NEW YORK TIMES article “Aging Infrastructure Plagues Nation’s Busiest Rail Corridor” reports on the Amtrak corridor from Boston to Washington:
“We’re seeing two trends converging in an extraordinary way,” said Thomas Wright, president of the Regional Plan Association, a research and advocacy group. “Ridership is hitting all-time highs on the Northeast Corridor at the same time that the system is just too brittle and does not have the ability to withstand heat waves, storms and other incidents.” …
“Amtrak was created in 1971 to bring together struggling rail lines, and officials have pushed for it to become financially self-sufficient so that it no longer needs federal subsidies. That never happened. The Northeast Corridor routes, including the high-speed Acela line, make money, but not enough to cover its upkeep and make up for losses on less popular, long-haul routes in rural parts of the country that politicians from those areas have fought to keep.”
“While President Obama is calling for $2.45 billion for Amtrak next year — about $1 billion more than the current year’s subsidy — Republicans in the House passed a bill in June to reduce spending on Amtrak by about $250 million…”
Blame misguided ideologues and hatred of an African American president by those who preferred to prolong a steep recession and to spend hundreds of billions on unemployment insurance and other services to the unemployed than put people back to work repairing and enhancing the nation’s infrastructure.
Just last week while touring in Oregon, we encountered the stunning Timberline Lodge high on the southern slope at Mt. Hood, Oregon. It was built by the Works Project Administration in 1937, a program created by the Franklin Roosevelt administration during the Great Depression to benefit posterity. All of the labor and most of the materials were of local origin.
This is but one of hundreds such projects throughout the nation.
But despite pleas from President Barack Obama and almost all reputable economists for funding to upgrade Amtrak and other tragically depleted public infrastructure, the Republicans blocked such legislation.
So what do we have to remind us of the deep Recession? No public facilities to serve our and future generations. No much needed repairs to infrastructure. No investment in education.
Nothing but a virtual monument to wanton ignorance and vicious politics. Are we angry? Damn right we are. Political opportunists and haters stole the future from our children. And they continue to do so today. We don’t have to look far.
