That’s the title of an editorial in the Austin-American Statesman, which begins:
David Gunn, a noted railroad-turnaround specialist who was making solid progress in putting Amtrak, the national rail-passenger system, on the road to financial stability, was unceremoniously fired last week.
Astonishingly enough, Gunn was canned not for doing a bad job, but for doing a good one. Apparently he thought his assignment was to make a success of Amtrak, while the Bush administration seeks Amtrak’s collapse.
And this is my last post on this topic.
Bunk. He did nothing to “make Amtrak a success”. If he had he would have run it like a business, improving service, cutting cost, improving product, and most of all admonishing and dismissing the huge amount of “bubba’s” who have made a lifetime career of soaking Amtrak.
Mr. Gunn’s challenge was not to put more taxpayer-subsidized rumps on Amtrak seats. It was to stop the bleeding and reduce the red ink.
What “red ink”? Amtrak’s federal subsidy is microscopic compared to what is given to support roads and air transportation. Amtrak has been operating with less money than it really needs for years. It should have more subsidy, not less.