Ob-Amtrack

The Obama administration is committing $50 billion to General Motors -- $30 billion on top of the $20 billion it has already invested. President Obama said Monday the U.S. government, which now owns 60 percent of GM, wants to prop up the company and then "get out" of the auto business.

Critics say this looks like Amtrak all over again.

Analysts said the government's hope of creating an efficient mass transit service through a partial nationalization of the rail system was stymied by its inability to get tough on unions and rein in labor costs. The same could hold true, they say, as the Obama administration deals with the UAW.

Amtrak has fielded criticism over the years for being guided by officials with little or no transit experience. Today, Obama's Auto Task Force has a combined experience of zero years in the auto industry.

With Amtrak, the government got too involved in decision-making, leading to inefficiencies in the system that would never be corrected, say analysts. Since its creation in 1970, Amtrak has sucked up $30 billion in taxpayer money, and the money is still flowing. The original aid package from Congress in 1970 was $340 million with an expectation the railroad would make a profit in five years.

Obama's goal is to provide high wages and benefits for his UAW supporters as they make Little Green Aluminum Foil Cars that nobody wants to buy (Japan makes them better and cheaper), as he continues to pump our tax dollars into the obviously lost cause known as GM.

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