I wish they had the smack down but, it has not happened yet.
To the defense of some of the Repubs trying to kill it the vast majority of the money is being spent on the Charlotte area cross connection to move the station to a multi modal station. In the process NS and CSX are getting a massive overhaul of trackage in the CLT area that amounts to corporate welfare. There are some articles on Google that you can find.
Personally, I cannot wait to see more NC/Amtrak enhancements but, really need a link to Asheville (on the plans since 2000 and delayed by NS due to freight traffic increases as it will benefit the Western Carolinas dramatically.
...so NC is planning to revive the Asheville Special? Is this "in front of" or "behind" the train to the beach in terms of priorities?
Reality check here: Salisbury to Asheville is slow due to curves and mountains. Will a train with a 5 to 6 plus hour schecule have any ridership? When it was running by Southern in the early post Amtrak years, the ridership was very low.
Yes, service to Asheville would be nice, but without major money spent on alignment work, it will not be any faster than the pre-Amtrak 1950's Asheville Special.