Amtrak sucks.Peter Bagge's anti-Amtrak screed screedn. 1. A long monotonous speech or piece of writing. 2. a. A strip of wood, plaster, or metal placed on a wall or pavement as a guide for the even application of plaster or concrete. b. ("Amtrak Amtrak, the National Railroad Passenger Corp., authorized to operate virtually all intercity passenger railroad routes in the United States. Amtrak was created by Congress in 1970 in response to more than two decades of continuous operating deficits by privately run Sucks," December) has elements of truth to it, but in his zeal Zeal Bows, Mr. crippled fiddler with intense feelings. [Br. Lit.: Pendennis] Cedric of Rotherwood zealous about restoring Saxon independence. [Br. to kill the train system, he misses the point. All transportation systems are subsidized sub·si·dize tr.v. sub·si·dized, sub·si·diz·ing, sub·si·diz·es 1. To assist or support with a subsidy. 2. To secure the assistance of by granting a subsidy. . The subsidies to Amtrak are simply up front and visible. The subsidies to other forms of transport are called "infrastructure improvements." Moreover, citing the $30 billion cumulative subsidy subsidy, financial assistance granted by a government or philanthropic foundation to a person or association for the purpose of promoting an enterprise considered beneficial to the public welfare. is misleading when the annual subsidy paid to Amtrak is pretty small compared to the vast amounts of pointless road subsidies paid every year. In response to the call for the elimination of all subsidies to Amtrak, I say, "Great idea! And while we're at it, let's eliminate all subsidies for every other form of transportation, just to be fair." I expect that under those conditions, train travel would suddenly look a lot more economical, but that's only because all of the other forms of travel, without the hidden subsidies, would suddenly become far more expensive. Kevin Standlee Fremont, CA |
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