Poor service due to being treated as a political "hot potato", many in Congress and elsewhere want it eliminated. Amtrak has to fight for it's continued existence each year instead of getting a guarenteed funding stream, which can discorage good people from wanting to work for it (plus the board being political appointees) and distracts leadership from running a good railroad
• Save it by fixing the marketplace to fill up empty seats (remove subsidies from air and highway competition)
• Remind that passenger rail used to be privately-run
• Let Amtrak become efficient instead of micro-managing and forcing it to wither
• Long-distance trains are essential, bring people out of, into remote communities; also like national parks
• Encourage private car operators by charging incremental costs for public trips