Thursday, August 02, 2012

What Government Investment Gets You

The Washington Examiner reports the shocking but unsurprising news that Amtrak, our Republic's "investment" in "green transportation" in the form of 19th-century rail technology, has lost $833 million over the last decade in the sale of food on its trains.

For perspective, note from the brief article that:

  • the cost of a cheeseburger and Pepsi for a passenger is about $11.50
  • the cost of the same to the taxpayer is nearly $20
  • [the cost of the same at Five Guys* is about $8, and it's Coke instead of Pepsi, not to mention a fantastic cheeseburger, for a better overall experience]
  • the loss in Amtrak food services per Amtrak food service employee is just shy of $70k per employee for last year alone
  • last year's losses were less than previous years
  • the food service is bound by law not to lose money
Remember this when you're asked this fall to vote for the President who will "invest in our country's future" and not for the fellow who spent most of his adult life making profitable investments and turning around insolvent operations.

We won't even mention "high speed rail" and all that.

_____________________
*The president of Five Guys refuses to articulate his position on the polyandrous same-sex marriages that the company's name seems to support.

2 comments:

Tom_Ky said...

"*The president of Five Guys refuses to articulate his position on the polyandrous same-sex marriages that the company's name seems to support."

GROAN!

Anonymous said...

Quoth the auditor, "Nevermore"