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[quote]If you want "Eurpean Style" Government services, then you get "European Style" taxes, no?[/quote]You're right on this.  Nothing is free.  You get what you pay for - whether in form of taxes, user fees, or simply higher fares.  Unfortunately, we are too spoiled and, indeed, it would not be an easy thing to burden American people with some kind of "heavy duty" taxing on the exchange of finally getting the best multi-modal transportation system and the best universal health care system in the world.  But this would be the great idea!  It seems that Democrats would love to pursue it, if not for the Republican opposition.  Even if Democrats do prevail, this process should definitely take quite some time, maybe decades, to reach European level.  However, even with the existing structure of American economy, the fact is that all these funding programs (social security, national parks, etc., as well as highways, aviation, and, of course, Amtrak) have been arounds for decades.  The economy has always had its ups and downs, but these programs did not seem to impose any serious problem to federal budget.  At the time Clinton was leaving the office and Bush was just stepping in, the federal budget was having a surplus!  Only for the past six or so years there is budget deficit.  Iraqi war might be one of the biggest contributors to this situation.  I'm not saying anything for or against Bush's starting of the Iraq war in the first place.  Moreover, even Hillary Clinton seems to be admitting that some military presense in Iraq is still necessary.  But the fact remains that this is a major (or [b]the[/b] major) burden on taxpayers.  And I believe that most citizens (and legislators) would strongly oppose sacrificing what we have to the questionable Iraqi war.  As for McCain, his negative attitude to Amtrak (especially its long-distance network) has been known for long time.  I'm sure there might be many republicans who strongly disagree with him on this issue and want Amtrak running, but still support McCain's presidential candidacy over that of Hillary or Obama.  Politics is often far removed from real issues.  The good thing is that President has no absolute power.  One of our points against McCain's anti-Amtrak view is that Amtrak funding is too insignificant to the overall budget, comparing to Iraqi war.  Even if, for the sake of argument, we assume for a moment that Amtrak is indeed not cost-efficient (which itself is a very quesitonable claim), the funding cut would be too small to make a difference in overall budget.  So, the advantage of having Amtrak around (however cost-inefficient it may be) outweighs minuscule "saving" of money by destroying it.  In fact, given the numerous benefits Amtrak employees enjoy, including railroad retirement benefits, it might be more costrly (in the short term) to shut-down long-distance routes than to keep them running.  And, from social point of view, having long-distance trains around serves both as a service for millions of people who rely on it, and the image of America.  By the way, speaking of the long-distance equipment in service, I specifically observed long-distance trains today on my way from Philadelphia to New York.  So, southbound Crescent ran by with typical consist: a baggage car, two sleepers, a diner, a lounge, and four coaches.  So was the southbound Silver Meteor, which, in addition to its regular consist, had a private railcar hooked to it.  As I arrived at Penn Station, I saw the Lake Shore Limited receiving passengers with its typical consist: a baggage car, three sleepers, an Amfleet II diner, a Horizon lounge (although Horizon is not really typical to it), and four coaches.  But what really impressed me is a really long line of passengers boarding the train.  While most (if not all) passengers on the Crescent or the Silver trains travel within the distance covered by those trains, a good part of the Lake Shore Limited's passengers is heading west of Chicago.  Note, that most of NY State is covered by other Empire corridor trains in much passenger-friendlier hours.  This means, most of the Lake Shore Ltd passegners are heading to Chicago or beyond (I guess, including the locations served by the two Texas trains).  That's speaking about the demand for long-distance travel.  [quote]If "social service" is the justification for long distance trains, then large parts of the country are not being served properly.  The system needs to be expanded greatly.[/quote]Absolutely!  Just tell this to John McCain, John Mica, and other "critics".  Unfortunately, it's harder to [i]bring[/i] things back to normal now than it would be to [i]keep[/i] things normal back in the 50's-60's.  But you're right, Amtrak network should be several times larger than it really is.
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