FIRST OF ALL I WOULD LIKE TO SAY HAPPY HOLIDAYS ,
NOW I AM A NEW AMTRAK ( OBS ) EMPLOYEE, AND I JUST FOUND OUT THAT THE REPUBLICAN CONGRESS DID NOT GIVE US OUR ANNUAL
FUNDING, SO THAT MEANS THAT ALL AMTRAK EMPLOYEES (THE EMPLOYEES WITH LESS THAN 2 YEARS SENOIRITY) WILL BE SOON GETTING PINK SLIPS,
WELL THAT MAKES ME VERY UPSET THAT THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN,
BUT THE REPUBLICAN IDIOTS WHO RIDE OUR TRAINS IN THE FIRST CLASS ACELA FOR FREE ON OUR TAXPAYERS DOLLARS WHICH WE KNOW WHO THEY ARE --MR SEN. TRENT LOTT OF MISSISSIPPI, WHO RECENTLY RODE ON MY TRAIN IN FIRST CLASS ACELA WITH HIS ( WIFE ? ) AND BODYGUARDS SAT AND ENJOYED EVERYTHING THAT WE HAD TO OFFER, THEN UPON EXITING THE TRAIN IN WASHINGTON D.C . @UNION STATION I LOOKED HIM RIGHT IN THE EYE WITH A BIG AMTRAK SMILE AND SAID THANK YOU SENATOR HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR TRAIN RIDE AND HAVE A NICE DAY, WELL HE LOOKED AT ME WITH A SHREWD LOOK AND MUMBLED SOMETHING I COULD NOT HERE WHAT HE SAID BUT I’M SURE IT WAS NOT NICE,
IT JUST PROVES TO ME THAT THE PEOPLE WHO VOTED TO PRIVATIZE AMTRAK ARE THE PEOPLE ( REPUBLICAN IDIOTS IN CONGRESS ) WHO RIDE OUR TRAINS IN FIRST CLASS AND ARE ABUSING US IN THE PROCESS OF THE SLOW DEATH OF OUR JOBS WITH AMTRAK,
SO FOR ALL YOU BUSH SUPPORTERS GET READY TO GOING BACK TO LONG LINES AT THE GAS STATIONS , AND HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS,
BECAUSE YOU JUST GOT FOOLED AND MADE YOUR PRESIDENT BUSH ALOT RICHER,
THEIR WILL BE AND END TO THIS SOMEDAY BUT WE WILL HAVE TO WAIT WHEN ----HILLARY CLINTON WILL BE ELECTED IN 4 YEARS SO FOR NOW -----------------------GOOD LUCK ALL
THANK YOU FOR LETTING EXPRESS MYSELF AND I HOPE WE ALL CAN PROVIDE FOR ALL OUR AMTRAK FAMILIES,
They don’t owe him a living but it is anti productive to layoff a bunch of workers and degrade the service from lack of funding if the administration is truly interested in reducing middle eastern fuel consumption and reduce the national unemployment rate too.
…If I’m not mistaken…sen. Trent Lott has been a supporter of Amtrak and has worked to get funding …and I realize he is a Republican and many of that side do not but I believe he is one that does.
Our pres and many members of congress have made tons of money on oil/gas production/sales. Do you think they are really interested in in reducing useage of said commodities? I think not.
As has been witnessed Amtrak continues to suffer at the hands of our current administration and congress. Only we (the taxpayer) raising our voices will help. However this must be done soon or Amtrak could become a thing of the past.
Those of us that are business owners, work very hard to earn our income, and put up with the massive government paperwork it takes to be in business would disagree with you. Why don’t you volunteer to come pay my tax bill to the government every three months, I think you will have a different view. Finally after twelve years I can keep slightly more of what I earn. I am a Republican and I support Amtrak, I pay to ride it so don’t think as an Amtrak employee that everyone paying to ride the trains are Democrats! There are many Republicans that support Amtrak although after reading your comments that support has been reduced.
As for Hillary if you think it is bad now it will be very bad with her. Business will suffer and more will move offshore. Don’t be fooled, business creates the tax base not the government!
One last point, I have absolutely no respect for someone who shouts their message.
You make it sound like prior to this happening Amtrak WAS properly funded and we didn’t already have long lines at gas stations, highways and byways. Perhaps I should go to downtown Columbus Ohio and ride Amtrak before the service gets downgraded. OH DAMN I FORGOT! THERE IS NO AMTRAK SERVICE HERE!
Carter was a democrat and he cut Amtrak’s subsidy. Bill Clinton was President when all but one of the 11.09.01 perpetrators (I like the term terrorists but it seem to be “Politically Correct” to call them “Militants”) got into the USA without the need of a security check or consular review by picking up their USA visas at a Ryadh credit card office. Kerry helped Kennedy get the big bucks for the Big Dig without the long overdue North Station South Station rail connector. I could go on. There are good Democrats and the are not so good Demcorats. And the same is true of Republicans and us.
I have a particular thing about Hillary because the very fact that she is loyal to her husband means that she tolerated infidelity. I think if there is to be a first Woman President, it should be someone who has a solid family connection without any hanky panky. She also supports too many ideas that I think are kind of wierd even from a liberal point of view. And to correct a previous mistatement, yes there was one Democrat who voted for Clinton’s impeachment. Lieberman.
right, right, right, and Ronald Reagan sold arms to the Iranians to prevent the release of the hostages until after the 1980 election so that he wouldn’t lose to Carter, and later turned a blind eye to the illegal arms deals in the mid-eighties in order to funnel money to the contras in Nicaragua who facillitated the killings of thousands of innocents. It goes both ways. America rarely produces a “decent person” by any legitimate standard for president anymore. Clinton lied, Bush lied (about two VERY different things, mind you) and it all ends up getting forgotten about in the end. Oliver North, the sleazy little worm who trampled on the United States Constitution and was a figurehead behind the Iran-Contra affair is now a military analyst for Fox News. There’s sleaze on both sides, who can’t admit this?
Might not be as farfetched as you think, she had a great deal of admirers and supporters…besides who are the Repubs going to run in 2008? *** Haliburton “like my fashoinable pacemaker” Cheney? I hear Dan Quayle is still avalaible…Hehehe!
Eitherway, every Congress has tried to kill Jamtrack since it started. If they do ever succeed in killing it then I would expect a huge outcry from their constituints who now have no alternate form of travel other than a dying on the vine airline industry and a pathetic Greyhound service or having to drive. I have to say in MHO this country really has its head up its collective a$$ when it comes to a national travel policy, there isnt one, unlike every other civilized nation on earth. The policy is “just let the magic of the marketplace” run everything…thats why we are keeping the airline industry alive with massive subsidies, what if congress treated the airline industry like Amtrack we’d be selling off airports like crazy.
Just to keep the record straight, Congress did authorize $1.2+ Billion for FY 2005 (Oct 2004 thru Sept 2005. That is about the same level as was authorized for FY 2004. I think Amtrak’s final request to Congress was about $1.6 Billion. The $400 million will have to come from cuts somewhere, but I suspect most will come from further deferral of the 5 year plan to put the physical facility in good working order.
I haven’t checked news wires in the last several hours, but unless you have received a formal announcement of such plans from top levels in the Amtrak organization, or have actually received a notice of your termination, don’t buy into every rumor. As noted in previous posts, Senator Lott (R), Miss and many other Republican Senators and Congressmen support better funding for Amtrak. Unfortunately, a number of key Republican congressional leaders were able to block bills proposing adequate funding for Amtrak.
My fellow member of the forum. I have read your “words” with great interest. You are new to us and we welcome you. AMTRACK is a political requirement for the assurance of re-election for many
Hey, the Freight RR’s are hiring, might as well use your experience and get in the door before you lose even more seniority. As talked about in great volume on this forum, Amtrak is a huge mess and there is no EASY solution. Honesty, Amtrak won’t be taken seriously until we are paying 4-5 dollars a gallon for gasoline; then things are going to change.
…It is the leadership we have now…not the leaders in the past that can do something about Amtrak funding. I believe we all know which way it will go now…
Man o’ man…let’s see…two employees of the US Government so to speak…one can say anything he likes about politics and me, who can’t. …anyway…
…Unfortunately here’s the deal and it sucks. All government agencies are taking a hit, and it hurts. What does it mean to me? Well, I get fewer warm bodies to fill the slots I have and I get less money to operate with, which means doing as much as we can with less. And you can’t do more, or even the same with less for very long. This may not make you fell any better, but it’s not just Amtrak. The services are downsizing again to save bucks (except for the Army…hmmm), that means more folks, one of them mine, hitting the streets. I appreciate your frustration and hope the best for you.