Amtrak won’t roll into Rockford — or anywhere — under a McCain administration
October 3rd, 2008 at 09:46am Chuck Sweeny
Those of you clamoring for Amtrak passenger train service between Rockford and Chicago should know this: The five-year reauthorization of Amtrak passed overwhelmingly in the House and Senate will be signed by President Bush, normally a foe of Amtrak. (The majorities were veto-proof, a veto would have been overriden.
This story in the Wall Street Journal gives the politics: McCain voted against Amtrak, as he always does. He says the government has more important things to spend its money on — the $850 billion bailout of naughty bankers, for instance.
Obama voted for the Amtrak bill, which passed the Senate 74-25.
“We spend more than $40 billion each year on highways…but only a little over $1 billion on rail, and we had to fight tooth and nail to get that,” said Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey. “This is going to change.”
If passenger rail is your main issue, you have a clear choice. McCain will kill Amtrak; he’s a highway guy. Obama will work for a balanced transportation system that includes more passenger rail.
Entry Filed under: amtrak/mcain
6 Comments Add your own
1. SNuss | October 4th, 2008 at 8:17 am
I’d rather see Amtrak die, or be privatized, because McCain is elected, than be subjected to the Socialization of America, by Barack H. Obama’s Far-Left agenda. Given current fuel prices, Amtrak should be promoted as a more economical alternative to driving or flying.
2. sunshine | October 4th, 2008 at 10:26 am
McCain is not against funding for Amtrak. The debate is over the level of funding, and how it is prioritized among all of the other government spending everyone wants. I want passenger rail, but the bigger threat to Amtrak is Obama’s new trillion dollar in new spending initiatives, that will jeopardize dedicating priority funding to Amtrak. Government run health care for everyone? Shut down the trains to pay for it!
It is the same as Blagojevich paying for all of his new programs, at the expense of transportation funding in Illinois. Thats why our roads are getting built, and no expansion of passengedr rail in Illinois.
3. sunshine | October 4th, 2008 at 10:39 am
I also have to say as someone who is a rail advocate, and rides Amtrak when I can. The customer service has to improve, and Amtrak needs to start operating as a real business that competes for customers. I have been on Amtrak and asked the attendants for assistance, they give you a puzzled look as though they are perplexed as to why you would bother them with a need. Amtrak needs to be a first class experience, with hi quality, friendly customer service and that will help them thrive a transportation option.
4. Dan Johnson-Weinberger | October 4th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Chuck, you are right. McCain is hostile to Amtrak and this week’s vote proved it. If you want more Amtrak service, vote for Obama. And this isn’t a partisan thing. Lots of Republicans in the Rock River Valley get the importance of Amtrak — and lots of Republicans in Wisconsin like Tommy Thompson support Amtrak. But John McCain does not.
And by the way “sunshine”, Illinois did double Amtrak service under the Blagojevich Administration in 2006. It was a bipartisan effort and Governor Blagojevich supported the doubling of service.
5. railrider | October 5th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Hey Dan with two last names, the governor has been sitting on billions of federal transportation dollars he wont spend on transportation. He has diverted hundreds of millions of transportation dollars to other state programs for years. We could have had Amtrak service in Rockford right now, and there could be attitional rail service to the Quad Cities and elsewhere in Illinois if he and the democrat leadership would use those funds. Instead, we wait hopelessly on a capital bill.
6. Chuck Sweeny | October 5th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
The fact is, McCain is against Amtrak funding. He has voted against Amtrak bills consistently, even the most recent one last week, where 74 senators voted for the five-year reauthorization. At a time when we need to develop a balanced transport infrastructure, he is no maverick, he is a throwback.
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