Trump and Amtrak/Budget cutting funding

[cirdan]

And it should also be remembered that there are many cities which did not have service on A-Day got service. and some then lost it. Sunset East, Pioneer and Desert Wind are case in point. OTOH Lake Shore Limited was added after A-Day. So there has been ebbs and flows in the history of Amtrak. But make no mistake - Amtrak is a creation and creature of Congress and it lives and dies by what Congress does with it. People who think that an Amtrak CEO can brazenly defy Congress (and even just powerful chairmen in Congress) and go his own way are living in a fool's paradise.

Maybe not brazenly defy, but having a guy who knows how to press all the right buttons definietly helps.

Utlimately, nobody likes to cut funding for a service that is popular and has deep rooted support. It's much easier to cut funding for something that most people are disillusioned with. So ultimately Amtrak's performance and perception are key to its survival, maybe more so than its balance sheet. Cue issues with food service here.

 

[cirdan]

I'm suspending my campaign, and hereby announce that, if Trump is nominated and elected, Everything, including Amtrak, will be HUGE!!!

( and someone else will pay for it!)

you mean Mexico is going to pay for the daily Sunset Limited?

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

Now that our own Bob D. has suspended his campaign, I do have a serious question about another possibility:

What do you all think of Michael Bloomberg in regard to passenger rail? (Not his chances to win the election, rather what his position might be on passenger rail itself if he did run and win.)

I was impressed when he was mayor of New York that he always strongly encouraged people to take commuter rail instead of their cars when it was bad weather or to a large sporting event, but of course that was local transportation.

Not sure if he would be pro- or anti- long-distance trains, NEC-centric or for the good of the whole country, pro-Amtrak or pro-private rail...anyone have any ideas?

Also, if he decides not to run for president, what about a spot on Amtrak's board for him? (I know he probably couldn't be president of Amtrak if he doesn't have the railroad knowledge necessary for that, but the board could be a possibility?)

 

[Devil's Advocate]

What do you all think of Michael Bloomberg in regard to passenger rail?

Unlike the blond bobblehead who headlines this bobblethread, Micheal Bloomberg has been very clear and concise on his long term support for mass transit infrastructure. In many ways a Bloomberg presidency would likely resemble the current Obama/Biden position of the past eight years. My expectation is that Bloomberg would recommend major funding increases for implementation of substantial capitol improvements followed by taking what he can get on the operational end with a potential veto threat for baseline service impacting reductions.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/michael-bloomberg-even-amtrak-accident-cant-move-congress-2015-05-19

-CRW

 

[Eric S]

I would concur with DA's assessment of Bloomberg. In many ways his administration was more progressive on transportation matters (particularly with regards to street design) than his successor has been.

 

[Blackwolf]

The only hope with him is the fact that he's from NYC where trains are a way of life. Without trains, NYC would probably come to a grinding halt.

I would tend to agree.

While Trump is an unpredictable wild card on this issue, I can envision him re-building Penn Station. OK, it would be called Trump Station, and have a marble and gold ClubAcela ClubTrump.

A new Trump Station would need an expanded Amtrak presents.

Fixed!

 

[Carolina Special]

I have no particular notion of what the Donald might do on Amtrak. I have never been a fan of his, but I do respect his marketing skills. Over on YouTube I count at least five different videos for the "Trump Train", so it would appear he's trying to attract the train lovers' vote.

 

[Bob Dylan]

The Trump Train is Leaving the Station! All Aboard!! ( check your Brain before boarding!)

 

[Caesar La Rock]

Hate to bring this old post back, but here is some recent news on trains and Trump.

http://time.com/4247162/donald-trump-trains-infrastructure/

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Trump may be saying things we like to hear but with a man who takes both sides of so many issues it's virtually impossible to know what he really means. Sometimes Trumps says whatever he thinks we want to hear and other times he just blurts out whatever pops into his head, but he never bothers to explain how he came to his conclusions or how he would accomplish his goals or why he changed his mind or why the establishment would go along with it. Even if Trump means every word of his support for Amtrak I still would never be willing to support a fascist bully in exchange for improved passenger rail. In fact it's kind of insulting to even have to say that. If a moderator is considering removing or hiding my post because it has crossed some sort of line of decency or decorum I would implore that person to watch any of the recent debates featuring Trump and tell me I'm exaggerating or misrepresenting anything I have said in the slightest. We are all entitled to our own opinions but we are not entitled to our own facts.

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

... and other times he just blurts out whatever pops into his head,...

I think that is what draws so many people to Trump. He doesn't bother to have every word that comes out of this mouth, run thru focus groups and opinion polls.

 

[VentureForth]

I'd rather Trump be President of Amtrak than President of the United States.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I agree with DA but disagree with my friend VentureForth about the Donald and Amtrak, wouldn't want him within a mile of ANY Government Program or Agency! YMMV

 

[Devil's Advocate]

... and other times he just blurts out whatever pops into his head,...

I think that is what draws so many people to Trump. He doesn't bother to have every word that comes out of this mouth, run thru focus groups and opinion polls.

He doesn't seem to really think about it at all. If it unravels previous claims or contradicts his previous positions or simply makes no sense at all he just runs with it. Trump is Nixon's Southern strategy remade for the anti-knowledge Twitter era. His appeal is that he only speaks to our most basic emotions and never asks us to think beyond third grade logic.

 

[neroden]

Trump may be similar to Nixon, but I see him as much, much, much more like Reagan.

Reagan had the same thing going on -- absolute gibberish came out of his mouth; he contradicted himself routinely; he said things which were really obviously untrue (like "I was there at the liberation of the concentration camps"). It turns out he had Alzheimer's.

None of it affected his popularity. This is why he was called the "Teflon President". No matter what he did, none of it stuck. Reagan won by landslides. Twice.

The same thing is happening with Trump; he has Teflon. Thankfully the population of today has much less lead poisoning than the population of the 1980s. Trump will not win by landslides. He may still win, however.

One of the biggest problems with Reagan was that his "hands off, brain off" approach meant that many parts of the government were run by a bunch of very shady, self-interested characters with their own personal agendas who attached themselves to him. Trump would have the same type of characters angling to attach themselves to him.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Neroden: Telling it like it is!

 

[Manny T]

My guess is Pres. Trump will sell off the profitable pieces of Amtrak to private companies and ditch the rest. I think they did this in the UK. I remember riding Virgin Rail in the UK--Branson attaches the name Virgin to everything he buys instead of his own name, don't ask me why, he should take lessons from Trump--and sitting in the lovely dining car eating lunch while the train experienced a two hour delay. Checking some online sources I find Virgin Rail was know for a lack of punctuality. I can attest to that.

 

[nti1094]

Didn't the metroliner have a big part in killing the Trump Shuttle back in the 80's... I would think he might hold a grudge of some sort against Amtrak still.

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

... and other times he just blurts out whatever pops into his head,...

I think that is what draws so many people to Trump. He doesn't bother to have every word that comes out of this mouth, run thru focus groups and opinion polls.

He doesn't seem to really think about it at all. If it unravels previous claims or contradicts his previous positions or simply makes no sense at all he just runs with it. Trump is Nixon's Southern strategy remade for the anti-knowledge Twitter era. His appeal is that he only speaks to our most basic emotions and never asks us to think beyond third grade logic.

So, you're contrasting this to all the other candidates who only speak the truth, and if elected, will quickly fulfill every campaign promise made?

My only worry, is that someone will introduce yet another bill killing Obamacare, with an obscure amendment attached to it, killing Amtrak too.

 

[zepherdude]

I would give up Amtrak to keep Trump from being POTUS, if I had to. It is not worth the trouble he will cause America.

 

[Ziv]

Reagan stated repeatedly that he saved the film of the concentration camp made by other photographers, and he mentioned the film to his son and to other people repeatedly. He made no claim that he had filmed it, only that it was important documentation of horrible crimes.

As far as I can tell this was a reporters mistaken report of Reagan claiming he had filmed it, but it doesn't look like Reagan made any such claim.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-mann/ron-reagan-my-dad-showed_b_255609.html

Trump may be similar to Nixon, but I see him as much, much, much more like Reagan.

Reagan had the same thing going on -- absolute gibberish came out of his mouth; he contradicted himself routinely; he said things which were really obviously untrue (like "I was there at the liberation of the concentration camps"). It turns out he had Alzheimer's.

None of it affected his popularity. This is why he was called the "Teflon President". No matter what he did, none of it stuck. Reagan won by landslides. Twice.

The same thing is happening with Trump; he has Teflon. Thankfully the population of today has much less lead poisoning than the population of the 1980s. Trump will not win by landslides. He may still win, however.

One of the biggest problems with Reagan was that his "hands off, brain off" approach meant that many parts of the government were run by a bunch of very shady, self-interested characters with their own personal agendas who attached themselves to him. Trump would have the same type of characters angling to attach themselves to him.

 

[Alex M.]

Lest we forget, Donald Trump got his start as a real estate investor by acquiring properties from the bankrupt Penn Central estate. One was a rail yard on the west side of Manhatten that was developed for convention center use, I believe, as well as if I recall, the Commodore Hotel. One ray of hope is his promise to but bright and qualified people in his administration. After 8 years of lethargic management, Amtrak could sure benefit from energetic and proactive leadership.

 

[Chey]

Lest we forget, Donald Trump got his start as a real estate investor by acquiring properties from the bankrupt Penn Central estate. One was a rail yard on the west side of Manhatten that was developed for convention center use, I believe, as well as if I recall, the Commodore Hotel. One ray of hope is his promise to but bright and qualified people in his administration. After 8 years of lethargic management, Amtrak could sure benefit from energetic and proactive leadership.

Considering he contradicts himself about every 5 minutes I'm not sure what his promises are worth

 

[Devil's Advocate]

So, you're contrasting this to all the other candidates who only speak the truth, and if elected, will quickly fulfill every campaign promise made? My only worry, is that someone will introduce yet another bill killing Obamacare, with an obscure amendment attached to it, killing Amtrak too.

It sounds like you're trying to put words in my mouth and then attacking your own straw man with false equivalency. All politicians lie, just like every human lies, but not every lie is equally harmful or malicious.

I would give up Amtrak to keep Trump from being POTUS, if I had to. It is not worth the trouble he will cause America.

Same here, in fact I would accept losing all passenger rail in the entire country if it meant we avoided electing a dangerous extremist like Trump. Rebuilding America's passenger rail services from scratch would be extremely difficult, and yet still much easier than recovering from codified fascism.

One ray of hope is his promise to but bright and qualified people in his administration. After 8 years of lethargic management, Amtrak could sure benefit from energetic and proactive leadership.

I'm sure they'd be extremely bright and qualified at identifying, extracting, and privatizing government assets. Just like his good buddy Vladimir Putin.

 

[neroden]

Well, other examples of the Reagan maladministration include "ketchup is a vegetable", "trees cause pollution", "we begin bombing in five minutes", the infamous "magic asterisks" in the budget, "defense spending doesn't count" when presenting a so-called "balanced" budget, Star Wars (officially the "strategic defense initiative") -- which consisted of a bunch of stuff which had already been demonstrated to be totally ineffective -- .... and this is off the top of my head.

Oh, and if you want morally questionable stuff, there's his Bitburg visit to honor the SS dead, and the Philadelphia MS speech where he was deliberately courting the KKK vote.

There's also the blatant lies which were also slanders like the "welfare queen with 5 Cadillacs" stuff which he or Peggy Noonan just made up.

None of it stuck politically. Teflon.

Iran-Contra only came out after his second election (the one where he lied -- when he claimed he wouldn't raise taxes), but that didn't seem to prevent his VP from getting elected. Still Teflon.

This is when I became totally cynical about the American people. Only the recent discovery that most of the US electorate was quite seriously lead-poisoned at the time has made me more hopeful.