Another response from a congressman....

[Tumbleweed]

In response to the continuing political threats to AMTRAK, I contacted all of my congress critters....here is another response....even though S Dak does not have rail passenger service, this person recognizes the importance of it.....

Dear Larry:

Thank you for contacting me regarding funding for Amtrak. I appreciate hearing from you about this issue.

On September 21, 2011, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the Fiscal Year 2012 Transportation and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill. The measure includes $1.48 billion in funding for operating costs and capital investments for Amtrak, a sum that is more than $350 million above the level recommended at the subcommittee level in the House of Representatives. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I will work with my colleagues to maintain funding for Amtrak and other important transportation programs as the budget process for Fiscal Year 2012 moves forward.

Amtrak helps ensure that passenger rail service in the United States exists as an efficient, safe and reliable transportation option. I support funding for Amtrak and have consistently fought to prevent drastic cuts to Amtrak from being enacted.

Please be assured that I will continue to support robust investment in transportation infrastructure in South Dakota and nationwide. Thank you again for contacting me, and please keep in touch!

Sincerely,

Tim Johnson

TPJ/pwr

 

[the_traveler]

Thank you for sharing!

It's nice to know that Amtrak has support even in states that it does not even serve!

Unlike a certain Senator from AZ who is against Amtrak "because Amtrak doesn't serve my state"!

(So all those that go on the SWC or SL - just realize you do not go thru AZ!

)

 

[amamba]

Here is one I got earlier this week from my congressman:

Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding Amtrak. I appreciate your taking the time to contact me and express your views on this issue.

As you know, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, known colloquially as "Amtrak," was first established by Congress in 1970. Amtrak provides passenger rail service over 22,000 miles covering 44 routes throughout the continental United States. While it operates as a private company, Amtrak is owned entirely by the United States Department of Transportation. Each year, however, Amtrak operates at a budget deficit that requires Congress appropriate funds to cover the shortfall.

Representatives John Mica (R-FL) and Bill Shuster (R-PA) recently announced a proposal that would weaken Amtrak's ability to offer intercity passenger rail service to millions of Americans. This plan would try to create greater private competition in the passenger rail sector. Dubbed the "Competition for Intercity Passenger Rail in America Act," this proposal has not yet been formally introduced in the House of Representatives.

Please know that, as a member of the Congressional Bicameral High-Speed & Intercity Passenger Rail Caucus, I have been a strong advocate on behalf of robust funding for our nation's rail system. Earlier this year I joined with thirty-seven of my colleagues to urge the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to designate the Northeast Corridor as a high-speed rail corridor – opening the region up for funding opportunities to create new, and improve existing, rail infrastructure. Rhode Island was awarded $28 million in High Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail funds following these efforts. In addition, I will continue to urge the Secretary of Transportation to expedite obligation of these funds amid Republican efforts to rescind the allocation.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding Amtrak. Your thoughts and opinions on this issue are of great value. Please feel free to use my office as a resource at any time and visit my website at www.cicilline.house.gov for up-to-date information on a wide range of issues before Congress.

I look forward to further correspondence with you on this and any other matter of concern you may have in the future.

----------------------------------------------------

It has a lot of background random stuff in it, but my takeaway is that my congressman will continue to push for funding of amtrak and is against the Mica plan.

 

[tonys96]

I am a local elected official in the DFW area, Today our Chamber of Commerce had it's legislative breakfast and we had folks from the office of one of our Senators, from the offices of three congress folks, and there were two state reps.

Being in Texas, it was a decidedly right of center discussion about EPA regulations, taxes, spending and such. During the Q & A portion, I asked each of the reps from federal offices about Amtrak funding, and specifically asked if any were in favor of DE-funding Amtrak....none took the bait and said their bosses were in favor of that...so I pressed on with "How much are they willing to CUT Amtrak funding?" ....and then I got the BS smoke and mirrors non-answer about cutting everything and doing it on an as needed basis, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda.

So I pressed on to a simple question...would the Senator and these Reps favor leaving Amtrak funding at current levels, especially for the LD trains that serve 80% of the country that was not in the NEC, and since they were all complaining about how heavy handed the EPA was, and how there were other ways to clean the air, I added this "Amtral LD trains serve a purpose, they get us poor folks out of heavily polluting busses, and into a cleaner more efficient mode of long distance travel"..........

All of these jokers said their bosses would favor keeping funding for Amtrak LD trains at current levels...................

Only time will tell if that was true or not.

 

[boxcar479]

I am a local elected official in the DFW area, Today our Chamber of Commerce had it's legislative breakfast and we had folks from the office of one of our Senators, from the offices of three congress folks, and there were two state reps.

Being in Texas, it was a decidedly right of center discussion about EPA regulations, taxes, spending and such. During the Q & A portion, I asked each of the reps from federal offices about Amtrak funding, and specifically asked if any were in favor of DE-funding Amtrak....none took the bait and said their bosses were in favor of that...so I pressed on with "How much are they willing to CUT Amtrak funding?" ....and then I got the BS smoke and mirrors non-answer about cutting everything and doing it on an as needed basis, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda.

So I pressed on to a simple question...would the Senator and these Reps favor leaving Amtrak funding at current levels, especially for the LD trains that serve 80% of the country that was not in the NEC, and since they were all complaining about how heavy handed the EPA was, and how there were other ways to clean the air, I added this "Amtral LD trains serve a purpose, they get us poor folks out of heavily polluting busses, and into a cleaner more efficient mode of long distance travel"..........

All of these jokers said their bosses would favor keeping funding for Amtrak LD trains at current levels...................

Only time will tell if that was true or not.

I am a taxpaying voting resident in the DFW area. What are you doing browsing and posting on a public forum on our dime. Is this what you were elected to do? Thanks for pushing LD rail travel and Amtrak. Now please spend my tax dollars wisely.

 

[tonys96]

I am a local elected official in the DFW area, Today our Chamber of Commerce had it's legislative breakfast and we had folks from the office of one of our Senators, from the offices of three congress folks, and there were two state reps.

Being in Texas, it was a decidedly right of center discussion about EPA regulations, taxes, spending and such. During the Q & A portion, I asked each of the reps from federal offices about Amtrak funding, and specifically asked if any were in favor of DE-funding Amtrak....none took the bait and said their bosses were in favor of that...so I pressed on with "How much are they willing to CUT Amtrak funding?" ....and then I got the BS smoke and mirrors non-answer about cutting everything and doing it on an as needed basis, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda.

So I pressed on to a simple question...would the Senator and these Reps favor leaving Amtrak funding at current levels, especially for the LD trains that serve 80% of the country that was not in the NEC, and since they were all complaining about how heavy handed the EPA was, and how there were other ways to clean the air, I added this "Amtral LD trains serve a purpose, they get us poor folks out of heavily polluting busses, and into a cleaner more efficient mode of long distance travel"..........

All of these jokers said their bosses would favor keeping funding for Amtrak LD trains at current levels...................

Only time will tell if that was true or not.

I am a taxpaying voting resident in the DFW area. What are you doing browsing and posting on a public forum on our dime. Is this what you were elected to do? Thanks for pushing LD rail travel and Amtrak. Now please spend my tax dollars wisely.

Well, first off.....mine is not a full time elected position, OK? So I am not "browsing and posting" on your dime or anyone else's dime.

As a matter of fact, I took time off from my REAL job to go to this breakfast and promote not only Amtrak and LD rail, but the great city in which I live and have been honored and humbled to represent a portion of the citizenry thereof. So, in all honesty, I was doing this on my OWN DIME, and was quite glad to do it.

(My elected position pays a whopping $25 each and every month, less $1.99 in FICA and income taxes)

Maybe, you, Mr/Mrs/Ms taxpaying voting resident, could get over yourself just a little bit?

 

[haolerider]

I am a local elected official in the DFW area, Today our Chamber of Commerce had it's legislative breakfast and we had folks from the office of one of our Senators, from the offices of three congress folks, and there were two state reps.

Being in Texas, it was a decidedly right of center discussion about EPA regulations, taxes, spending and such. During the Q & A portion, I asked each of the reps from federal offices about Amtrak funding, and specifically asked if any were in favor of DE-funding Amtrak....none took the bait and said their bosses were in favor of that...so I pressed on with "How much are they willing to CUT Amtrak funding?" ....and then I got the BS smoke and mirrors non-answer about cutting everything and doing it on an as needed basis, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda.

So I pressed on to a simple question...would the Senator and these Reps favor leaving Amtrak funding at current levels, especially for the LD trains that serve 80% of the country that was not in the NEC, and since they were all complaining about how heavy handed the EPA was, and how there were other ways to clean the air, I added this "Amtral LD trains serve a purpose, they get us poor folks out of heavily polluting busses, and into a cleaner more efficient mode of long distance travel"..........

All of these jokers said their bosses would favor keeping funding for Amtrak LD trains at current levels...................

Only time will tell if that was true or not.

I am a taxpaying voting resident in the DFW area. What are you doing browsing and posting on a public forum on our dime. Is this what you were elected to do? Thanks for pushing LD rail travel and Amtrak. Now please spend my tax dollars wisely.

Well, first off.....mine is not a full time elected position, OK? So I am not "browsing and posting" on your dime or anyone else's dime.

As a matter of fact, I took time off from my REAL job to go to this breakfast and promote not only Amtrak and LD rail, but the great city in which I live and have been honored and humbled to represent a portion of the citizenry thereof. So, in all honesty, I was doing this on my OWN DIME, and was quite glad to do it.

(My elected position pays a whopping $25 each and every month, less $1.99 in FICA and income taxes)

Maybe, you, Mr/Mrs/Ms taxpaying voting resident, could get over yourself just a little bit?

Great response!

Too many times, some posters are quick to respond with senseless posts that are not on topic and have not been well thought out. Thanks for taking time to support Amtrak in your part of the country.

By the way, what do you do with your whopping monthly salary? It is not even enough to buy a decent dinner with a glass of quality wine!

 

[tp49]

I am a local elected official in the DFW area, Today our Chamber of Commerce had it's legislative breakfast and we had folks from the office of one of our Senators, from the offices of three congress folks, and there were two state reps.

Being in Texas, it was a decidedly right of center discussion about EPA regulations, taxes, spending and such. During the Q & A portion, I asked each of the reps from federal offices about Amtrak funding, and specifically asked if any were in favor of DE-funding Amtrak....none took the bait and said their bosses were in favor of that...so I pressed on with "How much are they willing to CUT Amtrak funding?" ....and then I got the BS smoke and mirrors non-answer about cutting everything and doing it on an as needed basis, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda.

So I pressed on to a simple question...would the Senator and these Reps favor leaving Amtrak funding at current levels, especially for the LD trains that serve 80% of the country that was not in the NEC, and since they were all complaining about how heavy handed the EPA was, and how there were other ways to clean the air, I added this "Amtral LD trains serve a purpose, they get us poor folks out of heavily polluting busses, and into a cleaner more efficient mode of long distance travel"..........

All of these jokers said their bosses would favor keeping funding for Amtrak LD trains at current levels...................

Only time will tell if that was true or not.

I am a taxpaying voting resident in the DFW area. What are you doing browsing and posting on a public forum on our dime. Is this what you were elected to do? Thanks for pushing LD rail travel and Amtrak. Now please spend my tax dollars wisely.

Well, first off.....mine is not a full time elected position, OK? So I am not "browsing and posting" on your dime or anyone else's dime.

As a matter of fact, I took time off from my REAL job to go to this breakfast and promote not only Amtrak and LD rail, but the great city in which I live and have been honored and humbled to represent a portion of the citizenry thereof. So, in all honesty, I was doing this on my OWN DIME, and was quite glad to do it.

(My elected position pays a whopping $25 each and every month, less $1.99 in FICA and income taxes)

Maybe, you, Mr/Mrs/Ms taxpaying voting resident, could get over yourself just a little bit?

Great response and so true. Many of the "electorate" don't seem to realize what you have said that for a lot of these positions there is little or even no pay and that council members have "regular" jobs besides their public service.

 

[Ocala Mike]

Thanks, tonys96 for supporting Amtrak in hostile territory on "your dime." Only wish we had more elected officials in my equally hostile area like you. You give truth to the saying that "all politics is local."

Ocala Mike

 

[boxcar479]

Tonys96, my public apology. I am sorry and I do thank you for your time on your dime. I would also like to say thanks for using your position as an elected official to help the cause of rail travel both local and long distance. Thanks and my sincere apology. Btw, if you heard that huge plopping noise earlier today, that was just me pulling my head..............

 

[Tumbleweed]

Tonys96, my public apology. I am sorry and I do thank you for your time on your dime. I would also like to say thanks for using your position as an elected official to help the cause of rail travel both local and long distance. Thanks and my sincere apology. Btw, if you heard that huge plopping noise earlier today, that was just me pulling my head..............

Out of a dark place, is that what you are trying to say?

Takes a man to publicly apologize for something......

 

[Trogdor]

I am a taxpaying voting resident in the DFW area. What are you doing browsing and posting on a public forum on our dime. Is this what you were elected to do? Thanks for pushing LD rail travel and Amtrak. Now please spend my tax dollars wisely.

Later apology noted, but this type of response is part of the attitude that actually makes it difficult for government organizations to function properly.

I pretty much guarantee you that anywhere you go, public, private, etc. you will have people who will do some personal things on company time. Yet, having to properly account for every minute of the day, or every dime they spend, actually makes government less efficient. In the private sector, it's the results that matter. In government, it's the process (or not necessarily even the process, but the appearance) that matters.

This is an example of the attitude that makes it so. "What are you doing ... [blah blah blah] ... on my/our dime." He stood up and advocated for something you support (whether it was on his own time or if he was doing so as an official part of his office isn't specifically relevant), and your first thought is why are you browsing the internet? Not to single you out, boxcar (as I said, I note your apology later), but this is the type of reaction that many people have towards government and government workers.

If you owned stock in GE, and you learned that a middle manager at GE was browsing AU, would your first thought be "why is he doing that on company time?" Or would you be more concerned about whether the total contribution that he makes to the company exceeds his pay?

Yet, somehow, the rules are different for government workers, and government agencies in general.

In Wisconsin, for example, a state agency was ridiculed in the media for spending $60,000 on iPads for its employees. If a private company thinks buying iPads will make its workers more productive, that's a good thing. If government does it...."You spent HOW MUCH? On WHAT?" It doesn't matter that the agency's staff may be able to be more productive, or even that iPads might be cheaper than buying other computers. Nope, it's "government" and therefore they shouldn't spend half a penny without spending a decade doing studies and reports justifying the expense (you know, to make sure we're not "wasting taxpayer dollars" and such). The net effect is that it takes twice as much effort to get half as much done in government, and some find it easier to do nothing at all than to stick their neck out and accomplish something, which only creates more work (to justify the initial work). Hence, the irony in that striving for government "efficiency" makes government less efficient.

Here, we have Tony, going out and supporting a cause beneficial to the public, which is generally within the purview of an elected official's job (though, granted, I don't know what specific office he holds), and then he has to defend himself by assuring us that he wasn't on public time when he did it? I saw an elected official make a pointless, meaningless speech today to a small crowd. Should I complain that he was on public time while doing so?

If Tony, or anyone else, wants to do the good work of the people, more power to him. Don't worry about whether the five or ten minutes spent browsing AU is on public time or not. At the end of the day (or year, or term in office), it will be the accomplishments that matter more than the ability to account for every second of every day.

Sorry for the off-topic rant, but it's something I felt needed to be said.

 

[J-1 3235]

Thanks Trogdor, well said!

Mike

 

[tonys96]

Tonys96, my public apology. I am sorry and I do thank you for your time on your dime. I would also like to say thanks for using your position as an elected official to help the cause of rail travel both local and long distance. Thanks and my sincere apology. Btw, if you heard that huge plopping noise earlier today, that was just me pulling my head..............

Apology noted and accepted!

Now, on to keeping Amtrak running......................