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Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., spent March telling Pennsylvania he would fight to save Amtrak funding, but when
it came time to vote for funding on the budget, he flip-flopped and kept the company line, ignoring the interests of Pennsylvania.
He publicly went on record to try to trick us by saying that he supports the president's current funding levels
in the next budget. Of course, he didn't tell us the budget calls for zero funding for Amtrak.
It's time for the senator to stop flip-flopping and coming to Pennsylvania and acting like he is concerned
about us and our needs and then going back to his home in Washington and voting against Pennsylvania.
As Pennsylvanians we will soon have the opportunity to do our own flip-flop and rid ourselves of a senator
who doesn't want to represent our needs and doesn't even want to live in our state. Next year we will have the chance to put
a real Pennsylvanian like Bob Casey Jr. in the Senate so that we have a senator who cares about Pennsylvania and its needs.
Mel Israeloff, Mechanicsburg
Letter to the editor, The Patriot News, Apr 26, 2005
Stuck between a track and a hard place
Bush’s budget eliminates Amtrak; will Santorum break with The White House to support Pennsylvania?
The Bush budget that came out today will put Rick Santorum between a track and a hard place. Santorum, who
is up for re-election in 2006, will feel the heat during the upcoming fight over Amtrak funding. Republicans have had it out
for Amtrak for years, and now during an election year, Bush has pushed an issue that cuts two ways for Santorum.
Either he supports Bush’s budget plan to eliminate Amtrak and continues to walk in lock step with Bush
or he breaks with Bush over Amtrak funding and risks angering the White House. Santorum has already voted to hurt Amtrak that
he will be forced to explain during his re-election bid. Now the White House has landed him between a track and a hard place.
KEY INFORMATION ON AMTRAK, PA and SANTORUM
BUSH BUDGET WOULD SHUT DOWN AMTRAK: The Bush budget eliminates all funding for Amtrak.
OVER 3,000 PA RESIDENTS ARE EMPLOYED BY AMTRAK: During fiscal year 2004, Amtrak employed
3,061 Pennsylvania residents. Total wages of Amtrak employees living in Pennsylvania were $149,652,070 during this period.
PA AMTRAK RIDERSHIP TOTALED OVER 4.8 MILLION RIDERS IN 2004: Amtrak operates approximately
120 daily trains through Pennsylvania, including Acela Express, Keystone, Metroliner, and Regional service. During FY04 Amtrak
served the following Pennsylvania locations:
|
City |
Ridership |
|
Altoona |
31,194 |
|
Ardmore |
38,108 |
|
Coatesville |
5,134 |
|
Connellsville |
3,778 |
|
Cornwells Heights |
25,968 |
|
Downingtown |
25,403 |
|
Elizabethtown |
43,902 |
|
Erie |
8,254 |
|
Exton |
39,277 |
|
Greensburg |
13,346 |
|
Harrisburg |
317,485 |
|
Huntingdon |
4,822 |
|
Johnstown |
20,126 |
|
Lancaster |
305,503 |
|
Latrobe |
3,548 |
|
Lewistown |
9,762 |
|
Middletown |
24,257 |
|
Mount Joy |
23,415 |
|
Paoli |
67,784 |
|
Parkesburg |
22,375 |
|
Philadelphia 30th St.* |
3,690,620 |
|
Philadelphia-North |
827 |
|
Pittsburgh |
123,101 |
|
Tyrone |
1,033 |
|
Total Pennsylvania Ridership |
4,849,022 |
Santorum Voted Against Funding for Amtrak in 2003 [& 2005]: Santorum voted against
an amendment to the 2003 Budget Resolution to increase spending on Amtrak by $912 million.
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