Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
[quote user="John WR"] [quote user="blownout cylinder"]She has facts and figures here and still some seem hung up on her 'politics'...whatever that might be.[/quote] Except somehow we are never allowed to know the "facts and figures" except for some tossed out numbers.  However, there is never a link to a source.  I try to give links for my sources and when I do I am rebuked precisely because a do give the link.   The whole "politics" argument seems to me to be a red herring.  None of us are politicians; we are people having a conversation.  Nothing we say will bear on any policy decision.  But the argument does get us away from wondering about the numbers we somehow must accept on faith.  [/quote] Which numbers are tossed out?  When did I cite a financial number or statistic and not tell the reader where it could be found?   Your correct. I don't provide links. I use primary databases, as opposed to partisan databases or blogs. I tell the reader where to find the information, i.e. Amtrak, IRS, etc. Most of the numbers are calculated from several primary numbers.  To link them would be tedious and would serve little purpose, especially given the fact that many of the readers of these forums are not accountants, financial analysts or economists.  Here is an example from the FY11 federal subsidies for Amtrak. Unlike those attributed to the airlines, highways, etc., Amtrak's subsidies are paid directly to the carrier in the form of operating and capital cash payments.    In FY11 Amtrak had a net loss from operations of $1,352,004,000. The loss was covered by the operating cash transfer from the federal government, i.e. taxpayers, and the depreciation or amortization of prior year capitalize projects. These numbers can be found in the Amtrak's FY11 Financial Statements, which I have cited consistently.  If I just linked them, a reader would not be able to see the calculations required to determine the subsidy per passenger and passenger mile because they are not at one location.  In FY11 Amtrak carried 30,186,733 passengers. It's operations resulted in 6,532,250,000 passenger miles, i.e. one passenger carried one mile, and 12,530,314,000 seat miles, for an average load factor of 52.1 per cent. This is a calculated number based are the two inputs, which are found at different locations in the financials and monthly operating reports.  Based on the aforementioned numbers, the average subsidy per passenger in FY11 was $44.46 and the average subsidy per passenger mile was 20.54 cents.   Amtrak's loss is ultimately covered by cash payments from the taxpayers. But in any one year the operating cash payments and the capital cash payments from the federal government will not add up the the numbers shown in the financial reports. This is because of the time lag associated with the depreciation and amortization of prior period capital payments. Amtrak toutes the fact that its annual operating subsidy is around $500 million per year, which has been correct for the past few years. It acknowledges deeper in its press releases that it receives substantial funds from the federal government, i.e. the taxpayers, for capital projects. But the current year transfers don't add up to the current year losses as per above. Accounting wise most of the operating funds flow through the accounting statements in the year that they are received, but the capital funds flow through in the form of depreciation and amortization in subsequent years.  The FY11 depreciation and interest amortization numbers are a compilation of thousands of capital projects that were constructed and/or acquired in previous years and are being depreciated or amortized over periods ranging up to  and sometimes beyond 40 years.   If you understanding accounting and finance, you could dig this information our of the numbers that Amtrak makes available to the public. But I don't believe that many of the people who visit these forums are accountants or financial analysts and, therefore, would know what they are looking at if I linked them to the financial statements. If you think these are tossed out numbers, it is incumbent on you to show our readers where and how they are wrong.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag