Rail politics seen Sen. Shirley Johnson

[Save Our Trains Michigan]

Rail politics seen

Regarding the Aug. 17 article "Amtrak, bus plan struck down":

The lead paragraph is wrong in flatly stating that, "Michigan officials cannot enforce a proposal to divide state money equally between Amtrak and competing bus lines because the amendment is unconstitutional." The article states the authority for this assertion is "the State Budget Office concluded" as much.

Just because the Budget Office, and no doubt its attorney, opine the amendment is unconstitutional does not make it so. Only a court can rule conclusively on the constitutionality of legislation.

The reality of the Amtrak issue is not constitutional, it is political. The political issue is subsidizing notoriously inefficient Amtrak with taxpayer money to the detriment of competing private sector bus lines that largely service people who cannot afford the higher Amtrak fares. The budget director should not hide behind a question of constitutionality.

Sen. Shirley Johnson

Troy

Click below for 1 more Anti Amtrak letter to the LSJ.

Lansing State Journal

 

[Save Our Trains Michigan]

This Sen. Shirley Johnson is the most powerful Sen in MI we have to make it clear she is ANTI AMTRAK and she will continue to be a prob in MI for Amtrak this issue is long from over.Please if you live in Michigan voice your support for Amtrak and tell the State Of Michigan to support Amtrak at all costs.

 

[AmtrakWPK]

Seems like it would be better to have them addressed to all the newspapers along the route, for either the letters to editor or the "In their own words" guest editorial sections, to try to get them printed in all the newspapers in the areas where UP does business. Some of the folks that are Amtrak pax in the major TV markets out there could try to get some TV news stories aired about it as well. Having UP's dirty laundry aired more or less continuously all along it's route might have some effect whereas I suspect it would indeed otherwise go immediately into "File 13" if simply sent to UP itself. Continuous bad publicity could have theffect of depressing their stock price, and that is something they just might want to pay attention to. They obviously don't give the slightest rip about Amtrak or Amtrak's pax per se, and whatever you would send to UP directly would fall on deaf ears if it even got as far as the ears, since it would probably start out much lower. :lol: