After the horrifying Amtrak disaster that killed eight people last week, some members of Congress have decided that one of the causes of the disaster was a lack of funding to the Northeast Corridor route – the spot where the train derailed.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), however, made it clear that the crash had nothing to do with a lack of funding. “The train was going twice the speed limit,” Boehner said. “Adequate funds were there; no money has been cut from rail safety.”
Amtrak has consumed $40 billion in taxpayer funds since 1971, but has never turned a profit. For decades, federal reports have revealed that Amtrak loses money due to improper payments, unprofitable food sales, and running trains that carry few passengers, or in some cases, no passengers at all. The Northwest Corridor route, in fact, is the only Amtrak route that is regularly profitable.
Federal watchdogs believe privatizing the rail industry is a viable solution, since billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent on high-speed cars while focus on basic train and railway maintenance has gone the way of the birds. U.S. Representative John Mica (R-Florida) even compared the current Amtrak system to a “Soviet-style transportation program.”
If you agree with the Washington Times editor who awarded Amtrak with the Golden Hammer award (given to the most wasteful federal spending program each week), and you believe that privatizing Amtrak and other government-run programs that aren’t currently forced to compete on the open market, please Like & Share this post.
