[vette6387]

Just to see what it was like, I took Amtrak from Oakland, Ca to Los Angeles a couple of months back. Really no complaints other than it takes ELEVEN HOURS to get there! The cheeseburgers are in plastic bags and the clerk microwaves them for you. If Amtrak is claiming these turds in a bag cost them more than $16 apiece, someone is taking a huge payoff. You can buy a box of eight of them at Costco for less than $10! Amtrak, USPS, all the same deal. Cradle to grave workforce that’s overpaid and underworked.

[UCANSEE2]

You can buy a box of eight of them at Costco for less than $10!

Amtrak probably gets them for a buck a piece.

The other $15 goes to Union dues and salary and bribes and kickbacks and political donations.

[Vigilanteman]

It has been at least 5 years since I rode Amtrak, but the food was actually pretty good. Overpriced, for sure, but decent.

I've got to wonder based on what you said if the ObaMao administration has stocked Amtrak with friendly donors and/or vendors who launder money for his campaign.

I've been in the vending business in a previous life and know that you can get brand name soda cans delivered and serviced in a cold vending machine for no more than about 2x what you can buy them on sale for in a Costco or Sam's Club type environment.

The same pricing formula would probably apply to a trackside delivery at Amtrak. Every town of 50,000 people or more is capable of supporting a vending service company fully capable of servicing these type of needs AND turning a profit. Every private transportation mode (even a cut-rate carrier like Jet Blue) is fully capable of turning a decent profit with food rates even less than what Amtrak charges.

[fhayek]

Rush quoted Milton Friedman yesterday saying that if the government was in charge of the Sahara Desert, they would have a shortage of sand inside of two year. I will give you another one. In New York State, we have (government) Off Track Betting. Now, bookies have been making money hand over fist booking bets from time immemmorial. New York’s OTB routinely loses money. Go figure.

[muawiyah]

Used to be the Post Office Department subsidized the passenger rail service by placing mail and express cars on trains.

Currently USPS subsidizes your income taxes by paying the government $5.3 billion per year taken from the hot and sweaty hands of hard working commercial mailers.

So, your point is what? Somebody left your mail where the dog ate it or something?

[muawiyah]

Used to be the Post Office Department subsidized the passenger rail service by placing mail and express cars on trains.

Currently USPS subsidizes your income taxes by paying the government $5.3 billion per year taken from the hot and sweaty hands of hard working commercial mailers.

So, your point is what? Somebody left your mail where the dog ate it or something?

[okie01]

If Amtrak is claiming these turds in a bag cost them more than $16 apiece, someone is taking a huge payoff. You can buy a box of eight of them at Costco for less than $10! Amtrak, USPS, all the same deal. Cradle to grave workforce that’s overpaid and underworked.

Yet, these same people are presumed competent to run the healthcare apparatus for a nation of 300 million people.