stash Wrote:
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> Amtrak's subsidy is a drop in the bucket compared
> to highway subsidies. Or compared to spending
> trillions on useless wars.
>

First, we need to separate a de facto subsidy from a user fee. Amtrak's federal aid is a de facto subsidy, in that it is aid that doesn't come from some sort of "user pays" fund like the federal Highway Trust Fund. Using that definition, there is very little in the way of subsidy on the federal level for highway funding, although at the State level there is a whole lotta subsidy going on to fund the States' share of highway funding (e.g. property taxes, sales taxes, etc.)

So to return to your point, yes Amtrak's total federal expenditure is a drop in the bucket compared to the expenditures for highway funding. But Amtrak's federal subsidy is actually larger, since most federal highway funding comes in the form of user fees from fuel taxes and trucker fees.

As for "useless wars", that is a highly subjective argument that I won't touch with a 10 foot drawbar.....