It looks like $1.2 billion

AmtrakFan wrote:After I told my Dad about the funding level of $1.2 Billion he blew up

It appears that Mr. Fan's Father is "not exactly" a passenger rail advocate.

Don't feel bad; neither was mine.

Not quite the whole truth; but the only train he went on after WWII was his Riverside-GCT commute.

It'll be nice to get that loan repayed, maybe if they would ever get funded they could add new routes!

AmtrakFan wrote:They have to repay the DOT loan worth $100 Million I hear.

AmtrakFan

I think it will be over a five-year period - $20 million per.

Gilbert B Norman wrote:Loan? what loan, Mr JP1822.

"long since forgotten".

I guess we cannot look a gift horse in the mouth on this one, but perhaps the Senate should have given Amtrak $1.3 Billiion, pay off that loan, so they can work with the states to bring back as much service as possible that was lost in the past 30 years, and avoid service on existing Rural(Red State)trains being reduced to any schedule less than daily. I find it outrageous up in Canada that the only train on a daily schedule west of Toronto, is the Malahat Dayliner, an RDC that is not connected and unfeasable to ever connect it to, the national network. The Canadian and the Skeena are Tri-Weekly. I do not ever want to see Amtrak go to what schedules the Empire Builder and California Zephyr had between 94 and 97. The builder was quad-weekly(To keep service to Chicago daily, as the Pioneer, a tri-weekly run, was still going), and the Zephyr was 5 times a week.

If they ever can get that loan paid off, some kind of appropriation set in stone($2 Billion would do nicely), and maybe even a Passenger Rail Trust Fund going, we might be able to see Amtrak work better than it does today.

Couple of notes and questions:

1) Was FY 2004 really 1.2 Billion? I thought it had ended up below $1 billion.

2) Bush won't veto the Omnibus bill over this. Remember, this President has yet to veto ANY bill.

3) It's not as bad as I feared.

4) I don't think Gunn will leave over this.

5) I'd rather see the payment of the $100 million loan come from other sources, but ultimately, if Amtrak can avoid debt payment, that money in theory can then be applied elsewhere.

Gilbert B Norman wrote:It appears that Mr. Fan's Father is "not exactly" a passenger rail advocate.

Well he's taken Amtrak to St. Louis and Albaqurque. He complains about the Unions all the time; especilally Amtrak's unions.

John Poshepny

Greg Moore wrote:Couple of notes and questions:

1) Was FY 2004 really 1.2 Billion? I thought it had ended up below $1 billion.

I actually thought Amtrak got $1.35 billion for FY04, but it may have been only $1.2. It certainly wasn't below $1 billion.

If this years payment is a conituation of last years , then last years must have $1.2 billon as well .

David Benton wrote:If this years payment is a conituation of last years , then last years must have $1.2 billon as well .

Yes it was $1.2 Billion last year also it is reported Mr. Mineta will leave due to Health Issues TGT is in the running.

I would like to see Amtrak apply a surcharge per ticket specifically earmarked for loan repayment. Largely symbolic, I think this could be used as a positive political public relations tool. Plus, it would get the darn thing paid off (also a political spin entity).

From New York Times reportage today, I've learned that the $388B "spending bill" does NOT contain "omnibus" in its title. It is called the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005

Wrapped into this bill, that both Houses have sent to the President is Amtrak's $1.2B.

In "brief passages' from The Times, guess what ELSE is contained therewith:

Toward the bottom of the 16-inch stack of paper called the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005 is a list of grants for communities in Alaska: $950,000 for a recreation center and $150,000 for a botanical garden in Anchorage, $300,000 for a senior center in Fairbanks, $1 million for housing upgrades in the Kenai Peninsula, $900,000 for an aquarium in Ketchikan, $525,000 for a quarry upgrade in Nome and many more....The chief exception is Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, the self-appointed sentry in the Senate on bad spending practices. On the Senate floor Saturday he called the bill "one big fat turkey....But this bird is not loaded with the traditional stuffing," Mr. McCain said. "It is packed with pork."....One expenditure buried in the bill is $2 million for the Navy to repurchase the presidential yacht Sequoia.....Because there was no debate on the matter, there is no way to know whether President Bush wants the yacht and, if so, what he plans to do with it.....Other grants compiled by (author's note: no friend of Amtrak)Taxpayers for Common Sense included $25,000 for schools in Las Vegas to study the development of mariachi music; $300,000 to Missoula, Mont., for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, $1 million to Texas for the World Birding Center; $250,000 to Nashville for the Country Music Hall of Fame; and $100,000 to Punxsutawney, Pa., for a weather museum.

Oh well, guess catfish mating and the Cowgirl Museum are not "front burner" this year.

On one hand it could be said that it is a disgrace that a program "we all" think is vital has to be lumped in with this kind of nonsense, but then, "how you get the loot, is how you get the loot".

I wrote:I actually thought Amtrak got $1.35 billion for FY04, but it may have been only $1.2. It certainly wasn't below $1 billion.

Upon further thought, I think what happened was the Senate approved $1.35 billion plus loan deferral, but in conference it got reduced to $1.2 billion.

Hopefully Amtrak can get some "supplementary" funding under the table to fix some critical infrastructure or beef up other things under the guise of "security".

Jersey_Mike wrote:Hopefully Amtrak can get some "supplementary" funding under the table to fix some critical infrastructure or beef up other things under the guise of "security".

That would be a great idea. I mean security is something we all want, and Amtrak needs security funding, and one of the best ways to secure Northeast Corridor infrastructure is to fix it up.

The United States Constitution:

Article I (The Congress), Section 9, Clause 7

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

I seriously doubt any "under the table" deals will happen.

John Perkowski