Bush Fights AMTRAK Bill

To the surprise of no one, President Bush opposes the recent Lautenberg effort to provide remotely reasonable funding for AMTRAK.

Bush Administration fights Amtrak Funding
The Bush administration on Tuesday blasted a plan by a group of rail-riding senators to overhaul Amtrak and give the passenger railroad an annual subsidy of $3.2 billion to repair aging lines and start new service.

Joseph Boardman, administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, told a Senate Commerce Committee panel that the administration has serious reservations about the proposal and that the federal government must stop subsidizing Amtrak.

How ridiculous would it be for the Bush administration to propose that the federal government stop subsidizing the interstate highway system? $3.2 billion is less than what the federal government spent on interstates in 1988.