From: marc.gr.vandyck@invalid.skynet.be   
      
   Robert Heller explained on 10/11/2016 :   
   > At Wed, 9 Nov 2016 20:18:52 -0600 Larry Sheldon  wrote:   
   >   
   >>   
   >> On 11/9/2016 16:06, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:   
   >>> What will happen to Amtrak as a result of the election, Trump as   
   >>> president and a Republican congress?  Republicans hate Amtrak.   
   >>>   
   >>   
   >> Actually, what we hate is pissing money down gopher holes.   
   >>   
   >> Our guess is, if anybody wanted Amtrak, some entrepreneur would be   
   >> making a million at it.   
   >   
   > No, actually it does not work like that. Sometimes the "Free Enterprise"   
   > system simply fails. In fact the "Free Enterprise" / "Private Sector" is   
   > *notoriously* bad at any kind of infrastructure. *Non* of the infrastructure   
   > *anywhere* in the world and at any time was ever build by the Private Sector   
   > alone. Much of the construction of the existing *freight* railroad   
   > infrastructure was funded by the federal government (in the form of land   
   > grants in the latter part of the 1800s).  The *entire* highway system is   
   > funded by governments at the local, state, and federal level.  Many airports   
   > started out as millitary air bases.  The US Airforce has been the primary   
   > training ground for pilots.   
   >   
   >   
   >>   
      
   Land grants are a thing of the past, but to stay with railroads of   
   today, have you noticed how efficient the private railway sector has   
   been at solving the problem of Chicago ? They are just getting   
   nowhere... unless public funds are thrown at them with programs   
   like CREATE. So, yes, sure...   
      
   --   
   Marc Van Dyck   
      
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