Amtrak Food Would Be Privatized With House Proposal -- With Taxpayers Paying For Losses

[marmar]

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]

1. Just what we need. More crony capitalism.

[JHB]

8. Right. they're not worried about money lost, what they want is...

...contracts they can hand out to favored donors (oops, I accidentally misspelled "qualified vendors&quot .

[DCKit]

2. What services do the Republics and (D)-corporates think anyone will be able to afford...

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]

13. Read the Hunger Games.

It's terrifying, disturbing and probably not too far off what we will be seeing at some point...

[DCKit]

14. Bum Fights for the Masses. Cheery. nt

[YellowRubberDuckie]

19. It's more punishment for daring to defy the Capitol.

Send your kids to slaughter because we can and will.

[The Genealogist]

21. They'll just move on to another country that has wealth

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]

3. I won't be surprise if Airlines are the next company. Though this could be another "death nail" in

railroad. They have been trying to ruin Amtrak for years. Not fixing the railroad tracks etc.

[Kingofalldems]

4. Anything Schmidt proposes should be ignored

[Javaman]

5. Coming soon to a train near you: the McRail.

it's a tastely little product made from the ground up remains of a once great national train system.

[Overseas]

6. I hope it is defeated. Privatization makes things much more expensive

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.

[xchrom]

7. ...

[varelse]

9. I believe this sort of thing used to be labeled "pork barrel politics"

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]

10. Even when the private company loses, it wins--our money diverted into its coffers when it can't

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]

15. I'll bet we'll see some Hollywood accounting n/t

[suffragette]

11. More union busting, with the added bonus of privatizing profit and socializing loss

Really, really tired of this.

[ellenfl]

12. if it's a losing proposition, how will a private company make a profit? eom

[Snake Alchemist]

16. I'm just trying to figure out how it loses 60 million a year on overpriced food now? nt

[Matariki]

18. Yep. I have that same question.

How can you have a 400% mark-up AND a 'captive' clientele and still claim a loss?

[Matariki]

17. I don't get it

If a Heineken is selling for $5 - where the hell is the "loss" coming from?

[geardaddy]

20. Fuck, is that turd still in office?

Fuck Schmidt.

[Initech]

22. More handouts for the uber rich.

[Obama3_16]

23. Schmidt is already a horrible woman. Why the hell should they privatize the food&beverage? STUPID!

They are really proving why handing the keys back to the Republicans is a death wish for our country.