General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAmtrak Food Would Be Privatized With House Proposal -- With Taxpayers Paying For Losses
from HuffPost:
A House GOP proposal would force Amtrak to privatize operation of its cafe cars -- but the federal government would still be required to pick up part of the tab for the private provider's hot dog and Heineken offerings.
The measure introduced by Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio), part of the much larger and controversial surface transportation bill now under debate, takes aim at Amtrak's onboard food and beverage service, which loses some $60 million a year, according to the congresswoman.
The measure's language, however, outlines the limits of what even its proponents think privatization can accomplish. The proposed legislation states the federal government would pay out "any portion of appropriations for Amtrak necessary to cover a net loss" from the food and beverage service. So even if the private providers save Amtrak some money, the federal government would still be required to cover any losses from the private businesses' operations. Amtrak has argued that food and beverage services operate not as a money-making proposition, but somewhat as a loss-leader, an amenity to lure passengers to spring for train tickets.
Schmidt's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. .....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/06/amtrak-food-private-vendors_n_1257939.html?ref=travel&ir=Travel
mmonk
(52,589 posts)JHB
(37,161 posts)...contracts they can hand out to favored donors (oops, I accidentally misspelled "qualified vendors" .
DCKit
(18,541 posts)once everything has been privatized? Once the 1% has and owns everything, the rest of us will have no money, no home and won't be able to afford to travel to and from any job that pays slave wages. The only "good" jobs will be protecting the wealthy from the 99%.
They've pretty much privatized our military: Over the past ten years, Big Oil has made more than enough in corporate windfall profits to pay for the wars they orchestrated. Why aren't they paying the bill? As it is, we're paying twice - the military costs and the cost at the pump.
I don't see where this is going. Once everything goes to shit, nobody will have a decent quality of life. It'll be a hollow victory, but I'm sure they'll crow over it, just the same.
YellowRubberDuckie
(19,736 posts)It's terrifying, disturbing and probably not too far off what we will be seeing at some point...
DCKit
(18,541 posts)YellowRubberDuckie
(19,736 posts)Send your kids to slaughter because we can and will.
The Genealogist
(4,723 posts)Outfits like Bain do this with companies: move in, drain the wealth, leave the dead husk of the company behind, and move on to the next company. My opinion is that this is what is going on in the US right now. After the crony capitalists are done draining wealth in the US, they'll move on to some other country and drain the wealth from there. It will probably be a while before the US a totally used up husk, and who knows what country might be the next target. Germany perhaps?
Justice wanted
(2,657 posts)railroad. They have been trying to ruin Amtrak for years. Not fixing the railroad tracks etc.
Kingofalldems
(38,475 posts)Javaman
(62,534 posts)it's a tastely little product made from the ground up remains of a once great national train system.
Overseas
(12,121 posts)and less accountable. We have seen a lot of profiteering and far less accountability in services that have been privatized. Profits generated through our taxes go into private hands instead of improvements to public services and the creation of more stable government jobs.
I thought we would examine Bush Cheney war profiteering in more depth and seriously begin undoing it already. Military budget cuts could be a lot less painful if we started by reducing privatization.
varelse
(4,062 posts)If 'fiscal conservatism' is the objective, then we'd be better off cancelling the food service than subsidizing private contractors to run it, wouldn't we?
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)manage to turn a profit on its own. That certainly doesn't smell like free enterprise and letting markets decide winners and losers. Sounds more like a scam.
DotGone
(182 posts)suffragette
(12,232 posts)Really, really tired of this.
ellenfl
(8,660 posts)Snake Alchemist
(3,318 posts)Matariki
(18,775 posts)How can you have a 400% mark-up AND a 'captive' clientele and still claim a loss?
Matariki
(18,775 posts)If a Heineken is selling for $5 - where the hell is the "loss" coming from?
geardaddy
(24,931 posts)Fuck Schmidt.
Initech
(100,102 posts)Obama3_16
(157 posts)They are really proving why handing the keys back to the Republicans is a death wish for our country.