[h=1]LIE CAMPAIGN: 11 THINGS THE MEDIA WON’T TELL YOU ABOUT AMTRAK[/h]
Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press
by JOHN NOLTE13 May 201558
Before the dead were counted and the facts known, the craven, partisan ghouls in our mainstream media were already using a terrible domestic tragedy to call for more government spending.
The media’s politically-loaded word of the day is “infrastructure.” This comes as absolutely no surprise when you understand that the foundation of all media bias is to increase the size and power of our centralized government. And what better way to do that than to feast off the fresh corpses of those killed on a passenger train run by our bloated, incompetent federal government.
And what better way to distract from the fact that 6 innocent people died on a passenger train run by our bloated, incompetent federal government than to blame-shift to the selfish taxpayers and the evil Republican Party.
You see, Amtrak is like Baltimore: although government has had its fingers in everything for decades, the only solution is more government.
Heads up! This is the media’s game-plan for the rest of the week: At least through the Sunday shows, the media will exploit the Amtrak tragedy to call for more government spending and blame Republicans.
That makes this a perfect time to arm yourselves with the facts:
—
Manhattan Institute:
Many of the same media elite already using Tuesday night’s tragedy to call for more government spending on Amtrak, also are guilty of welfare queening on Amtrak between their Emerald Cities of Washington DC and Manhattan.
This is from a 1997 Cato Institute Study. There is nothing, though, that indicates anything’s changed much. In fact, with the labor force so diminished and Washington DC attracting more and more of the connected and wealthy, it would not surprise me to learn that even fewer of the poor benefit from Amtrak:
The selfish harpies in the mainstream media might lose a few more dollars out of their fat checks by paying full fare, but that sounds like a one-percent problem to those of us in the real world.
The Federal Government owns and operates Amtrak.
Instead of spending money on improved safety, the Federal Government wastes hundreds of millions of dollars on unnecessary rail lines and labor costs.
If safety or infrastructure were indeed the cause of this crash, the Federal Government mismanaging a business they have no business running is at fault — not the taxpayer.
by JOHN NOLTE13 May 201558
Before the dead were counted and the facts known, the craven, partisan ghouls in our mainstream media were already using a terrible domestic tragedy to call for more government spending.
The media’s politically-loaded word of the day is “infrastructure.” This comes as absolutely no surprise when you understand that the foundation of all media bias is to increase the size and power of our centralized government. And what better way to do that than to feast off the fresh corpses of those killed on a passenger train run by our bloated, incompetent federal government.
And what better way to distract from the fact that 6 innocent people died on a passenger train run by our bloated, incompetent federal government than to blame-shift to the selfish taxpayers and the evil Republican Party.
You see, Amtrak is like Baltimore: although government has had its fingers in everything for decades, the only solution is more government.
Heads up! This is the media’s game-plan for the rest of the week: At least through the Sunday shows, the media will exploit the Amtrak tragedy to call for more government spending and blame Republicans.
That makes this a perfect time to arm yourselves with the facts:
—
- The Federal Government Owns and Operates Amtrak
- Amtrak Loses Hundreds of Millions of Dollars a Year
- American Taxpayers Subsidize a Service They Don’t Use
- Very Small Percentage of the Population Use a Government Service We All Pay For
- Amtrak Has Already Been Subsidized to the Tune of a Whopping $45 billion
- Amtrak Is Set to Receive Another $7 Billion Over the Next 5 years
Manhattan Institute:
The bipartisan Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2015 would subsidize Amtrak by an estimated $7 billion from 2016 to 2020. It passed the House by 316 votes to 101 votes on Wednesday and is now headed to the Senate and, presumably, President Obama’s signature. Amtrak has been operating without official funding authorization since the previous bill expired in October 2013.
- Amtrak Is Not Under-Funded, It Is Criminally Mismanaged
Amtrak’s largest expense is labor, salary, and benefits, which cost over $2 billion in 2014. Maintaining fully-staffed trains on infrequently-traveled routes has contributed to high labor costs, but the pay rate of Amtrak’s employees raise its costs substantially. The average onboard employee made $41.19 an hour on Amtrak in 2012, while railroads that contracted out services to private companies paid their employees $7.75 to $13.00 an hour.
Base pay may already be substantial, but regulations and poor oversight allowed employees to pocket $185 million in overtime pay in 2013. The management allowed employee misconduct and wasteful business practices to thrive, even as at the same time it hindered plans to make train stations accessible to the disabled to comply with the Americans with Disability Program.
Amtrak’s did not meet ADA’s goals due to lack of structure and a strategy, according to a 2014 IG report. Management activities took up 46% of the $100 million budget, $6.5 million was spent on unrelated projects, and an undetermined amount was shipped out of state on non-ADA projects.
Base pay may already be substantial, but regulations and poor oversight allowed employees to pocket $185 million in overtime pay in 2013. The management allowed employee misconduct and wasteful business practices to thrive, even as at the same time it hindered plans to make train stations accessible to the disabled to comply with the Americans with Disability Program.
Amtrak’s did not meet ADA’s goals due to lack of structure and a strategy, according to a 2014 IG report. Management activities took up 46% of the $100 million budget, $6.5 million was spent on unrelated projects, and an undetermined amount was shipped out of state on non-ADA projects.
- American People Subsidize $60 of Every Amtrak Ticket Sold
With a ridership of only 25 million people, that means for every person boarding a train, the American people are paying $60. I did a quick check on Amtrak’s Web site – to travel from New York City to Washington, D.C., will cost the traveler $69. Does it make sense that it costs the person traveling $69 and the American government $60?
And now for the most galling factoid…
- Taxpayers Subsidize Passengers Who Can Afford to Make Amtrak Profitable
Many of the same media elite already using Tuesday night’s tragedy to call for more government spending on Amtrak, also are guilty of welfare queening on Amtrak between their Emerald Cities of Washington DC and Manhattan.
This is from a 1997 Cato Institute Study. There is nothing, though, that indicates anything’s changed much. In fact, with the labor force so diminished and Washington DC attracting more and more of the connected and wealthy, it would not surprise me to learn that even fewer of the poor benefit from Amtrak:
Amtrak’s typical riders are not low-income Americans. The poor are less likely to travel by Amtrak than by most other travel options. Only 13 percent of Amtrak passengers have incomes below $20,000. The average Amtrak rider has a higher household income than the average taxpayer. In fact, the clientele for Amtrak Metroliner service between Washington and New York consists largely of Wall Street traders, K Street lobbyists and other affluent business travelers. These folks aren’t poor.
- There Is No Good Reason for The Government To Own Amtrak
The selfish harpies in the mainstream media might lose a few more dollars out of their fat checks by paying full fare, but that sounds like a one-percent problem to those of us in the real world.
- The Amtrak Derailment Might Be Yet Another Failure of the Federal Government
The Federal Government owns and operates Amtrak.
Instead of spending money on improved safety, the Federal Government wastes hundreds of millions of dollars on unnecessary rail lines and labor costs.
If safety or infrastructure were indeed the cause of this crash, the Federal Government mismanaging a business they have no business running is at fault — not the taxpayer.
