'Infrastructure? Who Cares,' Says GOP-Led House as it Slashes Amtrak Budget

[unhappycamper]

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/06/10/infrastructure-who-cares-says-gop-led-house-it-slashes-amtrak-budget



Cuts come month after deadly Philadelphia crash put spotlight on need for increased transportation funding

'Infrastructure? Who Cares,' Says GOP-Led House as it Slashes Amtrak Budget
Lauren McCauley
Wednesday, June 10, 2015

The GOP-led U.S. House of Representatives late Tuesday voted to slash $242 million from the Amtrak budget.

"Amtrak currently receives $1.3 billion from the government, most of which goes toward capital improvements and debt service," AP reports. "The GOP-drafted measure cuts $242 million from capital accounts but fully funds the $289 million request for operating losses."

The vote was part of a GOP effort to weaken U.S. President Barack Obama's proposed infrastructure spending proposal, put forth under a joint transportation and housing budget.

A deadly Amtrak crash on the outskirts of Philadelphia last month put a spotlight on the need for increased funding and support for public transportation services.

[Hortensis]

1. Koch-types neither ride nor ship on Amtrak. Their factories

tend not to be located in the kinds of places Amtrak would service or to employ people who can afford Amtrak. They want to pay less in taxes, and this costs money. Not entirely incidentally, they also benefit from an dis-empowered electorate.

As billionaire libertarians, one really can't blame them for deciding there's nothing in it for them.