spends $444 million a year on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (the parent organization of PBS); Amtrak received $1.56 billion in federal funding in 2010, with $1.3 billion in stimulus funds; while the National Endowment of the Arts lists the current level of federal funding at approximately $146 million.
Yeah, let’s cut things that have the word “public” in them. Public is a bad word. Arts – there’s another bad word. Amtrak? Let them eat cake in their Rolls Royce.
You know what’s notable about all those things? They create jobs and rich folks don’t use them.
1No doubt this will be offset by a tax break for people who own private jets.
2I thought one of the most important things about our railroad system is the movement of goods across the states and across the nation. Why is that not a critically important aspect of business and industry in this country today? I also thought the party that purports to enhance business opportunity, whether to the exclusion of the little people who pay taxes or not, would support the movement of goods via trucks, trains, ships, etc.
Dummasses.
3That’s a total of $2.85 billion out of a deficit of over $1 trillion. In other words, less than 3% of, not total spending, but the deficit. All those together represent less than 1% of federal spending.
This is part of what needs to be cut so we can afford to eliminate the tax on capital gains, says Mitt and Paul.
Anyone who votes for these guys is certifiably stupid. Or rich.
4He’s going to eliminate funding for Amtrak??? There are probably quite a few million people between DC and Boston that will have a problem with that.
I frequently used Amtrak to travel from Philly to DC, NYC, Boston when I lived in NJ. Much easier to take the train (and more productive) than to sit in traffic for HOURS… In fact, it was Amtrak that got me home from DC during the blizzard of 1996 after everything else was shut down (buses, airports, driving services). If not for Amtrak, I would’ve been stuck alone in DC for DAYS until the East Coast managed to dig out of that one!
Has he ever tried to drive from Boston to Philly through CT and NYC??? Oh that’s right, he has OTHER people drive…
5Any entity with the designation “non-profit” (most arts organizations) or “public” (as in transportation, health, education) attached to it is by definition anathema to the profiteers and privatizers that are trying to gain control so they can convert everything to money.
6Maybe they don’t understand the difference between public and pubic, and think it’s all dirty.
7I notice the NY Times has a piece today on how people traveling from DC to NYC take Amtrak rather than flying: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/16/business/hassles-of-air-travel-push-passengers-to-amtrak.html?hp
That’s business people and lobbyists and probably even members of Congress.
8Sesame Street has taught more children the basics of early education than all the already-been-cut Head Starts put together. Shoot, a big reason why I had a second litter was so that I could justify watching it again!
And how many freight trains did I watch carrying those shipping containers from China, thinking “Boy that’s a lot of diesel fuel saved!”
9To the right wing, the word “public” does indeed mean “Communist.” I have heard my right-wing family members rail against Amtrak, the post office, public education, Girl Scouts, PBS/NPR, the bus system, etc., but when the state threatened to toll the main highway (a basic tenet of Milton Friedman-type economics) through their neighborhood, they were up in arms. Go figure.
10I’ve taken a plane to NYC exactly ONCE in the nearly 40 years I’ve lived in DC–and that wasn’t my doing. I accompanied my disabled neighbor to NYC on his parents’ dime and when we got to National Airport, we found the flight was cancelled because the crew didn’t show up. We were able to catch a flight with a different airline to LaGuardia, instead of the original Newark. This was back in the late 90s and there were no cell phones. There were, however, those phones on the plane that I couldn’t use until the plane was in the air. I called the parents the very second the light went off and caught them just as they were leaving for the Newark airport to meet us. Then there was the “interesting” experience of having to take a man in a wheelchair to the men’s room to do his business once we landed. I plan on telling this story to Juanita while we sip margaritas in a bar in Del Rio.
You have to be out of your mind to take a plane instead of the train to NYC. Can’t wait for that “super” train our dear President wants to install here all the way to Boston. Can’t come fast enough.
11Oh, and to continue my tale, there were thunderstorms in DC when we were leaving Newark to fly back home. My neighbor was a rather locally well-known personage and happened to meet a friend of his as we were boarding the plane. She had a first-class ticket and gave it up for him, so that he could be more comfortable. We sat on the tarmac for over three hours. Meanwhile, my very dutiful husband had gone to National to pick us up in sufficient time to meet our original ETA, so missed all the calls I left for him. Turns out, he spent FIVE effing hours at National waiting for us. My Bubba is a very sweet man.
So, cut the subsidies to Amtrak in the Northeast Corrider? I DON’T THINK SO.
12Obviously, I’m not much a train person. I confused Amtrak passenger trains with freight trains. Oh well. Cutting funds for transportation that doesn’t otherwise put money in the deep pockets of Republicans shouldn’t be surprising for anyone, even to folks like me who are just a bit confused about the businesses of trains in this country.
13And subsidies for rich SOBs are what I would eliminate, starting with not eliminating the capital gains or inheritance taxes.
14Elsie, the problem with Amtrak is that, outside of the NYC-DC corridor, the passenger trains use the same rails as freight. Not only are the rails no smoother that the freight lines need to keep them, the passenger trains have to yield to freight trains, which makes it hard to keep a schedule.
15Mittens would be for subsidies for Amtrak if it were owned by one of his super rich friends.
16Train travel could have a lot of possibilities IF an equitable deal could be worked out between the public and private sectors. I live in Europe and the trains are a great way to get around. Costs vary from country to country as does the quality of service but the fact is that trains are there and they are used a lot.
Last year when I was back in the States, I took the train twice, once from Boston to Detroit (ok, really to Toledo and then a bus to Motown) and later to Chicago. The trains on both trains were full, maybe not 100% but well above 50%. The train was comfortable, spacious – especially when compared to a plane seat, relaxing, and there was room to move around. The delays that we experienced were because freight trains have precedence.
It’s a pipe dream but if our government were to invest in we the people again, building a railroad would be a great way to create jobs and provide a service. The 1% invested in railroads in the 19th century – with government support, in the end. If the reactionary RINOs want so much to return to the 1800s, why not bring back trains?
17In January of 1962, I took Amtrak from Chicago to Sacramento, and at 18 years old, it was a total hoot for me and it only cost $80 at that time. In August 2004, my oldest son and my 2 grandsons who moved me from CA to CO had to be driven to Grand Junction, CO to catch Amtrak back to their home in Martinez, CA … I don’t know the cost was at that time, but it was way more then what I paid in 1962 and they had a sleeper compartment! It’s a great way to travel if you’re not in a great hurry and a wonderful way to see some of the country you might not see otherwise! The conductors just have to be alert to pesky drunks and other critters who get in the way on the tracks!
18Budget cuts for Sesame Street…. brought to you by the letters “F” and “U”.
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