In Washington there are two kinds of government expenditures. Those that are too small to sweat and those that are too large to do anything about.  An example of something too large would be Medicare.  In the too small category, there is Amtrak, which gets a billion or so in subsidies every year. In Washington, that is chump change. Not worth the trouble it would take to pry it from the clenched fingers of those who receive it.  

Still, some Republicans in Congress are making the effort.  And, unsurprisingly, Democrats and Amtrak officials are resisting.  While it is hard to work up much of a feeling of suspense about the outcome, the arguments in favor of continuing the subsidies do have a kind of charm. According to reporting in the Hill, Laura Richardson, a representative from California, is arguing that the country should continue to subsidize Amtrak for two reasons.  First, because we give more money to other things: