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Thanks to lattasnip9 for bringing up this topic.  What I can say is that, yes, McCain hates Amtrak.  This is enough of a reason for me NOT to vote for him (I haven't decided yet whether to support a Democrat candidate or to vote against all of them for different reasons).  However, it is important to remember that the U.S. President does not have an absolute power.  As mentioned above, Congress has much more power over Amtrak issues than President does.  Of course, if President is supportive, it is easier for Congress to come up with various pro-Amtrak legislations.  But even if President is anti-rail, he can't just block an appropriations bill for this reason only.  That would be politically irresponsible.  President can threaten to veto a nice authorization or any other kind of a bill specifically addressed to Amtrak if he does not like it - that's why it's better to have a pro-rail President who would not do that.  But, you know something, Congress has power to override a veto - if the bill is supported by a significant majority of both houses (I don't remember what's the minimum percentage qualifying for that).  But, as far as annual appropriations is concerned, the Congressional support for Amtrak is big enough to provide at least a minimum level needed.  Besides, the Bush administration has been proposing inadequate figures every year every year since Bush became president.  Three years ago he even proposed a ZERO amount to Amtrak (as Reagan did every year during his second term).  But common sense prevails in Congress, and the figure is always raised to what Amtrak needs.  Another important thing to remember is that it's virtually impossible to shut down Amtrak immediately in its present form, since this would cause chaos in the entire Northeast corridor, as well as in some other places where Amtrak shares its stations with commuter rail (e.g. Chicago).  During the 2002 crisis, the Bush administration did extend a helping hand to prevent such a shutdown (even McCain offered some encouraging words at that time).  Also, the same Bush administration recently helped Amtrak reach an agreement with its unions, thus preventing a strike that would have a similar effect.  So you see that proposing an shut-down amount is more a political gesture than a real threat, which may not be taken seriously (as nobody wants a responsibility for a chaos it can cause).  President (or any Senator or Congressman) can also propose some kind of an anti-rail legislation, trying to undermine the long-distance trains in particular.  But, again, Congress is very unlikely to follow up on it, as there is a lot of support to Amtrak.  However, there is another thing to remember, I believe the most important one.  This Congressional support to passenger rail should not be taken for granted.  We do have to remind our leigslators that we are interested in having Amtrak as a nationwide system.  This is especially important if McCain (or any other anti-rail politician) becomes a President.  Of course, even under the most pro-rail President (such as Clinton) it is still important to express our support.  After all, highway and aviation lobbies are still very strong.  If not for these lobbies, America might possibly have followed Europe and Japan in high-speed rail technology, which is not happening so far.  But, with growing gas prices and congestion, this should not last forever.  I hope that, sooner or later, we will have real high-speed rail in this country.  Meanwhile, it is important to preserve what we have, that is Amtrak with all types of trains it has (including the long-distance ones).  So, feel free to write to the legislators to express your support.  Moreover, I guess it makes sense to write a letter to McCain's campaign, letting him know that you do support passenger rail and he should better keep this in mind.  The mailing address can be found at his website: <a href="http://www.johnmccain.com/">www.johnmccain.com</a> So, let's not panic for no reason, but stand up to protect Amtrak!
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