Sorry, but I just had to reply. The govt doesn't "give" any money to "oil" companies. Energy firms are allowed certain tax credits for taking risks in exploration. If they find oil or gas they get to deduct a small portion of their expenses in this regard, AND the taxpayer wins, since they then in turn must pay royalties (assuming they are exploring on federal or state land) to the govt. As far as "record profits", again an urban myth. The average ROI for a large international oil firm is less than 50% of the NYSE company average. Firms like Apple and Google have ROI's 4 to 6 times the return of XOM for example. I chuckle when I see these myths being perpetuated. Where were all of the complainers when no one could make any money in the oil biz 15 years ago!
BTW-I agree that having quality food services on LD AMTRAK trains is essential. SW gets away with barebones stuff because their passengers are "captive" for only a couple of hours, not one or two days! Overall I think the dining car services are run reasonably well.
I do not work for, nor am I affiliated with any energy firm. I just want to set the record straight.
The $833.8 million that Amtrak lost on its food service for 10 years is less than
the taxpayers of our country lost on the green energy companies that went bankrupt in 1 year!!
And the same amount we give away to oil companies so that they can maintain their record profits every
10 weeks!!!
Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner. First to refresh memories and assist new people.
My expertise is economics, weapons law and determining mental illness.
Economics- (40 ) years writing, assisting, auditing and/or developing federal, state and company budgets.
Weapons- Holder of (3) concealed weapons permits permitting me to conceal carry in (30) states requiring me to know every detail of all (50) states weapons use/concealment and transportation regulations.
Mental illness- Disability claims judge for (11) years with MD/PhD level authority to determine an adults physical or mental disability status under SSA regulations.
That being said, sorry for using stupid. Stupid can only be determined using WAIS/WISC test )for SSA. Politically correct term is mental retardation or mentally handicapped. Proper term for people who make incorrect statements based on no knowledge of the subject is UNEDUCATED.
OK, as MM said, the gov't doesn't give the oil companies money or subsidies. They get tax deductions. Again if you want to pee(political correct) in your Cherrios then disinvest all your 401k/pension plans that have oil/gas stock. It all boils down to class warfare. Those who can't or won't work the hours needed to be rich will always resent those who do. I want to see the middle class and upper class and millionaire class workforce percentage increase and the lower class percentage decrease. Silly me wanting as many people to become successful.
Subsidy-again show me in the tax code(which I understand) where anybody gets a subsidy. Let me help the uneducated understand a subsidy. As a young Navy E4, I could not afford a house. There was a FHA program called FHA-235 started in the 60s and their were various versions of it. I qualified for this no down payment program. The mortgage was $335/month. I paid $225/month. The FHA SUBSIDIZED the remaining amount by paying the other $100. Every April I had to send FHA a copy of my tax return. AS I got promoted and made more money, my mortgage share increased to $335/month as I got promotions/longevity raises and the SUBSIDY decreased form $100 to zero in (3) years. This subsidy had NOTHING to do with the tax code. It had to do with a Congressional LAW being passed. So saying we give the oil companies money/subsidies is an UNTRUTH (politically correct)
The original OP concept was about losing food service money on AMTRAK. As I mentioned and know for a fact, most food services connected with an attraction(Disney/Five Flags, Casinos, etc) and transportation (airline/AMTRAK/cruise ship are a break even or loss leaders. When you are paying a union food service worker an average $36,000/year (
http://www.careerbli...rvice+attendant) which equates to $17.00/hour based on a (40) work week it could raise some hackles in D.C. when they continue to get subsidies. In DEFENSE of the AMTRAK train employees, they have to go through more safety training, first aid and other types of training than a majority of food service personnel and their working conditions are more difficult than most other food service employees.
As a former union asst shop steward in the PSSU (part of SEIU) for (11) years in Pennsylvania I worked in the belly of the beast as they never knew I was a gun and bible toting right wing extremist. I learned a valuable lesson. For the most part union LEADERS and for the most part the members want two things. More pay for the same amount of work OR less work for the same amount of pay. If they tell you different they are telling you an untruth.
AMTRAK is NOT going away. My former D and R congressmen in my FORMER state of Pennsylvania who are on the transportation committee are not going to let that happen. The AMTRAK subsidy is like spit in the ocean.
And on to Mr Ryan. He wants respect from me but continually insults me as he knows most of you are NOT former military. I retired as a Master Chief Petty Officer after (28) years in the NAVY. it is the highest enlisted rank (E9) in the military and by Federal law only 1% of the Navy can hold that rank. He calls me Chief which is an insult to me. Chief (E7) is the king pin of the US NAVY and whats makes it work and is very hard to reach and deserves respect. But I am NOT a Chief. And he knows it because he left the US Navy as Lieutenant. Want respect, you got to give it.
NAVYBLUE
PS: Moderators, thank you for refereeing, but I see veiled attacks on Republicans as being OKed because the liberals on this board use code words (sort of like Biden's put you in chains) to try to disguise their agenda. No problem, I have been in the belly of the beast before.I don't hide behind any code words.