Never let a good crisis go to waste. Those were the infamous words of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel when he worked for President Obama.
It also seems to be the theme song of the Left anytime disaster strikes:
The Daily Caller: Democrats Exploit Amtrak Crash To Promote Big Government
Several prominent Democrat legislators used the fatal Philadelphia Amtrak crash to push for increased government spending on the Amtrak system, despite evidence indicating that a lack of infrastructure spending had nothing to do with the crash.
NBC News reported as early as 6 AM Wednesday morning that investigators believed that human error, specifically excessive speed, was behind the deadly crash. The Wall Street Journal likewise reports that investigators believe the train was traveling 100 mph on a curve with a speed limit of 50 mph.
Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal was first out of gate, saying on CNN that is was “absolutely shocking and disgraceful” that Republicans were attempting to decrease Amtrak subsidies. “We should be investing, redoubling our commitment to the quality and reliability of tracks and… other kinds of safety and reliability equipment.
Politico’s Playbook: PHILLY DRIVES D.C.
“House panel votes to cut Amtrak budget hours after deadly crash,” by Heather Caygle: “House Republicans voted Wednesday to chop $260 million from Amtrak’s budget, less than a day after a deadly train crash … [T]he House Appropriations Committee voted 30-21 along party lines for a $55 billion transportation and housing bill that would give Amtrak almost a fifth less than its typical $1.4 billion share. The panel defeated Democratic amendments meant to restore or boost the funding.” http://politi.co/1Ffidix
FLASHBACK – “Why Can’t America have great trains? A Washington mystery,” by Simon Van Zuylen-Wood in National Journal, April 17: “Compared with the high-speed trains of Western Europe and East Asia, American passenger rail is notoriously creaky, tardy, and slow.” http://bit.ly/1O9B0Sl
The Daily Signal: Ignore Politicians Saying Amtrak Crash Is Proof More Funding Is Needed. We First Need to Know More.
There were also cries for hiking spending in the wake of two prominent bridge collapses in Minnesota (2007) and Washington state (2013).
Many pointed to the accidents as evidence that America’s infrastructure was inadequately funded and required more federal spending.
But that conjecturing turned out to be false in both instances. The Minnesota bridge had a construction defect that no amount of maintenance could have detected or fixed, and the Washington bridge fell when an oversized truck improperly tried to cross it.
No amount of money could have prevented either instance.
Amtrak is a safe way to travel and has been for a while. Although fatal accidents are a reality (especially where train tracks intersect with roads), this is the first major accident on the Northeast corridor—which carried 11.6 million people last year—since 1987.
Except in Republican dominated Montana and North Dakota, along the route of the Empire Builder… #MTpol https://t.co/ld5EF15YMd
— Justin Franz (@jfranz88) May 13, 2015
Monday, May 18, 2015 11:12 PM
The leftists always damp their pampers about how Big Gummint does things better than than the private sector.
….uh, isn’t AmTrak ALL run by the big gummint?