Amtrak has been around for over 40 years now. In past years it has had much bigger loses than it is now having. I think Joe Boardman's assessment is that the conservatives who say they oppose Amtrak are rally posturing and they would not really zero out. Amtrak is too important to their own constituents for that. But his focus on capital investment is interesting. First of all, it gives pro Amtrak Congressmen something they need to fight for. And secondly by opposing even part of the capital spending teapartiers can say to the folks back home that they opposed more money for Amtrak while they opposed only the capital part of the budget and let the operating part slip by.
http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/778/373/Amtrak-Covers-88-Percent-of-Operating-Costs-ATK-13-022.pdf
Amtrak now covers 88% but hey that still ain't good enough.
Railroad to Freedom
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