 |
Re: Republicans, Romney, target Amtrak, Railroad Retirement [BLET newswire]
Author: OPRRMS
Date: 09-05-2012 - 14:07
Rich Hunn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Getting back to Amtrak and their contribution to
> Railroad Retirement, that's taxpayer money that's
> subsidizing said retirement. Amtrak doesn't make
> enough to even matter, I just can't seem to make
> sense of everyone supporting another rat hole.
> Yes, I'm for passenger trains but the people
> using
> them should be paying for that service, not all
> the rest of us. The highway system would be self
> sustaining except for the near total drain to the
> general fund, the airports not so much but at
> least they get used. We're in a position that
> reflects the outcome from all these pet projects
> and great ideas that have become little more than
> black holes. FDR, the Great Society, all this
> sounds great until the reality of paying for it
> comes to pass. Yes, war is expensive but even it
> compares with our social spending. We need to
> start over, reduce the takers and increase those
> who contribute and even that won't happen until we
> can get the economy moving again. That sure
> won't happen by taking more or by printing more
> money. I know I'm very much on the other side
> from
> many of you and it seems the cravasse is getting
> bigger and deeper but that's where we're at.
I'm not sure if I understand your argument, unless it's that railroad employees shouldn't be entitled to a retirement system, in which case I heartly disagree.
Whether it's under the Railment Retirement system such as Amtrak and many railroads, or under Social Security for other non-RRB railroads, employees and employers still pay into a retirement system, and that amount is just something else that's factored into the cost of doing business, same as any other business that has some sort of retirement system for its employees. For example, ACE Train is a Herzog property and its employees aren't covered by RRB. Rather, they pay into SSI. ACE, like all public transits systems, receives a public subsidy that's derived from taxpayers. I, personally, don't have a problem with that. I'd much rather see my tax dollars spent on people in this country that sent overseas.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Getting back to Amtrak and their contribution to
> Railroad Retirement, that's taxpayer money that's
> subsidizing said retirement. Amtrak doesn't make
> enough to even matter, I just can't seem to make
> sense of everyone supporting another rat hole.
> Yes, I'm for passenger trains but the people
> using
> them should be paying for that service, not all
> the rest of us. The highway system would be self
> sustaining except for the near total drain to the
> general fund, the airports not so much but at
> least they get used. We're in a position that
> reflects the outcome from all these pet projects
> and great ideas that have become little more than
> black holes. FDR, the Great Society, all this
> sounds great until the reality of paying for it
> comes to pass. Yes, war is expensive but even it
> compares with our social spending. We need to
> start over, reduce the takers and increase those
> who contribute and even that won't happen until we
> can get the economy moving again. That sure
> won't happen by taking more or by printing more
> money. I know I'm very much on the other side
> from
> many of you and it seems the cravasse is getting
> bigger and deeper but that's where we're at.
I'm not sure if I understand your argument, unless it's that railroad employees shouldn't be entitled to a retirement system, in which case I heartly disagree.
Whether it's under the Railment Retirement system such as Amtrak and many railroads, or under Social Security for other non-RRB railroads, employees and employers still pay into a retirement system, and that amount is just something else that's factored into the cost of doing business, same as any other business that has some sort of retirement system for its employees. For example, ACE Train is a Herzog property and its employees aren't covered by RRB. Rather, they pay into SSI. ACE, like all public transits systems, receives a public subsidy that's derived from taxpayers. I, personally, don't have a problem with that. I'd much rather see my tax dollars spent on people in this country that sent overseas.
