Michael Powers wrote an an interesting column comparing the WorldCom debacle to Amtrak.
As Powers notes, WorldCom is in a world of hurt because it hid $3.8 billion in expenses. Amtrak, meanwhile, has thrown $40 billion down the toilet since 1971 and loses a cool $1 billion every year.
Where’s the Amtrak investigation? Why aren’t Amtrak’s chiefs up on the Hill admitting that Amtrak is a boondoggle?
Powers writes,
Besides, if the WorldCom debacle deserves a hearing, why isn’t Congress investigating Amtrak as well? The “company” (federal government) has defrauded “investors” (taxpayers) out of $40 billion over the last 30 years due to chronic mismanagement, incompetence, and political pandering. The “business” has never shown a profit in its entire history of operation. WorldCom’s woes, on the other hand, derive from a “paltry” $3.8 billion accounting error–ten times less than Amtrak’s staggering lifetime loss.
Being a federally funded government program certainly has its advantages. There is a seemingly endless supply of cash to bail you out, and accountability is never a concern.
Source:
StilL Waiting for Amtrak Probe. Michael Powers, Strike-The-Root.Com, July 2, 2002.