I love Amtrak!
In the horrible days after 911, Amtrak kept running when all the passeneger airplanes were grounded. I have never worried about a highjacking when I have been a train passenger. And Amtrak doesn't have the increasingly bad customer service record of the airline industry. Trains, by the way, are much more economical and green than airplanes. The U.S. Dep't of Energy consider Amtrak the most fuel-efficient mode of transportation available to Americans. Sure, I am all for commercial aviation. I believe that Americans are entitled to choose to pay for overpriced plane tickets to experience the horrible customer service unique to passenger air travel. I just want the option to take a passenger train.
If you are an American, Amtrak is your train. You and other Americans own it. Read more about your train service here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amtrak
and here:
http://www.amtrak.com/
John McCain, presumptive GOP presidential nominee, has a long history of being hostile in Congress to Amtrak in Congress. But McCain's disdain for Amtrak didn't prevent him from taking Amtrak from D.C. to Philadelphia on March 14:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/14/politics/main3938928.shtml?source=RSSattr=Politics_3938928
What a big hypocrite!
If McCain had his way, he wouldn't have had a train to ride on in March. And you wouldn't have train travel as an option. And you certainly can't check you car in as baggage on an airplane (like you can on the AutoTrain).
As David Gunn, former Chief Executive of Amtrak pointed out to Congress:
No form of mass passenger transportation in the United States is self-sufficient as the economy is currently structured. All highways, airports, and air traffic control all require large government expenditures to build and maintain, although some of those taxpayer dollars are gained for other modes under the guise of user fees and highway fuel and road taxes. Before a Congressional hearing, David Gunn answered a demand by leading Amtrak critic Senator McCain to eliminate all operating subsidies by asking the Senator if he would also demand the same of the commuter airlines, upon whom the citizens of Arizona are much more dependent. McCain, usually not at a loss for words when debating Amtrak funding, did not reply
We could have one of the best rail systems in the world if we took what we spend (waste) for just three months on the unnecessary war in Iraq and invested it in rail service.
As Senator, Barack Obama has supported increased funding for Amtrak. He has also supported increasing the number of routes for passenger train service. As president, Barack Obama will be committed to offering Americans another option for passenger travel (in addition to automobile or airplane). Trains are the most fuel efficient way to travel (something we should all be concerned about in a world with diminishing natural resources and increasing fuel costs). And train travel is a more green way to travel in comparison with aviation (or in comparison with a train load of people all driving their own cars to a destination).
Senator Obama uses Amtrak for some of his campaign travels. And he has been touring Pennsylvania via train on his whistle stop tour. It's hypocritical for McCain to want to shut Amtrak down (and then decide that Amtrak is the best and most convenient way for him to get to his next campaign stop).
The preservation and enhancement of Amtrak is another reason I support Senator Barack Obama for president.
The Acela, America's high-speed train.
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There has to be a good political rhyme in all of this:
McCain has nothing but disdain for the train except when he needs it for his campaign.
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