Thread: Trump's budget proposal cuts Amtrak's long distance trains, rural airports

Trump's budget proposal cuts Amtrak's long distance trains | Daily Mail ...

What infrastructure plan? Trump's new budget ends funding for Amtrak's long distance trains, slashes subsidies for rural airports - and whacks department which runs interstates

• President Trump's new budget slashes Transportation programs by $2.4 billion, or 13 per cent
• It ends support for Amtrak's long-distance train services
• Air traffic control shifts from FAA to an 'independent, non-governmental organization'
• Ends subsidies for rural airports program
• Trump has pledged to fund $1 trillion in new infrastructure spending, saying it would create millions of new jobs

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.s. Political Editor For Dailymail.com
PUBLISHED: 12:40 EDT, 16 March 2017 | UPDATED: 15:26 EDT, 16 March 2017


President Trump's budget proposal slices away at existing transportation programs, including those that spread benefits to rural and far-flung areas in ways that attract political support.

The cuts are at least in part made to make room for the a forthcoming $1 trillion infrastructure plan, which is being crafted by a task force created out of the White House.

'We believe those programs to be less effective than the package we're currently working on,' said Budget director Mick Mulvaney, who called the cuts 'line-item reductions.'

The Transportation Department budget Trump is proposing would shave $2.4 billion from existing, for a cut of 13 per cent. That would leave spending at $16.2 billion.


+9
Interstates on the skids: The Department of Transportation is responsible for the upkeep of the national road network, such as I25 in downtown Denver


+
Off track: All subsidies for Amtrak's long-distance trains - such as the California Zephyr - would be stopped under the Trump scheme

'The Budget request reflects a streamlined DOT that is focused on performing vital Federal safety oversight functions and investing in nationally and regionally significant transportation infrastructure projects,' according to the budget.

Programs that would get hit include those that fund rural airports, long-haul passenger train rides, and new surface transportation projects.

The steep cuts come as a Trump-created task force is identifying projects and looking for was to fund $1 trillion in new infrastructure spending. The White House has said it wants to rely on 'public-private partnerships' to provide funds.

Trump's new budget 'limits funding for the Federal Transit Administration's Capital Investment Program' to projects with 'existing full funding grant agreements only.'

Some of the cuts are to focus on national programs rather than those with regional benefits, Yahoo News reported.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz4cpWh4wiR

Air traffic control shifts from FAA to an 'independent, non-governmental organization'

That's a big-ee

Yes, I am tired of so much 'privatization' of our government.

It seems our government is doing so many things it shouldn't and very little it should.

I'm wondering why small airports need monies - actually, why they need to BE?

Our little airport - 3K population has extended to accommodate very large aircraft. Why?
There's nothing here that needs to be flown in? Our hospital has a pad for the helicopters.

There's one down the road in a larger - but still small town - that can accommodate a larger airliner. This one is only about 50 miles, at the most, from a larger metroplex with two or three airports to accommodate those planes. So why?

What could/would they need to bring in on those large aircraft? I can't think of anything good - and lot of bad.

Another small town I know has a very nice, large airport. The only ones who use it besides a few private non-jet planes, and probably some small private jets, are the two large industries in town - including a poultry industry that now belongs to Brazil and hires thousands of illegals. Should we taxpayers be paying for the airstrips for corporations, and maybe not so honorable corporations. I don't care if it takes that corporate exec more time to get where he/she wants to be - or if it politicians being flown in for their hand outs have to drive a while.

So, maybe before we think 'the government outta' - we might ask ourselves if maybe the government shouldn't - or maybe there is really no need. Maybe there's a better place to put that money

Also, imagine what better way to move drugs, or maybe people who shouldn't be here, around than through small town airports - no one notices ---- It has happened before, we know - the drugs, I mean.

As to Amtrak, I don't know. I'm not sure how many people actually use it, but I tried to go from Dallas to Denver or Salt Lake City. I thought it would be easy. It's was a pretty circuitous route to get there.

Also, was going from western CO to SLC, had my ticket bought - got there and they informed me it was 4 hours late. People waiting who had used it some, said it was always that late or more. Just wondering.