Not only is the Acela one helluva nice train, you never know who’s gonna sit behind you, blabbing on his cell phone….
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Yeah, I’ve seen Republicans do that, too. Here’s the explanation: They’re in a bubble, and ignore everything outside the bubble. Ergo, they’ll carry on confidential conversations right next to you because in their minds you don’t even exist. It’s ultimate arrogance. Not to mention very stupid to blab about things your opponents would love to know right to their faces.
Dr. Phil could have a field day with a flock of Republicans.
Still, recently after stalling 8 years, the Republican-Appointed board and CEO at Amtrak finally agreed to a deal with the Brotherhoods/Unions. They were 12 days away from the first ever strike. Waiting on ratification of the deal, so the details are anounced, but they might be the same as the recommendations of the Presidential Emergency Board, appointed by the President when the unions walked away from the latest front of a negotiation. After negotiations break off, and the recommendations of a PEB, a strike is allowed under the Railway Labor Act, passed during the Coolidge Amdinistration, I believe, and extended to the up and coming Airline Industry in the 1930s by the Roosevelt Administration.
By the way, Randi Rhodes mentoned a rumor when the Larry Craig scandals broke, but I never found anything about it on the net, about one of Larry Craig’s other haunts. The restroom at Union Station, just blocks from the Capitol. If that is true, what a hypocrate. He votes against Amtrak, but does some of his extra-cirricular activities at Amtrak’s HQ!
Isn’t our train rider using, you know, a government program? Sure would be interesting to see how often he voted against Amtrak funding.
Or maybe he was just on his way to meet Craig.
How is it that you accept this so uncritically? Had it been someone writing the very same story but substituting “Clinton” for “McCain” you people would be frothing at the mouth at the injustice of this hit piece. Tell me I’m wrong! That isn’t to say that it isn’t true, but come on.
I am not sure how Santorum voted, since his state has some of the busiest Amtrak Routes, passenger-wise, the Northeast COrridor, including the Acela (Not-So) Express, the recently retired Metroliner(now called the Regionals), and the recently updated Keystone Corridor. Now if he lost Pittsburgh, it might have been due to things other than votes on Amtrak, but over the past 15 years, Pittsburgh has been decimated on Amtrak service. They still have the Capitol Limited passing through, and the Pennsylvanian from New York, but they used to have the Broadway Limited as well, then it was replaced by the Three Rivers, and one failed attempt to bring Amtrak into profitability that met well-earned resistance from host railroads, because it kind of put Amtrak into the Frieght business, saw two New York Chicago Trains happen, but both were cut. Also lost due to the cuts, was one of two Amtrak routes where traditional labor rules were not applied, and coach, sleeper, and cafe-car servers could swap roles. The other one is the Auto Train, and it still runs. Amtrak kind of made that reform a condition of the takeover from the private operator in the 1980s. THe Brotherhoods agreed, but it was easy at the time, they agreed because the Auto Train makes no stops for passengers, and the only stop they make is to change Locomotive Crews and take on water and supplies for the diner in South Carolina. Other than that, it is a direct run from Lorton, Virginia to Sanford, FLorida.
Then again, Santorum became such an embarrassment that one wonders who the hell would listen to him anymore. Maybe he was talking to his own voicemail.
Speaking of Senate votes on Amtrak, here is an interesting one on the most recent authorization bill that passed the Senate. It passed with 70 yes votes. 4 Senators that should have been no votes because they definately get nothing out of it and have no chance(geographically) of ever seeing it. Senators Inouye(D-HI), Stevens(R-AK), Murkowski(R-AK), Akaka(D-HI), voted yes. Idaho was 50/50, Craig was a no, Senator Crapo was a yes, especially since his pet project was part of S.294, a study on the possibility of restoring Amtrak Service through Southern Idaho, lost in 1997.
http://www.senate.gov/legislat.....vote=00400
Senator Crapo is not for the feasibility study, he wants the train restored!
http://seattletimes.nwsource.c.....cation=rss
I have rode the Pioneer once, about 14 years ago. The train was not a Seattle-Chicago train, it was a tri-weekly, stub train running from Seattle to Denver, with a thru-sleeper and COach transfered to the California Zephyr headed for Chicago. One reason the Sunset Limited also gets the bad rap as a big money loser is that it is always late, and also runs tri-weekly.