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- John McCain says: overturn the law that legalized abortion
- John McCain housing policy shaped by lobbyist
- John McCain in NH: Would Be "Fine" To Keep Troops in Iraq for "A Hundred Years"
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If the Democrats are good at anything -- and that's a big if -- it's trumpeting how close races are, or how important they are, when in fact they are not close or important at all.
Such is the case with the Anne Barth campaign, impressively feigning excitement because people are taking her seriously.
A press release this week from Barth breathlessly says "The Cook Political Report ... has moved the Congressional race in West Virginia's 2nd District from the 'Likely Republican' category to 'Lean Republican' based on the growing strength and momentum of challenger Anne Barth's campaign..."
Right.
This comes on the heels of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee swearing that Barth v. Capito is one of their top-tier races.
I liked this movie when it first came out two years ago under the title, "Callaghan v. Capito." Same script, different candidate, same result.
Gary is trying to tamp down expectations. Unfortunately for him, thousands of voters in the 2nd district have expectations...of actually being represented by their member of Congress.
He's doing this to pretend that this is so underneath the radar that it doesn't even bear mention. But he screwed up. He mentioned it. Clearly there's something to it.
After the jump for more of what Gary is a) doing and b) forgetting.
Click "Read More" for the rest... Read More...
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Comments, 723 words in story)
United Mine Workers of America International President Cecil E. Roberts will be the keynote speaker at a July 10 rally of union members who are military veterans from West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio. The rally will highlight the issues important to veterans in the upcoming 2008 elections.
Roberts, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Vietnam, will be joined at the rally by West Virginia AFL-CIO Vice President Bob Brown, West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw, and Anne Barth, the Democratic nominee for West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District.
"Like all working people, veterans are worried about our future and our childrens' future," Roberts said. "Most of America's military veterans come from a working family background. They're not working on Wall Street, they're working in the mines, mills, hospitals and nursing homes. They're the police officers and firefighters. They bring power to your home and keep the railroads running.
"So we're going to be talking about the issues that matter to most veterans, our families and all working people." Roberts said. "And we're going to be talking about electing leaders who will put working families' concerns first." <!--[endif]-->
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On July 10 at 11:30 am, Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Congresswoman Betty Sutton (D-OH) will be joined by other Members of Congress, soldiers whose military service has been involuntarily extended, representatives of military organizations and Kimberly Peirce, Writer/Director of the nationally-released feature film "Stop-Loss" to call for compensation for service members affected by "stop loss."
Stop-loss is a Pentagon policy that involuntarily extends military service beyond an enlistment contract. In response, Senator Lautenberg and Congresswoman Sutton have introduced the Stop-Loss Compensation Act in the Senate and House (S. 3060 and H.R. 6205), which requires the Pentagon to pay affected troops an additional $1,500 for each month their service is extended. The Stop Loss Compensation Act has been endorsed by Veterans for America, Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
Stop-loss is a policy that has been disastrous for our military men and women and their families. They should at least get something in return besides lost limbs and shoddy medical care.
Ineffective Bush Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito on March 23, 2007:
"By giving our enemy a date-certain timeline for withdrawal, we are simply asking them to duck into the shadows and wait for us to leave. Such timelines hog-tie the hands of our commanders in the field and essentially hand our enemy a roadmap to victory.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie yesterday and today:
Iraq will not accept any security agreement with the United States unless it includes dates for the withdrawal of foreign forces, the government's national security adviser said on Tuesday.
The comments by Mowaffaq al-Rubaie underscore the U.S.-backed government's hardening stance toward a deal with Washington that will provide a legal basis for U.S. troops to operate when a U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year.
On Monday, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki appeared to catch Washington off-guard by suggesting for the first time that a timetable be set for the departure of U.S. forces under the deal being negotiated, which he called a memorandum of understanding.
Rubaie said Iraq was waiting "impatiently for the day when the last foreign soldier leaves Iraq".
"We can't have a memorandum of understanding with foreign forces unless it has dates and clear horizons determining the departure of foreign forces. We're unambiguously talking about their departure," Rubaie said in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf.
So will Capito accuse our Iraqi allies of handing "our enemy a roadmap to victory" or will she continue to bury her head in the sand of Iraq like she has since November 2007 and not say anything official? Is their any reason to expect consistency from Capito since she so often speaks out of both sides of her mouth?
Happy to promote this. From an email, this MoveOn event in Charleston:
Oil has reached $140 per barrel, gasoline prices are soaring, and the Republican oil buddies just keep getting richer. It's time for us to get the message out - a vote for McCain is a vote for higher gas prices!
We'll meet at the corner of Greenbrier and Washington Streets (near the Exxon) at 4:30 pm on July 9. We'll hold signs and pass out flyers to remind people where McCain really stands on this issue.
...
Directions: I-77 to exit 99 (Greenbrier Street/State Capital). We'll be at the bottom of the hill, at the Exxon station.
Charleston Rally for an Oil Free President
Greenbrier and Washington Street (near the State Capitol)
(Promoted for the Congressional crowd returning today. - promoted by Carnacki)
Did Shelley Moore Capito give her own party a major diss or what?
In this recent Washington Post article she says Democrats are more appealing to people like her than Republicans are:
In West Virginia, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, the only Republican in the state's congressional delegation, said it was simple: As national Democrats focused on a cosmopolitan constituency, her party made clear that it understood West Virginia's culture.
The Democrats "do appeal more to an upper-middle-class, higher-educated, faster-moving kind of voter," she said.
Let's see... is Rep. Shelley Moore Capito "upper-middle-class"? Yes, her congressional salary alone makes her at least upper-middle. Is she "higher-educated"? Yes, again. She's got not only one, but two degrees, including that Master's Degree from Duke University in career counseling. How about a "faster-moving kind of voter"? I really don't know what that means, but she seems to:
There you have it--check, check, and check--according to Republican Shelley Moore Capito, Democrats appeal more to Shelley Moore Capito.
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Finally, if I had ever thought about voting for Capito before, I'd be really insulted by her statement.
Not only is Republican Shelley Moore Capito saying her own party doesn't appeal to people like her, she's painting those who do vote Republican in a rather negative light.
According to Shelley, if you haven't done well enough economically during the Bush years, or haven't had the benefit of a college education, or you are the kind of voter the Republican party have written off as "slow-moving", she somehow still thinks she can count on your vote.
It's as if she thinks her voters are both ignorant and fools. She's taking your support for granted because she doesn't think you'll notice the many failures of the Bush administration. Just 'cause you don't have a fancy degree doesn't mean you're not smart enough to know you're being sold a bill of goods!
If the Republican party isn't enough appealing to Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito any more, why should it be right for anyone else?
It's not surprising to me that the MSM hasn't followed up on this more. I am surprised that the blogosphere isn't on this more. This article is posted in full from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
Nearly 40 years ago, the FBI was roundly criticized for investigating Americans without evidence they had broken any laws. Now, critics fear the FBI may be gearing up to do it again.
Tentative Justice Department guidelines, to be released this summer, would let agents investigate people whose backgrounds and characteristics match the traits of terrorists.
Law enforcement officials say the proposed policy would help them do exactly what Congress demanded after 9-11: root out terrorists before they strike.
Currently, FBI agents need specific reasons - like evidence or allegations that a law has probably been violated - to investigate U.S. citizens and legal residents. The new policy, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press, would let agents open preliminary terrorism investigations after mining public records and intelligence to build a profile of traits that, taken together, are deemed suspicious.
Among the factors that could make someone subject to an investigation is travel to regions of the world known for terrorist activity, access to weapons or military training and the person's race or ethnicity.
More than a half-dozen senior FBI, Justice Department and other U.S. intelligence officials familiar with the new policy agreed to discuss it only on condition of anonymity, either because they were not allowed to speak publicly or because the change is not final.
The change, which is expected this summer, is part of an update of Justice Department policies known as the attorney general guidelines. They are being overhauled amid the FBI's transition from a traditional crime-fighting agency to one whose top mission is to protect America from terrorist attacks.
"We don't know what we don't know. And the object is to cut down on that," said one FBI official who defended the plans.
Another official, while also defending the proposed guidelines, raised concerns about criticism during the presidential election year over what he called "the P word" - profiling.
If adopted, the guidelines would be put in place in the final months of a presidential administration that has been dogged by criticism that its counterterrorism programs trample privacy rights and civil liberties.
Critics say the presumption of innocence is lost in the proposal. The FBI will be allowed to begin investigations simply "by assuming that everyone's a suspect, and then you weed out the innocent," said Caroline Fredrickson of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Attorney General Michael Mukasey acknowledged that the overhaul is under way.
"It's necessary to put in place regulations that will allow the FBI to transform itself ... into an intelligence gathering organization in addition to just a crime solving organization," Mukasey said in June.
Critics compare the new guidelines to the FBI's now defunct COINTELPRO, an operation under Director J. Edgar Hoover in the 1950s and 1960s to monitor and disrupt groups with communist and socialist ties.
Before it was shut down in 1971, the domestic spying operation had expanded to include civil rights groups, anti-war activists, the Ku Klux Klan, state legislators and journalists.
Among the FBI's targets were Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and John Lennon, along with members of black extremist groups, Fidel Castro sympathizers and protesters.
The new proposal is "COINTELPRO for the 21st century," said Barry Steinhardt of the American Civil Liberties Union. "But this is much more insidious because it could involve more people. In the days of COINTELPRO, they were watching only a few people. Now they could be watching everyone."
According to the nearest neighbor analysis performed by Nate (a.k.a. poblano) of 538.com, Kentucky, North Carolina and Missouri are the states most like West Virginia.
With scores around 25 (on a scale of 0 to 100), West Virginia's "nearest neighbors" aren't all that close. Across all his analyses, the best fitting neighbors are NC and SC (71). Some states, like Utah, bottom out at 0 for all three nearest neighbors. Oddly enough, West Virginia is not one of the top three states most like any other.
The math part of his analysis is on solid ground, even if there's room to quibble on the variables used to match up neighbors. Nate chose variables based on what's most predictive for recent presidential voting patterns. For other purposes, other variables might be better.
Via an email, the Charleston Gazette carries an excellent column by the Rev. Matthew J. Watts:
I would like to come to the defense of some of my fellow poor and hardworking white West Virginians in Appalachia and rural West Virginia. These hardworking West Virginians have been the brunt of jokes by political satirists and subject of intensive ridicule, analysis and scrutiny by political pollsters and pundits.
The sin for which they have been lambasted and excoriated is that they told the truth to news reporters and pollsters as they exited the voting booth on May 13. The truth was that race was a significant factor influencing some of their voting decisions(emphasis mine for those bigoted against Appalachians - Carnacki) for the Democratic presidential nominee. Some went as far as to say that they did not vote for Barack Obama because of his race.
Why are we criticizing these hardworking patriotic West Virginians for telling the truth? It is that in this politically correct world in which we live today, long gone are the days when truth telling is a virtue? Would we prefer a politically correct "white lie" over the naked inflammatory truths? George Orwell once wrote that in a world of mass deception, the truth sounds revolutionary. Had these voters told the reporters and pollsters that they did not vote for Obama because he was too young or too inexperienced or that they strongly disagreed with him on some major policy issue, they would have escaped the wrath of the political pundits and the press, and they would have safely avoided being labeled backwoods, uneducated and unenlightened racists. But they had the courage to tell the truth because they had nothing to lose. What they may not have understood was that to have the courage to act like a free person and speak the truth in America is almost anathema.
The Appalachian rural and hardworking poor voters in West Virginia have much more in common with blacks than they realize. As quiet as it has been kept, most blacks had great reluctance in voting for Obama when he first announced his candidacy. The reason was because we simply did not believe that he had a chance to win. We were not particularly interested in throwing our vote away on another symbolic presidential bid of a black candidate.
I've heard that from other African Americans too. Obama's poll numbers among African Americans before the primary voting began were lower than Clinton's.
Therefore, hardworking poor West Virginians should not be criticized, nor should they feel ashamed of their reluctance to initially vote for Obama because they had a viable alternative in Clinton, whose policies represented their best interest. Furthermore, the Clintons are extremely popular in West Virginia and there was no compelling reason for hardworking white voters in West Virginia to have any allegiance to Obama.
But with Clinton out of the race, hardworking poor West Virginians must now ask themselves which of the remaining two candidates has policy positions closest to Clinton's. That answer is easy: Barack Obama.
The Rasmussen Poll taken June 3 when Clinton was still in the race showed Obama was gaining ground. His high unfavorables had more to do with lingering bitterness felt by many Clinton supporters even at such progressive sites as MyDD. Those Democratic and independent voters are already coming home to the Democratic nominee.
The second criteria that hardworking poor whites should consider in choosing their presidential candidate should be their own current plight. Furthermore, they should consider aligning themselves with those who share the same plight. When one examines the political, economic, educational, judicial and social landscape, there are two groups that share the same lot. What groups have the least political power? What groups are at the bottom of the economic ladder? What groups have the highest unemployment rate? What groups are at the bottom rung of the educational ladder? What groups are over-represented in courts, jails and prisons? What groups have the least access to quality, affordable health care and housing? The answer to all of those questions is hardworking, poor whites and blacks.
Both groups face the same challenges in West Virginia, and it is high time for them to come together and form a political alliance to advance their mutual self-interest. We don't have to necessarily like each other. We simply need to recognize that we are bound together by a common thread called destiny. The bottom line is this: Poor whites and blacks may have come over on different ships, but we are both in the same boat now.
The very first place Obama came to begin the general election campaign was Appalachia. Obama's campaign is considering making West Virginia one of the five states that have voted Republican in the presidential races to put more emphasis on. I think Obama should. I agree with Rev. Watts that many West Virginians would realize Obama is more in line with their interests than John McCain, who is going to do to the middleclass and poor who vote on social conservative issues the same thing George W. Bush did. He's going to use them, abuse them, and give them nothing.
Obama's the better candidate for middleclass and lower income voters. His tax plan gives tax cuts to the middleclass as opposed to McCain, who after proclaiming himself a "mavererick" is following Bush's plan to give the rich all the breaks at the expense of the rest of us.
It's an excellent column by Watts. Read it all the way through to the end for a great analogy.
As mentioned the other day, Cook Political Report upgraded the WV-02 race in Democratic challenger Anne Barth's decision again over ineffective incumbent Bush Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito.
Barth issued a statement on the news:
The Cook Political Report, an independent, non-partisan newsletter that professionally analyzes campaigns, has moved the Congressional race in West Virginia's 2nd District from the "Likely Republican" category to "Lean Republican" based on the growing strength and momentum of challenger Anne Barth's campaign to unseat entrenched incumbent Shelley Moore Capito.
"This represents the second upgrade of Anne's campaign by the Cook Political Report in two months," said Mark Ferrell, spokesman for the Anne Barth for Congress campaign. "Her campaign and fundraising activities continue to exceed our own goals, and Anne is steadily closing the gap.
"The conventional wisdom used to be that with her collection of special interest donors at the national level and her solid ties to the Bush White House, nobody could unseat Shelley Moore Capito. Anne Barth stepped forward and said 'I can' and things changed," Ferrell said.
The Cook Political Report ranks races in seven categories; Solid Republican, Likely Republican, Leaning Republican, Toss-Up, Leaning Democrat, Likely Democrat, and Solid Democrat.
The Barth-Capito race began in the "Solid Republican" column, but was moved to the "Likely Republican" category in May. Last week, The Cook Political Report upgraded the race again, placing it in the even more competitive category of 'Lean Republican.'
Anne Barth, first-time candidate and former long-time senior assistant to Sen. Robert C. Byrd said, "I don't believe anybody has a 'lock' on the second Congressional seat. It is yours for only as long as the people of West Virginia believe you are getting results."
"It's nice to be recognized as competitive by the pundits, but it is the people of West Virginia who are driving this race and theirs is the only opinion that will ever really matter to me," Barth said.
On another blog, someone mentioned how today was 7-7-07 and asked if anything lucky had occurred.
Here was my comment:
Yes.
We adopted a dog from the animal shelter today. I last had a dog in 1992 after I sold my first house and moved into an apartment. My ex mother in law, a good dog woman, took Jeb where she spoiled him. When Ms. Carnacki and I bought this house, I wanted to get another dog. That was 10 years ago. She was pregnant at the time and didn't want to have to deal with a dog and a baby. So we agreed as soon as everyone was potty trained we'd get a dog. We actually waited a couple years past that but still it's been 10 years ago since we first talked about it and the longest period in my life since I've lived without a dog.
At the shelter today - and we noted the lucky date - we saw a couple we wanted to take home. But the one I really was attracted to was a dog much bigger and older than we had talked about.
Lucy is almost 10 years old and nearly 100 pounds and there's not any fat on her. She's just BIG. An older woman whose diability had gotten worse couldn't take care of her any more and couldn't find anyone to adopt her. The shelter people said she had cried when she dropped Lucy off and I can see why.
She's an extremely gentle, well mannered dog. Very good with the children, who absolutely adore her
I know we won't have many years with her. She's old and big dogs don't usually live long lives. But we couldn't have picked a better dog in the whole world.
So to answer your question, yes I got lucky today.
It's like she's always been with us.
She follows me from room to room, looking up at me with big puppy-like eyes. Outside she loves to play "stick" where I throw a stick and she chases it and then snaps it in her powerful jaws.
She's almost 11 and last month she gave us a real scare when she couldn't get up one morning though she tried to stand. But I carried her to the car and the vet gave her a shot and she's on a month long course of antibiotics. Like the other 10 year old in the house, my oldest daughter, Lucy has Lyme disease.
But the medicine has brought her back around though she tires more quickly than she did before her illness she still has the biggest heart.
I could not begin to describe how much we love this dog and how much she means to us. We owe her more than we could ever repay. I have no doubt she saved my oldest daughter from terrible danger. Lucy's loyal and when she needs to be, she is ferocious. With her gray hair and age spots, she's the most beautiful dog ever.
We got her from the shelter one year ago today for $15. I wouldn't trade her for all the money in the world.
Home is an invention on which no one has yet improved.
A man defending his home is worth 10 invaders.
There is no place like home.
Home is home, be it ever so humble.
These phrases may have graced our ears 3,592 times, but ponderings on the meaning of home mean a little bit more to those of us in Appalachia these days.
Mountain Mondays will be a weekly celebration of our mountain home in Appalachia.
You see, in many ways, Appalachia isn't what it used to be. We have lost more than 1 million acres of land, along with 1000+ of miles of our once pristine streams, and 90% of our traditional coal jobs to mountaintop removal mining. This barbaric practice has reduced much of our home to rubble, and further damaged our perennially struggling local economies. The jobs are gone. The people are leaving. The water is toxic. And they are blowing up the mountains themselves.
But the face of Appalachian resistance to "Big Coal" is changing...
Click "Read More" for the rest... Read More...
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Comments, 878 words in story)
(There are several Obama pledged delegates from W.Va., here's a nice profile of one from CD3. - promoted by Clem Guttata)
Dr. Betty Cleckley, who recently retired as director of multicultural affairs for Marshall University, will be heading to the Democratic national Convention in Denver.
The honor is well-deserved. Cleckley has a long history of supporting student activists and progressive causes on campus.
During my time at MU, she was always extremely helpful in the projects our groups became involved with.
Congratulations to her.
Here's a profile from the Herald-Dispatch:
"I met (Obama) in 2006 at a reception for him and Senator Robert Byrd," Cleckley said. "I've been a fan of his ever since. He's charming and absolutely brilliant, and I like his values."
Cleckley did volunteer work for Obama's primary campaign in South Carolina and Ohio, and will now be on hand as the African-American senator accepts what will be a historic nomination as the Democratic candidate for president.
"I've never undertaken anything like this before," Cleckley said.
Is ineffective Bush Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito afraid to be seen with her good friend of the past 7 years, George W. Bush? Did she ask him to stay away as she runs against a tough challenger, Anne Barth, and Capito tries to distance herself from her past rubberstamp support of Bush's extreme rightwing agenda?
In what has become something of a Fourth of July tradition, President Bush traveled to West Virginia - the fourth time in his presidency he has gone there on Independence Day.
Mr. Bush marked the occasion by promoting something he had lately stopped talking about - victory in Iraq.
Despite being saddled with the lowest approval ratings of his presidency, President Bush got a warm welcome today in Martinsburg. It was an invitation-only crowd, mainly West Virginia Air National Guardsmen and their families.
Mr. Bush made no mention of the fact that he served in the Texas Air National Guard at a time when the nation was mired in the Vietnam War.
I appreciate Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito. I appreciate her service; I appreciate her love for the great state of West Virginia. Thank you, Shelley Moore. (Applause.)
Today is the day we gather with our friends and family and give thanks to the United States of America; give thanks to the fact that we are citizens in a free land. (Applause.) I give thanks to Shelley Moore Capito for serving the people of West Virginia so well in the United States Congress. (Applause.)
I was greeted by your Mayor today -- I'm honored the Mayor, Mayor Danny Jones took time to say hello. Mr. Mayor, thanks for having me here, and thanks for serving your community. (Applause.) I know, you want me to tell him to fill the potholes. (Laughter.) I appreciate the President of the Charleston City Council, Councilman Tom Lane for being here, as well. Thank you, Councilman. All those who work hard for the people of Charleston. (Applause.)
We've got a lot of state and local officials. I'm honored you all are here. Thanks for inviting me to this beautiful capitol. I appreciate the planning committee for this independence weekend celebration. You know, it takes a lot of effort to put one of these deals together, and a lot of people have been working hard to do so, starting with Spike Maynard, who is the co-chairman and the Chief Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. (Applause.) I told the judge I liked being in the presence with somebody who doesn't try to re-write the Constitution. (Applause.)
I appreciate Mr. Sam Hindman, who is the retired publisher of your newspaper. He's a leader in your community. He's been a community leader for a long time. Thanks, Sam, for your hospitality. I want to thank my friend, Bill Raney, President of the West Virginia Coal Association, for being here, as well. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. (Applause.) Thank you. Well, thank you, Shelly*, and thanks for that warm welcome. I'm really proud to be in Jackson County, West Virginia. (Applause.)
Today we mark the 226th birthday of the United States of America. Last year I spent my first Independence Day as your President in Philadelphia. This year I get to spend it in Ripley, West Virginia. (Applause.)
Shelly told me about the 4th of July celebration. She said I needed to come and meet the town. It looks like most of you showed up. (Laughter.) I appreciate your hospitality. I appreciate all the hard work that went into making this 4th of July celebration such a fantastic gathering of our fellow Americans. And thanks for having me. (Applause.)
I want to thank Shelly Moore Capito for her friendship and her leadership in the halls of Congress.
But no Bush for Capito this year on July 4th. With his popularity around 25 percent, she doesn't want voters to remember she's been supportive of his unpopular programs every step of the way.
Soon we'll be able to celebrate our independence from both of them. Capito came in with Bush, she needs to go with him.
At yesterday's cookout, it was interesting how often the subject of passenger and freight trains came up. With gas prices rising to the point independent truckers are losing money if they haul cargo, more freight is being shipped by rail. At the same time,train travel is increasing as a popular means of commuting to work for those near systems. With airlines folding, look for long distance passenger service to also grow in popularity.
The West Virginia connection is U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall is fighting back efforts by the Bush administration to destroy Amtrak:
U.S. Representative Nick Rahall (D-WV) Wednesday stood up to a White House veto threat and joined his House colleagues in passing legislation to extend, for another five years, federal support of Amtrak, including routes important to West Virginians.
"This White House has a one-track mind with respect to Amtrak - derail it," Rahall said. "But this latest effort to nix Amtrak reauthorization is particularly ill-considered, given rising gas costs that are driving more citizens to rely on the railways."
The Amtrak reauthorization would provide $14.4 billion over the course of the bill for continued operations of the passenger rail provider. In addition, it contains $1.75 billion to help fund grants to states and to Amtrak for high-speed corridors, as well as provisions aimed at shoring up oversight of operations.
Throughout its tenure, the Bush Administration has repeatedly sought to break up Amtrak and to eliminate rural routes. The last Amtrak authorization bill, the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act, expired in 2002. As a result, the Congress has had to pass funding every year to ensure continued, uninterrupted Amtrak service to citizens who rely upon rail travel.
"This current Congress is acting responsibly to extend Amtrak for five years and provide greater certainty for all of those citizens who ride the rails," Rahall said.
Amtrak ridership has been on the rise for a number of years. Between fiscal years 2002 and 2007, ridership increased to 25.8 million and total ticket revenue in fiscal 2007 rose 11 percent over fiscal 2006. Current media reports attribute the continued bump in ridership as a result of high gasoline prices.
In West Virginia, Amtrak runs the Cardinal, a route that connects New York to Chicago and which makes stops in White Sulphur Springs, Alderson, Hinton, Prince, Thurmond, Montgomery, Charleston, and Huntington. The Capitol Limited serves the Eastern Panhandle and connects to Washington and through Pittsburgh to Chicago.
"If we didn't learn after 9-11 the importance of Amtrak in our mix of transportation alternatives, certainly the challenges of rising fuel prices should convince us that rail service is a needed and valuable option," Rahall said. "Although I am not holding my breath, I hope that the President will reconsider his veto threat and sign this needed legislation."
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