You can cover up  'Heated Amtrak conversation' off your BobcatAttack.com bingo card I passed out in 2006. It was a long wait, but we got it.

Ah yes, just below "Nelsonville Bypass completion date" and above "Parking Services Blows".

"...find somebody who carries a big stick."

Have your ever taken a train in Germany or the UK?  Those dudes really know how to run a railroad system.  I remember one experience outside Olm, Germany, when the train was going to be five minutes late getting to the next station.  The conductor and engineer were on the PA system apologizing profusely for the delay.  I turned to the man next to me and said that in the U.S. if a train was only five minutes late we'd declare a national holiday. This was in 1991, just after unification.  Yes, compared to European RRs, Amtrak is a national disgrace.  Either we ought to put the bucks into running a truly national train system or quit pretending.  I'm old enough to remember when we had a good private railroad system (with great service to Athens), and I remember seeing the concerted efforts made by "Big Rail" to make the passenger system as unprofitable as possible, so that they could abandon it and concentrate on freight.  Well, it was Eisenhower who first proposed the Interstate Highway System, so maybe the next GOP president will purpose a truly national railway system.  A system like they have in the UK, which as I understand it, has the government owning the rail lines and private companies owning the trains and RR corporations might work here, but there are other models as well that might work.  Why don't we look at solving problems rather than throwing around political labels?  

What, are you detecting baiting or name calling? Not on this playground, surely not.

this is getting way too personal, but hey it's Bobcat attack so you never know what's going to come up here. Anyway, I've had plenty of bad experiences on European trains, everything from 2-3 hours late, lousy stations and poor AC and air circulation. But overall they're pretty good and way better than Amtrak. But when you can get around to so many countries in so short a time in Europe it makes sense to have a great rail system.

last word on trains...

http://youtu.be/JW1uSmCpQhM

I think you've touched on a relevant factor in the quality of rail service. We in the States are a car-grounded culture. Europe possesses much more of a rail-grounded culture, and I tend to think that makes an appreciable difference.

Yes,I've ridden trains in Europe - UK, Belgium, Netherlands, France, etc. Consistently reliable service.

My favorite European rail memory. My late wife Lynne and I were training from Paris east to Colmar and had to change trains in Strasbourg. (This was before the introduction of a TGV run from Paris to Zurich without having to change trains in Strasbourg, Colmar or Basel.)

In Strasbourg we knew we would have only 10 minutes to make our connection to Colmar. Lynne's disease had her able to walk only slowly. As our train was slowing in Strasbourg station, I told her not to worry, that if we missed our connection another train would be along in another hour or so.

As we exited the train, Lynne said, "Go ahead."

I walked briskly to the platform for our connecting train. At the time you had to walk up a steep flight of stairs to reach the platform. No elevator or escalator (that has since changed). At the top of the stairs I saw four blue-uniformed train personnel chatting. I decided to dispense with my rudimentary French and said in English, "My wife is ill and is coming along behind me."

Without hesitating, one of the train personnel said, "We will hold the train."

They did.

Alan, Thanks for posting the article.  However, the person who wrote the editorial should understand that the growth of Medicaid is hurting state funding for education more than athletics.

In 1980, Medicaid represented 16.9% of state spending for Ohio.  In 2008 it grew to 38% and in 2013 it reached 50.2%.  Most other states were in the 23 to 30% area last year. This increase is not because of the Affordable Care Act which is just now beginning in Ohio.  In the future however, the State of Ohio will lose the Federal subsidies.
 
Part of the problem is that the majority of any state Medicaid budget is that about 18 to 20% of the individuals access Medicaid primarily for Chronic / Long-Term Care.  About 40% of this is spent for Nursing Home Care..  If you add the acute care these individuals receive in addition to their chronic care, 20% of the participants account for 60% of all Medicaid spending.  The problem this creates is that for the past couple of decades acute care providers through Medicaid normally take a loss and cost shift those losses to private pay patients and is then shifted to insurance companies who shift the cost to employers and individuals who purchased medical insurance in the past.

Ohio tried an experiment where they provide Medicaid care at home for chronic care instead of a nursing home.  At first glance, it seems to make sense because it might reduce the outlay by the state.  The problem is that it makes Medicaid planning more appealing and allows those with a high net worth to shift their estate into non-countable assets such as life insurance and annuities.  Most States also protect $506,000.00 in home Equity for a community spouse when they should allow the spouse to remain in the home, but require a reverse mortgage to pay for the care instead of tax payers.

The person who drove this legislation is Senator Armond Budish who makes his money as a Medicaid Planner.  With the new Medicaid homecare program, it helps make his services more appealing since an individual feels they can get the state to pay for their care at home instead of self-insuring and/or purchasing LTC Insurance.

I hope I did not offend anyone and I know that politics are not supposed to be discussed on the board, but I thought this was fair game since the person who wrote the opinion column was placing so much emphasis on athletic budgets. 

Sources:

2008: http://blog.cleveland.com/medical/2008/07/metro_medicaidmess.pdf

1980 and 2013:
http://mediatrackers.org/ohio/2013/10/16/senate-president-suggests-kasich-bankrupt-ohio-medicaid-program

http://www.budishandsolomon.com/CM/ElderLaw/MedicaidPlanning.asp

How much has tuition increased from 2005 to 2011?

http://www.ohio.edu/instres/factbook/tuitroom.html

Looked it up. Big jump, but factoring in semesters, closer to 30%.