FOX's O'Reilly on AMTRAK

[PJRACER]

Pretty scathing commentary by Bill O'Reilly of FOX News on AMTRAK and the fact that AMTRAK has lost 13 Billion (with a B) over the past 10 years and O'Bama wanting to "invest" (means spend) more government money (we don't have) on high speed rail....where 80% of Americans can access (doubtful) and get where we want to go faster than a speeding bullet. Did anybody see tonights show??? He was pretty nasty about AMTRAK and being run by the government. Pretty much saying that the government can not run anything successfully. I'll let the members take it from there.

 

[Michael061282]

Pretty scathing commentary by Bill O'Reilly of FOX News on AMTRAK and the fact that AMTRAK has lost 13 Billion (with a B) over the past 10 years and O'Bama wanting to "invest" (means spend) more government money (we don't have) on high speed rail....where 80% of Americans can access (doubtful) and get where we want to go faster than a speeding bullet. Did anybody see tonights show??? He was pretty nasty about AMTRAK and being run by the government. Pretty much saying that the government can not run anything successfully. I'll let the members take it from there.

Bill O'Reilly is a bitter old man toeing the party line... nothing to see here move along folks.

 

[Ryan]

BillO is a clown, and isn't worth the time or the effort to watch, discuss or try to refute.

 

[Tumbleweed]

Bill O'Reilly is a bitter old man toeing the party line... nothing to see here move along folks.

Well said, well said......

 

[Shawn Ryu]

I like Bill O'Reilly.

And I understand him. He doesnt trust government to work and neither do I.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

I like Bill O'Reilly.
And I understand him. He doesnt trust government to work and neither do I.

Ah, the background to the pointless "Can't stand Obama" post in the State of the Union thread. Explains a lot.

 

[lynn]

I saw his show tonite, and he said that Amtrak would be better run by the private sector, lets face it, I love Amtrak but we are broke, and billions of dollars spent aren't helping the regular people out there. If the private sector took over, we could probably see things run more prudently. I don't fly, I take Amtrak, but I know that throwing money at something doesn't make it better.

 

[Shawn Ryu]

You are right that was a pointless comment.

 

[PJRACER]

I can see it now (I won't be around to see however),little "Chinese" running all over the USA getting their high speed rail running, criss-crossing this country like the Interstate Highways of the Eisenhower era.

 

[Bob Dylan]

:help: Good thing there in not such a thing as Corporate welfare, and we all know that the Government cant do anything right, never have, never will! If theyd just get out of the way everyone would still be making $25 a month, working 12 hours a day/6 days a week, no old age benefits at all,no paid medical care, poluted water and air, highest infant mortality rate in the world and we'd have lost all out wars, we'd now probably be British,Japanese or German slaves, er, citizens

and the Clowns on Fox news wouldn't be making tens of millions of dollars screaming made up crap about that which feeds them , the government! You could look it up as Casey Stengel said! But that would be too hard!

 

[henryj]

Unlike posters on here, most people in the US don't have a clue when it comes to understanding passenger rail or our messed up transportation policies in general. So I don't blame O'Reilly or Fox news or anyone else in the media for feeling this way. We need to do a better job of presenting our case. That is all.

 

[pennyk]

I discount virtually everything said on Fox News. I think O'Reilly plays very loose with his facts.

 

[nferr]

O'Reilly's just an entertainer. People listen to him like he really has a clue.

 

[Shawn Ryu]

Unlike posters on here, most people in the US don't have a clue when it comes to understanding passenger rail or our messed up transportation policies in general. So I don't blame O'Reilly or Fox news or anyone else in the media for feeling this way. We need to do a better job of presenting our case. That is all.

Agreed.

Nothing wrong with Bill O'reilly. Or the Fox News. Better than MSNBC and that idiot Maddow, I wish i could call her something much worse here.

 

[Eric S]

A political commentator on Fox News is opposed to government investment in rail and rail infrastructure? That's shocking.

Actually, how is that anything but predictable?

And I am completely at a loss at to what "little 'Chinese' running all over the USA" means at all. Not sure what "little" means in this context, not sure why Chinese was in quotes, not sure what "running all over the USA" means in this context.

 

[Gratt]

Pretty scathing commentary by Bill O'Reilly of FOX News on AMTRAK and the fact that AMTRAK has lost 13 Billion (with a B) over the past 10 years and O'Bama wanting to "invest" (means spend) more government money (we don't have) on high speed rail....where 80% of Americans can access (doubtful) and get where we want to go faster than a speeding bullet. Did anybody see tonights show??? He was pretty nasty about AMTRAK and being run by the government. Pretty much saying that the government can not run anything successfully. I'll let the members take it from there.

Bill O'Reilly is a bitter old man toeing the party line... nothing to see here move along folks.

Guy's I get it, I am not really a big fan of O'Reilly either but the issue is the many Americans do like and listen to him. They need to hear the other side of the argument that talks about how Amtrak is an asset to the private sector by providing reliable connections in areas like the North East which allow for companies to do more business, and create more jobs. I doubt there is little question in anyone’s mind that the economy of the NEC area would be less productive without Amtrak. In addition LD trains provide critical transit connections to areas that are under served. They give these areas a life line to the rest of the country and again make their local economies more productive.

Amtrak loses money on its operations yes, but I would be willing to bet (and I wish someone can do this study) that they deliver more tax revenue though its existence than the cost of its subsidy.

Lastly Amtrak is a big boost to international tourism, All of us can remember dozens of examples of meeting tourist who wanted to travel our country by rail. Their positive experiences will again, help foster good will in their nations, and there by indirectly improve American economic and political relation around the world.

It is these arguments we need to make to conservatives! Insults might make you feel good but they do not address the issue! Please people we need talk and act like passenger rail is an important issue to conservatives as well and we need to do it by making conservative arguments for it. No, you will never be able to convince an ultra-libertarian but there are many who will listen if you make the right type of argument.

 

[AlanB]

If the private sector took over, we could probably see things run more prudently.

The private sector isn't going to take over the trains, unless the government pays them to do so. And while they might be able to do things a bit better in terms of costs, you can expect that it will still cost big bucks.

 

[Ryan]

Unlike posters on here, most people in the US don't have a clue when it comes to understanding passenger rail or our messed up transportation policies in general. So I don't blame O'Reilly or Fox news or anyone else in the media for feeling this way. We need to do a better job of presenting our case. That is all.

You're right, it's totally OUR fault that Fox values telling the Republican't/Tea Party base what they want to hear over actually reporting things in a "fair and balanced" format. If only we made a better and more convincing case, BillO would quit being a lying scumbag and report things honestly and with journalistic integrity!

 

[Shawn Ryu]

Why does everyone accuse FOX of being biased? I get it they are biased. Get over it. Geez. And yet they mention nothing about MSNBC and other biased media.

Its a joke how a one news network is singled out because some of you cant agree with their views.

 

[pennyk]

Unlike posters on here, most people in the US don't have a clue when it comes to understanding passenger rail or our messed up transportation policies in general. So I don't blame O'Reilly or Fox news or anyone else in the media for feeling this way. We need to do a better job of presenting our case. That is all.

Agreed.

Nothing wrong with Bill O'reilly. Or the Fox News. Better than MSNBC and that idiot Maddow, I wish i could call her something much worse here.

Grow up. Rachel Maddow is brilliant. What do you accomplish by calling people names (that you can't print) just because you do not agree with their politics or lifestyle? :angry:

 

[Shawn Ryu]

Who says I have problem with her life style?

She isnt brilliant. Shes an idiot.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I saw his show tonite, and he said that Amtrak would be better run by the private sector, lets face it, I love Amtrak but we are broke, and billions of dollars spent aren't helping the regular people out there. If the private sector took over, we could probably see things run more prudently. I don't fly, I take Amtrak, but I know that throwing money at something doesn't make it better.

How do you think passenger rail became a public service in the first place Lynn? If you believe the private sector can do a national long-distance passenger network far better then perhaps you'd like to enlighten us on where this is being done in 2011?

I can see it now (I won't be around to see however), little "Chinese" running all over the USA getting their high speed rail running, criss-crossing this country like the Interstate Highways of the Eisenhower era.

What on earth does any of that mean?

Why does everyone accuse FOX of being biased? I get it they are biased. Get over it. Geez. And yet they mention nothing about MSNBC and other biased media. Its a joke how a one news network is singled out because some of you cant agree with their views.

I'd say that Fox News' real problem isn't their bias so much as their blatant dishonesty. If you want to argue with someone about this maybe you should take it up with the polling firms that have revealed Fox News viewers are some of the least informed in America. For a 24-hour "news" audience in a nation where political indifference is considered a virtue, that's quite a feat.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I am in favor of a new media regulation. Any item reported in a news environment that has an opinion or contains distorted facts, or involves portraying facts in a less than simple and forthright way, they require that a red banner saying "OPINION" be placed around the story or broadcast. Because people don't seem to understand that many of the "news" they hear isn't news, its blatant opinion.

I like Bill O'Reilly.

And I understand him. He doesnt trust government to work and neither do I.

I understand him completely. He is a very wealthy man paid a lot of money to foist off Rupert Murdoch's BS on the American people in a power play for Mr. Murdoch to have as much power here as he has in Britain and Australia. For some god forsaken reason, we're dumber than I thought because it is working.

I saw his show tonite, and he said that Amtrak would be better run by the private sector, lets face it, I love Amtrak but we are broke, and billions of dollars spent aren't helping the regular people out there. If the private sector took over, we could probably see things run more prudently. I don't fly, I take Amtrak, but I know that throwing money at something doesn't make it better.

The very idea that the private sector could run an unprofitable business successfully without- no, wait. I won't state my opinion. Go research the privatization of British Rail. Then when you have done so, come back here and repeat your statement with a straight face.

Agreed.

Nothing wrong with Bill O'reilly. Or the Fox News. Better than MSNBC and that idiot Maddow, I wish i could call her something much worse here.

No. Its not better. It is exactly the same. It is the very same thing. Opinion foisted off on people to stupid to think for themselves. One caters to the right, the other to the left, but they are the same damn thing, rife with opinions, tarnished by spin, and a generally fact free zone.

Facts: Amtrak has cost us $13 billion and moved 250 million people over the past ten years, costing an average of $52 a passenger. That includes considerable infrastructure, however, used to move passengers on other commuter roads that don't fall into that passenger total.

Opinion: I'd guess that of the $13 billion Amtrak has spent above its income in the past ten years, $8 billion of it has been for Northeast Corridor plant improvements, which are used by something like 2.14 billion trips, so 8 billion of that can be divided by 2.14, and the other 5 billion by 250 mil, so you get $3.73 per passenger for that 8 billion, and $20 for the other 5 billion, so the actual per passenger subsidy works out to about $10.

In anycase, Bob O'Riler or whatever his name is just a talking head. The only reason he is worth anything of note is that for some singularly bizarre reason, some people listen to him. I think they are simply incapable of thinking for themselves. Ditto to people who listen to that Rachel Meadows dipshit or that sarcastic fool Keith Oberman.

 

[GG-1]

Unlike posters on here, most people in the US don't have a clue when it comes to understanding passenger rail or our messed up transportation policies in general. So I don't blame O'Reilly or Fox news or anyone else in the media for feeling this way. We need to do a better job of presenting our case. That is all.

Agreed.

Nothing wrong with Bill O'reilly. Or the Fox News. Better than MSNBC and that idiot Maddow, I wish i could call her something much worse here.

Grow up. Rachel Maddow is brilliant. What do you accomplish by calling people names (that you can't print) just because you do not agree with their politics or lifestyle? :angry:

Aloha

These are reasons to view multiple sources, this will expose the truth.

 

[MattW]

When you guys say "privatize," do you mean the government handing over Amtrak to a private firm and saying "here, have fun?" Or do you mean them contracting with someone like Keolis to "manage" Amtrak?