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[quote user="CSSHEGEWISCH"] Sam1 is starting to sound a lot like Gov. Quinn of Illinois, who seems to believe that, in order to get good government, we need to get the politics out of politics.  The political process is ALWAYS going to be involved in government spending, it's the price we pay for living in a republic.  One man's essential program is another man's pork.[/quote] Politics is present in nearly every human activity including those of private market players.  If the players in a competitive market make decisions for mostly political reasons, as opposed to market driven variables, they will be out of business.  On the other hand, politicians don't have to worry about market restraints as long as they can turn on the tax faucet.  I don't have a problem with government facilitating the development of transport infrastructure as long as there is a reasonable probability of recovering the cost through user fees.  I do, however, have a problem with the government operating a commercial enterprise, e.g. passenger rail, barge lines, etc., that have little of hope recovering their operating expenses and paying their share of the capital costs. Amtrak is a prime example of a government enterprise that has cost American taxpayers more than $25 billion since its inception.  Outside of the NEC, it has not come close to covering its operating expenses.  And it has never covered the capital costs associated with its owned facilities.  It carries approximately four per cent of the nation's commercial intercity travelers and an even smaller percentage of all intercity travelers.  Amtrak was formed for political reasons and it exists for political reasons, which is a bad way to allocate scarce economic resources.
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