 |
Re: President Trump and Amtrak's long distance trains
Author: ConsequencesofComey'sCoup
Date: 11-13-2016 - 12:51
There are a lot of angles this could be looked at from.
Amtrak was founded with the idea of it being a "last hurrah" for intercity rail passenger trains. Everyone was hoping Amtrak would kill off itself. Trump could try to tilt the table table once again to kill off rail transport, if it fits handily into some kind of major TRUMP accomplishment like infrastructure spending program.
Trump is going to be looking for huge things to do that will look spectacular. Killing off Amtrak would certainly be a pretty impressive accomplishment, I mean the end of long distance passenger trains. To Trump, in the face of what would likely be significant opposition, would have himself a battle to win, and to him it would all be gravy, a chin chance to jut out his chin and purse his lips.
Pushing freight: Trump could decide that killing Amtrak would help improve operation of the railroads and make up for the losses in trade from his protectionist policies. It would be a sign of "compromise" to kill off Amtrak.
Because Trump was elected by electoral majority but without the popular vote, and because most of the country hates his guts and thinks he is a dangerous loony, this might provoke him to find battles to prove his mettle, his cojones, his self-worth. In fact, this almost completely guaranteed. If Amtrak comes up in the context of some other fight over a bigger more expensive issue, the killing off of Amtrak could become a face-saving sop for Trump as a result of losing or not winning another battle.
Of course, a lot of this stuff could be said of any segment of the economy. Trump is going to be governing using broad strokes and win or lose type of an approach. That's his personality and what he campaigned on. He feels he has mandate too. And considering the fact he only won because the FBI director threw the election to him in an unprecedented fashion, and the fact that he lost the popular vote by a huge margin, and because there will be protests against him at his inauguration and everything, he will likely seek to rule in a very extroverted and demonstrable fashion, seeking battles and fights to win bigly and thus legitimate his authority and make himself feel good.
Amtrak was founded with the idea of it being a "last hurrah" for intercity rail passenger trains. Everyone was hoping Amtrak would kill off itself. Trump could try to tilt the table table once again to kill off rail transport, if it fits handily into some kind of major TRUMP accomplishment like infrastructure spending program.
Trump is going to be looking for huge things to do that will look spectacular. Killing off Amtrak would certainly be a pretty impressive accomplishment, I mean the end of long distance passenger trains. To Trump, in the face of what would likely be significant opposition, would have himself a battle to win, and to him it would all be gravy, a chin chance to jut out his chin and purse his lips.
Pushing freight: Trump could decide that killing Amtrak would help improve operation of the railroads and make up for the losses in trade from his protectionist policies. It would be a sign of "compromise" to kill off Amtrak.
Because Trump was elected by electoral majority but without the popular vote, and because most of the country hates his guts and thinks he is a dangerous loony, this might provoke him to find battles to prove his mettle, his cojones, his self-worth. In fact, this almost completely guaranteed. If Amtrak comes up in the context of some other fight over a bigger more expensive issue, the killing off of Amtrak could become a face-saving sop for Trump as a result of losing or not winning another battle.
Of course, a lot of this stuff could be said of any segment of the economy. Trump is going to be governing using broad strokes and win or lose type of an approach. That's his personality and what he campaigned on. He feels he has mandate too. And considering the fact he only won because the FBI director threw the election to him in an unprecedented fashion, and the fact that he lost the popular vote by a huge margin, and because there will be protests against him at his inauguration and everything, he will likely seek to rule in a very extroverted and demonstrable fashion, seeking battles and fights to win bigly and thus legitimate his authority and make himself feel good.
