I thought I would do a “change up” on the few people who come to read this blog and write about something totally different than Single Payer Universal Health Care. Today, I would like to give some insight as to why I believe we need to get after the Congress to repair, extend and expand the AMTRAK system rather than the current mindset of diminishing the services offered by this National Passenger Rail System until it no longer exists at all.

Let’s take a short stroll back into history. Not that far really, but before the total disintegration of our passenger rail systems. Back then we had passenger trains servicing the majority of our nation, every fairly large town and city had passenger service from one of several dozen rail road companies. These trains also provided transportation access to thousands of smaller towns and villages across the country at what were then known as “whistle stops”. That meant that the train only stopped there if there were passengers to pick up or drop off, otherwise, it blew it’s whistle as it passed.

People were able to buy a ticket on a train in Ottumwa, Iowa and ride the trains into Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, etc. People were able to get on a train in Chicago or Los Angeles and take a vacation trip to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Shreveport, Louisiana with a reasonable schedule for the travel. Kids were enthralled by the sound of the train wheels on the rails and many is the night where they were lulled to sleep by this pleasant sound. I know I was!

Today, very few towns and cities have a passenger rail service. Why is this? Well a couple of reasons, but mainly the Airlines and the government subsidies for those airlines. Consider the early days of air travel, heavy commitments by the government to use the airlines for carrying Air Mail and to build and maintain airports in multitudes of locations. Trains used to carry the majority of Americans from the country into the city, on vacations and on business trips. Today, effective and efficient trains service the Washington-Boston Corridor and the mid-California coast only. There are still a few cross country trains, including the fabled City of New Orleans made famous in song. There are also still trains that run from Los Angeles across the southern route to Orlando, FL. Still a train that runs acorss the northern route from the east coast to the west coast, But alas, the days of the wonders of rail travel are almost gone in this country.

Isn’t it interesting that in the REST OF THE WORLD, rail travel is still among the most predominate modes of transportation for the masses? Trains run regularly and on time from Hanover Germany (in the north of this beautiful country), all the way across Europe to France, England, Italy, Spain and the rest of that area. Trains run frequently, services small intermediate towns and villages with local services and they carry millions of passengers each year, many on daily trips. There are “bullet” trains that travel in excess of 300 miles per hour in Europe and Japan. We have a train Acela, that has the capability, but cannot make higher speeds due to the condition of our rail road tracks and that they have to share the rails with freight trains. The Mistral train carries people at 250 to 300 miles per hour in luxury and comfort across France and into the other European countries, on special dedicated rail systems.

In order for someone in this country to travel from Washington, DC to say Huntsville, Alabama and they didn’t want to ride on another of those crappy airplanes flying today, they could take a train but only to Birmingham, AL and would then have to rent a car to get the final 60 miles or so up to Huntsville. In point of fact, Huntsville, Alabama just recently demolished their only remaining train station and the tracks that used to lead up to it no longer exist either. There are literally hundreds upon hundreds of train stations in this country that are abandoned or have been turned into offices or restaurants. An entire segement of our nation’s history is being systematically demolished day by day.

Trains are what made this country what it is today. Passengers and freight were carried across the new nation to build the communities that had been founded a few years earlier by wagons and pioneers. Yet today, even the freight trains are struggling to maintain a profitable business profile. Many of these in-country destinations are no longer readily available to us because our national passenger rail system is being systematically destroyed by our elected officials and the airlines stopped flying there because it was not sufficiently profitable. Now, that they have achieved dominance, the airlines are severely reducing or totally halting service to the smaller communities, so people have to find means of transport to the larger towns and cities where air travel is still available.

Frankly, the airlines show their disdain for the traveling public on a daily basis. Their airfares changes almost hourly, they lose our bags, they make us wait in interminable lines with too few customer service reps, and then wait in other lines to clear security, and finally wait in a gate area to get into another line to actualy board the aircraft. Finally, we are on board and strapped in, and now we wait in another line while our flight gets final clearance to use the runway for take off.

Consider in comparison, a modern train station with multiple ticket windows or you may have purchased your ticket online through Amtrak’s EASY TO USE web site. You arrive at the station, and a Red Cap (yes they still have those), is there to take your bags if you wish. You then go to the ticket window to check your bags, OR you keep them with you (no tight restriction on carry on bags). You then get some refreshment at one of several facilities in these larger stations or at the “diner” in the smaller stations while you wait a short time for your train to be announced (ON TIME). At that point, you walk along a corridor or down an escalator to the loading area (a very short distance) and the train is standing there with doors open for your boarding. The conductors and porters have placed steps to make your access to the train car even easier. You get on the proper car, find your seat or on a longer trip, your roomette and get comfortable. Within a short while the train begins to move slowly out of the station. As it picks up speed, you watch the country slide by your window and the conductor come by to validate your ticket. You sit, relax, read, plug in your laptop at your seat, make a cell phone call (no restriction because there are no worisome electonics), or simply take a nap. The seat is wide, thickly padded and there is a considerable amount of room between your seat and the row in front of you. So stretch out and relax.

Big difference huh? Ever try the trains in other countries?

WE, the United States citizenry, essentially REBUILT the European rail system following World War II and the European nations have made improvements and enhancements ever since. WE, at the same time, allowed our rail system to be primarily relegated to freight trains only. The freight trains now have priority over all rail traffic, when just a few years ago, freight trains were required to pull onto a siding to allow a passenger train to go by.

It was decided that passenger rail had seen its day and that people wanted to travel faster by air so the government put its might behind the airline companies and assisted in the demise of the private sector passenger rail sytem. The Federal Government then took over these passenger trains, creating the AMTRAK system or the National Passenger Rail System. But through the years they have systematically worked to effect the almost total demise of our national passenger rail system.

This strangling of AMTRAK is sort of like the theory that Newt Gingrich used toward Medicare, he wanted to continue to hold off on funding and allow Medicare to die a slow and painful death (didn’t care what the senior citizens would do). The combination of adminstration perfidy, a significant lack of concern by the Congress and continuing inroads by the airline industry has taken the passenger rail system in this country to the brink of extinction. There are movements in Congress and this perfidious administration to “chop” up the AMTRAK system, handing off responsibilities for huge portions of the system to the several states and keeping only the California commuter corridor and the Washington-Boston corridor trains in the Amtrak service. As you can imagine, that would totally destroy the ability to travel coast to coast reasonably by train, so the final demise of our rail system would be complete. Also, the States don’t really have the money or the inclination to assume responsibilities for a passenger rail system. My gosh, they can’t even implement decent light rail for their cities to reduce the commuter waste.

While the rest of the world improves and expands their rail systems, we in this country, in our typical blind idiocy, are demolishing our passenger rail systems. Why is this?

Are you really happy with the service, comfort and customer care that are being provided by the airlines today.

Are you really happy that ontime arrival and departures for ALL airlines has sunk to dismal levels, to the point where it is rare for them to meet any schedules?

Lost passenger bags are increasing in frequency, the seats are getting smaller, harder and more close together with each passing year.

Why do you suppose they feel they can get away with that? Simply because we and the federal government allow them to do so. We sing the songs of energy conservation and fossil fuel independence, but we continue to utilize the terribly fuel inefficient airplanes to travel. Did you know that the same amount of fuel used by a modern 767 taking off and flying up to it’s cruising altitude, would be more than enough to power a passenger train several times the number of people, from New York to Los Angeles? People don’t seem to understand that the passenger cost per mile on a railroad is less than one tenth that of a passenger mile on an airplane. But then we still drive those big honking SUV’s that get 10-18 miles per gallon, don’t we?

I personally have taken a pledge that where EVER and when EVER I have the opportunity I will forego the dubious pleasure of hopping on a “regional jet” from Delta, American, United, etc or any of their “regional” carriers and squeezing myself into a seat that would be a tight fit for a super model, and having my knees shoved up to my chin when the guy in front tilts his seat back. Instead, I plan on going to the AMTRAK train station, boarding a comfortable train car, sitting down in my wide, thick cushioned and very comfortable seat (only two abreast), tilting my seat back and raising the foot rest to the optimum comfort. I will not have to strap my seat belt and wait for the interminable time before take off, the train I board will move smoothly out of the station, on time. After riding for a while, I will leave my seat, walk down to the cafe car or the dining car (depending on the type of travel) and have a decent snack or meal and a cup of coffee, a soda, a beer or a mixed drink. If the train segment is sufficient long enough, I can go to the Dining Car and have a full meal at a table with a cloth covering, silverware and glasses for my drinks. NOT plastic or fiber cups. Then if I wish, I can go into the Club Car, have a couple of cocktails or a beer/wine or soda and network with some of my fellow passengers watching the scenery pass by the windows. OR I can return to my seat or my roomette, get out my laptop computer, PLUG it into the power socket at my seat, and do some work or whatever I wish to do. Some trains are now providing hookup to an internet connection, but the prevalence of this option is still highly dependent of gaining more passengers, and that, in an of itself, is a huge struggle.

Simply put, the fact is that the train does take longer to get people from place to place. It does not travel unimpeded through the skies above 30,000 feet, at 400 or 500 miles an hour. Instead, the modern American Passenger train travels at a constant range of speeds of between 50 and 80 miles an hour, through the country side and provides extensive views out of the picture windows of our great nation and its wonders. I can also, IF I wish, book a cross country trip, getting a “sleeper” room with privacy and the amenities such as a bathroom and a bed that is made up by the professional porters and other train employees. Then in the evening, after the bed has been “turned down”, I can snuggle into my comfortable bed and fall asleep to the sound of the wheels thrumming on the steel rails. A most peaceful sound and very conducieve to a good night’s rest, I might add.

Are we simply a bunch of sheep and idiotic Type A personalities that we can no longer take the time to enjoy travel and use a train, but instead have to shlepp our bags through the indignities heaped upon us by the airlines and the Federal TSA people as they paw through our luggage, search our physical persons and make us take off our shoes and walk on their dirty floors?

Additionally the airlines continue to degrade their services. No longer do they serve meals (such as they were even then), their seats are hard and uncomfortable and the airplanes are almost always full or more accurately “jammed packed”. In fact, in a growing number of cases people are “bumped” from flights because the airline overbooked a flight and someone has to pay by not getting on their flight. The airline, don’t really give a rat’s patoot about your inconvenience. Just consider that in the course of a decade, the airlines stopped serving a choice of meals, went to sandwiches and a cookie or fruit, then to peanuts and a granola bar. The sandwiches and fruit are still available in a “flight box” but you pay for them at an exhorbitant price. You can at least still get a soday or coffee for free, but wouldn’t put it past them in the near future to start charging 1.25 or better for those items. Putting it frankly, the airlines and air travel suck big time now and it is only getting worse.

Next Time you travel, if you can afford a little extra time, TAKE THE TRAIN if at all possible. I guarantee you will enjoy the trip a lot more. I know that I certainly do.

More on this topic in upcoming segments.

Yesterday in a meeting I heard the CEO of a small business (over 500 employees) saying that it looked like next year 2008, that his company may have to investigate dropping their health care plan due to continuing increases in premiums from the insurance company that provides coverage for his employees. He indicated that his premiums increased over 35 percent for the 2007 year and all indicators were that even higher increases would be expected for 2008 and beyond. This is a CEO who just a few months ago was adamantly opposed to Single Payer Universal Health Care coverage. Now? starting to think it is not such a bad idea to get rid of the ever increasing insurance costs and go to a different larger pool of risk. Such would be the SP-UHC program.

Frankly, folks, you can expect more and more of this to come about in the very near future. Health care costs are going through the roof and small businesses are being strapped for money to continue providing health care access programs for their employees. Each year, more companies drop coverage and their employees are left swinging slowly in the breeze. But you can’t lay the blame at the feet of these companies, they are caught between the needs of their employees and the callous disregard by the insurance programs. This includes the non-profit companies folks, the Blues get not pass on this problem, they are just as guilty as the for profit greed hogs for the sharp increases over the past few years. Look for more and more small businessses to become strapped and then to reluctantly drop coverage for their employees. Many will shift more of the premium payment to their employees where possible, but most will not be able to do so and simply have to stop it altogether.

This is not a scare tactic people, it is the stark truth, understand it and either live with it or get mad and start doing something about it!

Now as we move into the late summer and early fall, our presidential campaign is gaining more and more interest by the mainstream media. Daily there are articles on the candidates, what they said, what was said about them. Interesting isn’t it that only the very top tier candidates are getting the press and notice by the public?

Most of these candidates (from the Democratic Side) have issued some semblance of broad brush statements about their version of a health care plan for Americans. But none have made this a talking point for the media. Even though their plans are simply a whitewash and a sop to the health care industry companies, there is precious little about them in the mainstream media.

Naturally the Republicans have said nothing of value regarding health care reform. To them, the current system is fine for the common folk and let the insurance companies have their way. They are also vehemently opposed to implementing a “socialistic” health care program. I find that terribly sad and funny all at the same time. Sad that such supposedly intelligent people are too dumb to recognize that SP-UHC is NOT socialistic or socialized medicine, and funny that they are so stupid as to believe and parrot the political propaganda put out by the water carriers of the health care industry. I may be a tiny bit harsh here, but not really. Most people have discovered that the majority of Republican Conservatives do not believe in universal health care unless it continues to fatten the pockets of the greed hogs in the health care industry, including medical insurance companies, HMO’s and phamaceutical companies. Hmm, perhaps I was not being harsh at all, simply stating the truth.

So far, our illustrious Democratic candidates have shown very little of the concern formerly exhibited by the Democratic Party for helping all Americans, not just a small rich cadre. I refer to their sad lack of a reasonable health care plan that the majority of Americans have stated is HIGH on their list of concerns and interests. What is it with the Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Biden, Richardson, etc. camps? Have they totally lost interest in listening to what their constituents, the AMERICAN PEOPLE want and need? Sure looks like it to this old man. It is really irritating that we, the average Joe American are the ones who put these damn people into office, it would be really nice, if for one moment, they started to listen to what WE say instead of the corporate interests and lobby slimeballs have to say.

Now it is not like we are not awash in potential solutions to the health care crisis in this country. Hell, they could swing their arms and hit several plans across the country. There is a bill in Congress (HR-676) to address reform of health care and provid access to all legal residents of this country. There are legislative programs in California, Colorado and other states that are attempting to address the solution to the crisis with a single payer universal health care program. The California legislation has already passed the State Senate with a large majority and is currently working through the House of Representatives.

So what is it with the talking heads on the campaign trail that they cannot spend a couple of buck of the millions upon millions they are collecting and actually ask the American people what kind of health care access programs THEY want? Do they not understand that our country, the richest, most powerful in the world is 37th on the list of developed countries with regard to health care outcomes? We are almost dead last in that race folks. The other countries have citizens living longer, healthier lives, fewer infant mortalities, fewer children dying young from disease. Why is our country so far behind? Simply because the politicians will not listen to people, only to their big money slimeballs.

Dennis Kucinich, is the ONLY presidential candidate who has stepped up to the plate with a program that has been identified as THE Single Payer Universal Health Care reform that will work on a national level. The only candidate in the eight who are running and are gathering up your dollars folks. It is your hard earned cash and these slugs don’t give a damn about your potential losses from a health care emergency or your possible loss of health care coverage because the rates are getting far and away more than your company can afford.

None of them, from Clinton to Richardson have given any indicatation that they give a Rat’s Ass about providing the United States with the type of health care access that the rest of the developed world has for its citizens.

Dennis Kucinich is the ONLY one of the eight who has a plan, (and a real one at that, with a bill in Congress entitled as HR-676, waiting for action) that addresses the concerns of the citizens of this country and this guy has a snow ball’s chance in hell of getting elected president. He has not the money, the presence or the organization to beat back the big STARS of the election. But he has the right plan, at the right time and somebody needs to get behind this guy and help him move on up.

So once again, we are faced with the prospect of going to the polls on election day 2008, holding our noses over the stench of the candidates and pressing a vote for one of the money people. Not a valid candidate, who gives a crap about this country or it’s people, not a candidate that will actually consider what is best for the health and well being of the American people, but one who had the organization to pull millions of dollars in from the lobbyist slimeballs, from big corporations and health care industry greedy slime. They won’t give a damn about your continuing loss of health care access, they will simply MANDATE that all people are covered one way or another and put billions more into the pockets of their big contributors.

Take a look at the other web sites regarding health care initiatives, in California, Colorado and other states. Look at the HR-676 bill put forth by Conyers and Kucinich in the House of Representatives. Educate yourself on this situation and then yell loudly to your political prostitute that “You Are Mad As Hell And Are Not Going To Take It Anymore”.

You can also let us know by sending an email to SPUHC@seniorcitizensconsortium.org and we will get information to you regarding the program and what you can do to help.

Or we can sit back and watch more of our people lose health care access and the 18,000 who die each year because of no health care access to increase diametrically.

It’s our choice.