Congress to give 1.3 billion in Airline subsidies.

[JT12345]

http://www.minyanville.com/articles/BNI-JBLU-AMR-UAUA-subsidy-Amtrak/index/a/17720/from/yahoo


Sike!

It is only for Amtrak.


Amtrak Running Off Rails

Amtrak runs a railroad only politicians could love.

For the rest of us, the national passenger train network is a typical derriere-over-teakettle operation.

Amtrak, established in 1970, loses buckets of money every year. As it’s now run, it will never come close to breaking even. President Bush said Amtrak should receive $900 million in taxpayer subsidies for fiscal year 2008. Congress increased the handout to $1.3 billion.

In a rational world, Amtrak would be run as a short-hop system between major cities such as Boston, New York and Washington. That might attract private investment, if the company were ever broken up and its routes auctioned off.



snip... thats enough for me.

 

[radarlove]

Um, not to quibble, but I don't want this to propagate.

It's "psych", not "sike". As in, "Psyching you out!", not "Sikes, it's a made-up word."

Back to your regularly scheduled Amtrak talk.

 

[VxClimb]

Um, not to quibble, but I don't want this to propagate.

It's "psych", not "sike". As in, "Psyching you out!", not "Sikes, it's a made-up word."

Back to your regularly scheduled Amtrak talk.

Yea, seriously. would have been better if you used the word "sike" correctly as in "psych" a word in which most of the population is familiar with. "Sike" is associated with water or a small stream of water/a ditch or something that is filled with water or rain. Clearly we are unable to understand such a thread titled the way it is with the first word saying "sike." I don't understand??? Please explain.

 

[AA717driver]

Spelling/grammar/syntax errors aside, I believe we can all agree that Amtrak is an example of why the Government should NEVER run a business.

Amtrak is F'ed up.

D.C. is F'ed up.

Want them to take over healthcare? TC

 

[njcapt]

Spelling/grammar/syntax errors aside, I believe we can all agree that Amtrak is an example of why the Government should NEVER run a business.

Amtrak is F'ed up.

D.C. is F'ed up.

Want them to take over healthcare? TC

No, no, no. You're looking at universal health care the wrong way. The INSURANCE COMPANIES will run our health care system, not the gubmint.

You have nothing to worry about.

 

[Hair-on-Fire]

Spelling/grammar/syntax errors aside, I believe we can all agree that Amtrak is an example of why the Government should NEVER run a business.

Amtrak is F'ed up.

D.C. is F'ed up.

Want them to take over healthcare? TC

Almost every other western government has national health care. Plus, the world health organization ranks the quality of US health care system 37th behind countries like Costa Rica and Oman. Still think you're getting a good value?

http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html

 

[PCL_128]

Spelling/grammar/syntax errors aside, I believe we can all agree that Amtrak is an example of why the Government should NEVER run a business.

Amtrak is F'ed up.

D.C. is F'ed up.

Want them to take over healthcare? TC

No one is suggesting that the government take over healthcare.

 

[Donald]

Almost every other western government has national health care. Plus, the world health organization ranks the quality of US health care system 37th behind countries like Costa Rica and Oman. Still think you're getting a good value?

http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html

Read the report, they used five criteria for the ranking system. Non of which seemed to account for quality of health care but availability to the poor and the cost to the poor. It is apparent from the report that the WHO is very pro socialized healthcare. May as well have been the New York Times conducting the study. If people in this country want socialized medicine, it's probably coming. My forecast is people will be very disappointed with it and it will be more confusing than dealing with your taxes. Not to mention its extremely expensive and usually runs out of budget money before the year is over and yes people have died waiting for the new years budget to take effect. Be careful what you wish for. I lived with it for over 11 years.

 

[PCL_128]

Heaven forbid that the poor people actually have health care!

 

[Colonel Savage]

Anyway, to get the thread back on subject, I would like to make a point about AmTrack and that is that they obviously need to raise ticket prices. Either that or start charging for water, use of the bathrooms, sitting as opposed to standing, or some combination all of the above.

Thank you, now stay on point please, and have a lovely afernoon...

 

[Medeco]

Heaven forbid that the poor people actually have health care!

I have a question for you.

If a poor person walks into a hospital and complains of a fever and asks for a doctor to see them, are they sent out the door with zero health care?

Medeco

 

[PCL_128]

I have a question for you.

If a poor person walks into a hospital and complains of a fever and asks for a doctor to see them, are they sent out the door with zero health care?

Medeco

At some hospitals, yes, they are.

 

[FurloughedAgain]

Amtrak needs a whole lot more than 1.3 billion. Acela needs to be expanded nationwide starting with the addition of Philly, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Norfolk. Establish another Acela "hub" in Atlanta with service to Memphis, Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami etc...

High speed regional rail is one way to solve the transportation energy crisis. These trains are electric and can therefore be powered by nuclear right off of the grid.

Let Acela act as "mainline" in a hub and spoke system. It hits the major metropolitan areas, regions partner to add "commuter" rail from the hubs to midsize cities... Knoxville, Charlotte, Birmingham, etc

We need a vast and widespread network of high-speed electric rail in order to catch up with the rest of the world.

I'm not crazy...I just rode Acela about 3 years ago from NY to BOS and really thought it was an amazingly attractive alternative to regional airline flying.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Um, not to quibble, but I don't want this to propagate.

Um...that's quibbling. If the propogation of sike v. psych is something that concerns you in these times of the decline of civilization...I would like to have your problems.

 

[Speedtape]

Almost every other western government has national health care. Plus, the world health organization ranks the quality of US health care system 37th behind countries like Costa Rica and Oman. Still think you're getting a good value?

http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html

Maybe there is a flying job in Costa Rica and Oman. No thanks.

 

[Turtlesfly]

Train service (Amtrack) in the West, particularly the NW, is a total joke. Hours and hours late and there's only 2 trains a day - one in each direction going down the Valley. The only thing trains are good for our West is scenic tours.

 

[Donald]

At some hospitals, yes, they are.

You are correct, but not all. We actually have socialized healthcare already. My father-in-law (age 56) who never kept a job went into a Charity hospital in New Orleans complaining of chest pains. They accepted him right away for testing. He had 95% blockage in three arteries. Based on their budget they couldn't schedule him for emergency heart surgery right away. He didn't make it. Charity hospital called the day of his funeral to schedule the surgery. I had the pleasure of informing them of his current condition.

The biggest complaint of our healthcare system is the cost. Maybe we should figure out why it has gotten so expensive. Why do doctors, nurses, pharmaceutical companies, medical equipment companies, etc. have to carry more and more liability insurance? Could it actually be that americans want quality healthcare that is affordable easily accessible to all yet still have the ability to sue for millions of dollars for the slightest mistake?

Don't worry, no doubt we will have a government run healthcare system in the near future. Good luck suing them when they make a mistake.