There Are Amtrak Haters Out There

[Jaxson]

Look at this interesting back-tracking by Mica:

A spokesman for Mica told The Hill that the long-time Florida lawmaker was not trying to eliminate Amtrak with his proposal. In fact, Mica’s spokesman said the lawmaker wants to work with the agency to bring high-speed rail to the northeast more quickly.

As long as Joe Biden is the vice president and has anything to do with bending the president's ear, I smell a veto even if a GOP-run House and Senate (if the GOP takes the Senate in 2012) try to run this bill through in 2013...

“The (transportation) committee’s rail proposal was never about privatizing Amtrak â€" the proposal does not eliminate Amtrak,” Mica’s spokesman said in an email.  “It was and is about private sector competition to ensure that high-speed and passenger rail service in the U.S. is as efficient and effective as possible.

“Chairman Mica will sit down with anyone who shares the same goal of bringing true high-speed rail to the Northeast Corridor and improving U.S. passenger rail service,” the spokesman said.

http://thehill.com/blogs/transportation-report/railroads/193189-rail-supporters-get-back-on-track-with-amtrak-victory

And we are supposed to believe that?

He's just waiting to stick it to Amtrak again as soon as he can.