[Train I Don’t Rides (sic)]
Bush and his oil buddies want to eliminate train service, or reduce its functionality, because otherwise, if trains are reliable, clean, run on time, yadda yadda, people won’t drive three hours to go somewhere, and oil companies won’t have record-breaking profits, quarter after quarter. Simple, right? Never mind that more cars means more pollution, more energy use, more congestion, more forests destroyed (for roads), and a whole litany of effects. Screw that: the Bush-ites are only interested in encouraging gasoline/auto consumption.
The White House is threatening to veto legislation that would fund Amtrak for the next five years.
The Bush administration says House members didn’t include language in the bill making the railroad more accountable for its decisions.
The legislation would authorize more than $14 billion dollars and set up a program of federal matching grants that states could use to set up or expand rail service.
But the White House says the measure provides little opportunity for competition on existing Amtrak routes and doesn’t include provisions that would condition Amtrak’s funding based on the progress of reforms.
The Bush administration has pushed for ending Amtrak subsidies and eliminating unprofitable lines, while supporters in Congress argue there’s no major national railway in the world operating without government subsidies
Via Atrios