»» Columnists

Is VP Joe Biden’s Public Love Of Amtrak Putting Him In A Compromising Position?

by Frances Martel | 1:48 pm, March 1st, 2010

» 6 comments

It took a few decades, but Amtrak has finally given Vice President Joe Biden the opportunity to be the company’s semi-official mascot. Biden, famous for having taken Amtrak to work as senator “over 7000 times” from Delaware to Washington, has penned a piece in the January/February issue of the Amtrak-owned Arrive Magazine about his love for the travel medium and its importance in the American economy. The reasoning that Biden the private citizen has a right to his opinion is valid, especially when he is praising something his government has a stake in. But there is something improper about the Vice President of the United States writing a commercial for a government-owned company, especially in the context of the General Motors bailouts that brought many to accuse the Obama administration of corporate micromanaging.

Biden’s piece is, for the most part, a personal one. He retells the old stories of how he would use Amtrak to make it in time for family birthday parties as much as for Congressional votes. He relives the past in a warm, genuine manner, and thanks the company for the memories:

Amtrak doesn’t just carry us from one place to another–it makes things possible that otherwise wouldn’t be. For 36 years, I was able to make most of those birthday parties, to get home to read bedtime stories, to cheer for my children at their soccer games. Simply put, Amtrak gave me–and countless other Americans–more time with my family.

Had he kept it at that, it would have been little more than an emotional customer testimonial too heartwarming to be ethically compromised. Yet Biden continued by talking policy around his story, and positioning himself against nearly every other major mode of transportation in the trade:

But my support for rail travel goes beyond the emotional connection. With delays at our airports and congestion on our roads becoming increasingly ubiquitous, volatile fuel prices, increased environmental awareness, and a need for transportation links between growing communities, rail travel is more important to America than ever before… Support for Amtrak must be strong–not because it is a cherished American institution, which it is–but because it is a powerful and indispensable way to carry us all into a leaner, cleaner, greener 21st century.

Biden is not supporting the transportation industry or trains in general – he is supporting the company Amtrak, in a magazine they publish. Granted, Amtrak is a government-owned business, but it is still competing with private travel corporations at a time in the history of the US economy when the success of small business could not be more important. Competition is so fierce that the market has become a zero-sum game; supporting Amtrak is directly detrimental to other possible forms of transportation that people could choose as an alternative. Writing this makes it all the more inappropriate.

Amtrak, Arrive Magazine, government-owned businesses, Joe Biden, subsidies, Trains, travel, Vice President, Washington

http://www.sailrabbits.com Magister

Though there may be some difference in degrees, the last time I checked… highways and airports were being built with tax dollars; the FAA, NTSB, FHSC, State Police, traffic courts, etc, were all paid with tax dollars; I know that unprofitable bus lines are often underwritten by state, local or federal governments and it seems to me that I’ve some direct subsidies to airlines over the years, plus there’s the whole federal travel budget thing…
ImNotBlue

And here I thought it was only Republicans who were involved in “big business.”

HA! Of course they’re no problem… it’s Biden, he’s a Democrat… he can do as he pleases!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Jones/1384303476 Chris Jones

AmTrak is a cherished American boondoggle that has cost taxpayers billions. It’s never turned a profit and exists solely to employee union workers. It should be liquidated. Let Joe take a bus.
m

Public train transportation is usually never profitable, but is an incredible boost to infrastructure.
http://www.sailrabbits.com Magister

BTW: What are the unsubsidized “small businesses” with which Amtrak competes?

Otherwise, I’ve always been torn on how to make Amtrak profitable; Part of me says that perhaps if there were more than four or five trains a day to my small city — all administered by Amtrak, but two of the three routes are underwritten by the state (oh, and the feds subsidizes the commuter airline with a direct payment)…

While a couple of weeks ago, I tried several different dates hoping to get sleeping berths, but they were all sold out and judging form the configurations available, they weren’t really conducive to a family of four with small children (the perfect age for train rides) because to be comfortable, we would’ve needed a second room.
pyrope

Chris Jones has the right of it. Since Amtrak was created in 1970, it has NEVER turned a profit. In fact, it has received $31.3 BILLION thus far and is now crying for more hard-earned taxpayer dollars. Yet, very few taxpayers have ever ridden an Amtrak train and most never will!

NONE of the Amtrak trains are what may be considered high-speed trains, e.g. those that are so common in Europe, the UK, and in Japan. Why? Our rail infrastructure simply cannot accommodate high speed trains. Basically, our railway system is being held together with bailing wire and chewing gum…and an occasional prayer.

Rail is, however, an option that has great potential, but not for passenger traffic. In fact, a high-speed, transcontinental network would save billions of dollars each year and decrease our dependency on foreign oil if it were used to replace long-haul trucking. Another added bonus would be a safer accommodation for auto traffic on our nations highways. (Have you ever looked into your rearview mirror to see nothing but the grill on a Kenworth? Very intimidatind.

Then, think of the jobs that would be created in building a modern, high-speed rail network.

Any way you cut it, America wins if this project is undertaken.