Amtrak: Bloodsucker v. FCC Bloodsucker. Deaths Ensue

Let's get one thing straight:  there is a Republican who loves the daylights out of Amtrak.  His name is Tommy Thompson.  Yah, "Mr. Common Man."

With that as prelude, let's examine Amtrak a bit more closely.

...Here’s an update for those who live in the DC-New York-Boston “Acela Corridor.” Outside that area, Amtrak passenger trains are usually distant and are generally known for being dirty, having really bad food, being chronically, unbelievably late on their schedules, still being pretty expensive, and generally being a far less attractive option than driving or flying.

So it’s no surprise that most of the country views Amtrak as a white elephant that is not worth their tax dollars. It’s almost as if the federal government doesn’t exist to serve the needs of the DC-to-Boston corridor....

Yah.  This is "let them eat cake" in neon.

[The MFM] view[s] this, not as evidence of Amtrak’s failure to serve most of the country, but as the country’s failure to serve Amtrak.

The Ruling Class wants its perks.

Serve them up, suckers.

And, as pointed out by Cold Fury, the Amtrak story gets .....yup......worse!

...Amtrak had installed the “Positive Train Control” system on the track where a speeding train fatally crashed Tuesday, but the system was not switched on....

And that is because:

...Amtrak informed the committee it has encountered delays turning the PTC on throughout its system because of the need to get the bandwidths required to upgrade the radios to a higher MHz, which improves reliability.

Yup.  FCC won't give them the bandwidth they need.  Until, maybe, next year.