John Mica's Repeated Blackmail: Dismantle Amtrak, Give Acela to Private company

[FayeforCure]

Transportation panel chairman stuck between Obama, House GOP leaders
By Molly K. Hooper - 02/10/11 06:13 AM ET
 
Rep. John Mica is in a tough spot.

Like President Obama, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman is a backer of high-speed rail. But House Republican leaders, to put it simply, are not as enamored of the idea.

The Florida GOP lawmaker was caught on camera following the president’s State of the Union speech last month telling the president he is the “best cheerleader” for high-speed rail. Their exchange came after President Obama signed a copy of the speech for the 10-term lawmaker. Conservative-leaning blogs took note of the exchange.

Mica, though, is no liberal.



He voted against the stimulus and its so-called “shovel-ready” projects. This week, he ripped the administration’s $53 billion plan to invest in national high-speed rail over six years.

“This is like giving Bernie Madoff another chance at handling your investment portfolio,” Mica said in reaction to Vice President Biden’s unveiling of the plan on Tuesday.

Despite the barb, the Obama administration believes it can work with Mica.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a former Republican congressman who served with Mica in the House, recently predicted that the long-stalled transportation reauthorization bill will be passed by this summer.

Many GOP freshmen and leadership officials scoff at “investing” in transportation, but Mica is far less skeptical.

But while Mica and administration officials agree on the need for improvements to the nation’s transportation system, they don’t agree on how much the federal government should pay for them. Mica prefers more reliance on private-sector funding.

“I’m a strong advocate of high-speed rail where it makes sense. Where does it make sense, first of all? The Northeast corridor,” Mica said in an interview with The Hill.

Mica said he was “teasing” Obama after the president announced his intention to give “80 percent of Americans access to high-speed rail” over the next 25 years.

“[Obama] knows I’ve been very critical of their high-speed rail program. Amtrak hijacked 76 of the 78 projects,” he said of the $10.5 billion that the administration has doled out since 2009 for high-speed rail development.

“I think a lot of the awards were political,” Mica said, referring to money sent to states such as Wisconsin and Ohio as seed money for high-speed rail projects.

The opposition from the newly elected GOP governors in those states prompted LaHood to divert nearly $1.2 billion in stimulus funds initially allocated for Wisconsin and Ohio.

Mica said the administration has spent money on “marginal projects,” as opposed to focusing on the Northeast corridor, that he believes are being protected by Biden, a frequent rider of Amtrak.

But Mica left the door open for compromise with the administration on the issue. “If [the administration] is willing to put the Northeast corridor up for public-private partnership,” Mica explained, he would be ready to make a deal on a high-speed rail measure.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/143139-transportation-panel-chairman-stuck-between-obama-house-gop-leaders

His incessant talk about private companies doing everything better ignores the fact that private companies have a habit of ripping off our government!!

Joseph Boardman, president and CEO of Amtrak and the former Bush-appointed head of the Federal Railroad Administration, disagreed with Mica's approach. "It is critical for the Northeast Corridor to remain a public asset," he said. "Amtrak was created by Congress precisely because the privately owned railroads could no longer sustain the vital public service of intercity passenger rail," Boardman said, and "no other operator or company is prepared to mobilize to take over the operation of the Northeast Corridor. Nor are they funded to cover the long-term capital and operating costs."

Many Republicans in Congress have long criticized the federal support for Amtrak and the George W. Bush administration at one point tried to cut the federal allotment to Amtrak to nothing, saying the move was meant to trigger needed reform of the rail system.

http://www.joc.com/government-regulation/mica-targets-amtraks-ne-corridor-ny-hearing

[FayeforCure]

Since there is a lack of "liberal folks" that speak out here ( many are probably too timid), let me show some of the respected possibly liberal responses to Mica's comments about Amtrak elsewhere:

Brandi
“Soviet-style trains”….lol, by that does he(Mica) mean,.... the high speed rail from Moscow to Saint Petersburg??

All of Mica’s comments are grand standing and sensationalistic destroying any productive constructive criticism he could have made.

I love that the projects were “hijacked” by Amtrak which has never made a profit. I guess he doesn’t know this is because it is required by law to run long distance non-profitable routes for the public good. The Republican party has really lost any last ounce of civility it had left nowadays.

and

"Mica Does Know“

"I love that the projects were “hijacked” by Amtrak which has never made a profit. I guess he(Mica) doesn’t know this is because it is required by law to run long distance non-profitable routes for the public good.”

Mica DOES know this.

That’s why he’s pushing to privatize the Northeast Corridor â€" the most profitable part of Amtrak. Privatize the profits, no cross-subsidy left for unprofitable routes, so Amtrak’s loss increases, giving more political momentum to shutting it down.

That’s the plan.

http://dc.streetsblog.org/2011/02/08/key-house-republicans-aren%e2%80%99t-buying-administration-hsr-proposal/

[yapp1850]

what would like private sector help amtrak build high speed rail or some private company from overseas to build and operate the high speed rail.

[tufsu1]

Since there is a lack of "liberal folks" that speak out here ( many are probably too timid), let me show some of the respected possibly liberal responses to Mica's comments about Amtrak elsewhere:

some of us are quite "liberal" Faye...we just don't blindly follow the D and R labels like you and Garden Guy do.

[Ocklawaha]

Transportation panel chairman stuck between Obama, House GOP leaders
By Molly K. Hooper - 02/10/11 06:13 AM ET
 
Rep. John Mica is in a tough spot.

Like President Obama, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman is a backer of high-speed rail. But House Republican leaders, to put it simply, are not as enamored of the idea.

The Florida GOP lawmaker was caught on camera following the president’s State of the Union speech last month telling the president he is the “best cheerleader” for high-speed rail. Their exchange came after President Obama signed a copy of the speech for the 10-term lawmaker. Conservative-leaning blogs took note of the exchange.
Mica, though, is no liberal.
He voted against the stimulus and its so-called “shovel-ready” projects. This week, he ripped the administration’s $53 billion plan to invest in national high-speed rail over six years.

Had I known the FLORIDA HSR PLAN was included in the funding, I would have done the same thing. KILL IT and somebody come to their senses, then issue a logical national plan.

NORTHEAST CORRIDOR
EAST COAST CORRIDOR BOS-NYC-DC-MIA/TPA
SOUTHEAST CORRIDOR DC-CHARLOTTE-ATLANTA
MIDWEST HIGH SPEED RAIL (SEE AMTRAK MODERNIZATION BELOW)
TEXAS TRIANGLE CORRIDORS
ARIZONA CORRIDOR
CALIFORNIA CORRIDORS
PACIFIC COAST CORRIDORS

“This is like giving Bernie Madoff another chance at handling your investment portfolio,” Mica said[/b] in reaction to Vice President Biden’s unveiling of the plan on Tuesday.

If he's refering to Amtrak, he is 100 correct. See my comments:
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php/topic,11142.msg202913/topicseen.html#new  

Many GOP freshmen and leadership officials scoff at “investing” in transportation, but Mica is far less skeptical.

...And this is a BAD thing?

But while Mica and administration officials agree on the need for improvements to the nation’s transportation system, they don’t agree on how much the federal government should pay for them. Mica prefers more reliance on private-sector funding.

I would prefer the same, but under a formula that would encourage private enterprise IE: RAILROADS to get back in the game. Getting them back could be done with tax incentives so favorable they'd be fools not to jump on it. There is no real need to spend this kind of money if other avenues are open to us, so again, I say move ahead swiftly but carefully.

“I’m a strong advocate of high-speed rail where it makes sense. Where does it make sense, first of all? The Northeast corridor,” Mica said in an interview with The Hill.

Again he is 100% right.

“I think a lot of the awards were political,” Mica said, referring to money sent to states such as Wisconsin and Ohio as seed money for high-speed rail projects.

The opposition from the newly elected GOP governors in those states prompted LaHood to divert nearly $1.2 billion in stimulus funds initially allocated for Wisconsin and Ohio.

And they're complete morons.

Mica said the administration has spent money on “marginal projects,” as opposed to focusing on the Northeast corridor, that he believes are being protected by Biden, a frequent rider of Amtrak.

MARGINAL PROJECT DEFINED? SEE: FLORIDA HIGH SPEED RAIL!

But Mica left the door open for compromise with the administration on the issue. “If [the administration] is willing to put the Northeast corridor up for public-private partnership,” Mica explained, he would be ready to make a deal on a high-speed rail measure.

Making deals and building coalitions has been modus operandi since about 1776 and your problem is?

His incessant talk about private companies doing everything better ignores the fact that private companies have a habit of ripping off our government!!

In other words Wal-Mart, Joe the Plumber and Clarence Birdseye might stack the deck in their favor. The US government can always keep it clean with grants like $846,000 for the Father's Day Rally Committee Inc. Men United Program in Philadelphia. $14,878,000 added by the House for the International Fund for Ireland to promote economic and social advance and to encourage contact, dialogue and reconciliation between nationalists and unionists throughout Ireland. $295,470 for renovations to the International Peace Garden in Dunseith. Spanning the border of North Dakota and Manitoba... and we all know this list has no end.

Joseph Boardman, president and CEO of Amtrak and the former Bush-appointed head of the Federal Railroad Administration, disagreed with Mica's approach. "It is critical for the Northeast Corridor to remain a public asset," he said.

I'd rather see it become a responsive private enterprise like CSX or NS.

"Amtrak was created by Congress precisely because the privately owned railroads could no longer sustain the vital public service of intercity passenger rail," Boardman said, and "no other operator or company is prepared to mobilize to take over the operation of the Northeast Corridor. Nor are they funded to cover the long-term capital and operating costs."

This will remain fairly true as long as the government drains the railroads through taxation while using some of that same money to build FREEways and airports. This would not only be easy to fix, it could be a very attractive industry for companies like VIRGIN, SNCF, TALGO etc.

Many Republicans in Congress have long criticized the federal support for Amtrak and the George W. Bush administration at one point tried to cut the federal allotment to Amtrak to nothing, saying the move was meant to trigger needed reform of the rail system.

OKAY, LET'S SEE WHO DID WHAT WHILE IN THE WHITE HOUSE...SO FAR...

AMTRAK FOUNDED = REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT NIXON
AMTRAK EXPANDED INTO GRAND RAPIDS = REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT FORD
NEARLY 50% OF AMTRAK ROUTE MILES ELIMINATED = DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENT CARTER
PRESIDENT APPOINTS RAILROAD LEGEND W. CLAYTOR Amtrak nears self-sufficiency = REPUBLICAN REAGAN
HUTCHISON'S PROPOSAL TO GIVE Amtrak $60 billion over six years = REPUBLICAN GEORGE H. BUSH
Jan 16, 1998 The Administration PROPOSES ELIMINATING AMTRAK = DEMOCRAT BILL CLINTON
BUDGET AIMS TO CLOSE AMTRAK, FORCE RIDERS INTO CARS AND PLANES = REPUBLICAN GEORGE W. BUSH
AMTRAK REQUESTS $1.84 BILLION AND RECEIVES $1.5 BILLION = DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENT OBAMA

END OF THE LINE, MIAMI AMSHACK...

OCKLAWAHA