Why Amtrak Sucks

The concept is pretty simple.  Provide mass transportation that is as fast as or faster than driving.  If priced around what gas and tolls cost people will ride.

If you can provide a comfortable setting, clean bathrooms, good food and drink... It will become popular and I would venture actually make money.

Right now Amtrak only manages to meet one of those criteria in that the cars are comfortable.  So why does Amtrak consistently lose money?  For starters they can't even make money selling concessions to a captive audience.

The railroad's inspector general audited by the GAO concluded Amtrak loses about $80 million a year selling food. From 2002 to 2012 Amtrak's food service lost $834 million.  For example Amtrak charges about $2 for a soft drink while costing taxpayers about $3.40 and don't even think about a hamburger that costs taxpayers $16 and tastes like...

My suggestion is to have the federal government take full responsible for the tracks, crossings, bridges, etc... while fostering competition among more than one rail company.  Who knows, one day Norfolk Southern, CSX, Union Pacific or BSNF might offer something akin to the Uber ride service.  However, right now that’s just a pipe dream even as Amtrak’s losses decreased to only $227,000,000 in 2014. 

Amount of Warming Not Settled

Various government and institutional studies indicate the Earth has warmed since 1900 by:

1.40 1.53 0.95 1.30 1.35 1.50 1.26 1.30 

degrees Fahrenheit (my best calculation is 1.32 degrees) and sea levels have risen about 8.5 inches.

Isotopic study indicates man has increased global CO2 by 33% during this time period.  
But is the CO2 increase causing this warming?  Do umbrellas cause rain?

MIT Climate Scientist Dr. Richard Lindzen: "Demonization of CO2 is irrational at best and even modest warming is mostly beneficial." "When someone says this is the warmest temperature on record. What are they talking about? It’s just nonsense. This is a very tiny change period."

Princeton Physicist Dr. Will Happer:  "Policies to slow CO2 emissions are really based on nonsense. We are being led down a false path. To call carbon dioxide a pollutant is really Orwellian. You are calling something a pollutant that we all produce. Where does that lead us eventually?"

Greenpeace Co-Founder Dr. Patrick Moore:  "We are dealing with pure political propaganda that has nothing to do with science."

* Update - Turns out I keep forgetting to mention my main point. Humans continue to actually pollute on levels that are frightening for the planet an this must be addressed. Everyday pollution goes hand in hand with developing countries so why not focus on helping free a billion plus people from unbelievable poverty?

* "Isotopic study indicates man has increased global CO2 by 33% during this time period." Turns out this is wrong. Most scientists are now indicating a warming planet/oceans actually contribute more to the CO2 increases than mankind. A good guess is that fossil fuel burning is directly responsible for less than 1/3 of the CO2 increase. Who knew?