WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday that this week's fatal Amtrak crash wasn't caused by a lack of federal funds and mocked a reporter for even asking about it.
"Are you really going to ask such a stupid question?" he said at a news conference as a reporter started to ask about Democratic complaints that the government shortchanges the railroad.
Boehner, R-Ohio, spoke a day after the Republican-run House Appropriations Committee voted to cut Amtrak's budget for next year to $1.1 billion, a $251 million reduction. The panel also voted down a Democratic effort to boost federal funds for the railroad by more than $1 billion, including extra money for the busy Northeast corridor, where the derailment occurred.
Federal investigators have said the train was traveling 106 miles per hour before hitting a curve where the speed limit is 50 mph. The accident occurred in Philadelphia.
"Obviously it's not about funding. The train was going twice the speed limit," Boehner said.
The accident killed at least seven people and injured more than 200.
Boehner says adequate funding has already been provided and rail safety spending has not been cut.
"It's hard for me to imagine that people take the bait on some of the nonsense that gets spewed around here," he said.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Boehner's comments were "patently false" because "insufficient funding" had delayed installation of an advanced electronic system for keeping trains from speeding, called positive train control, on the track where the accident occurred.
"To deny a connection between the accident and underfunding Amtrak is to deny reality," Schumer said.when you have a response of convenience those that bare responsibility for what happened will gravitate to that as the answer denying other realities that negate the chosen excuse. there are very few stupid questions but plenty of stupid answers. as to people taking the bait of stuff spewed there hasn't that been the reality of that venue forever they mislead, misinform and outright lie and their members bite as well as their base so Beohner is either mistaken or following protocol i'm going with the latter.
remember Benghazi, they have been trying to pin that tale on Hillary but the same circumstance arose as fact the right wing congress failed to increase funds to that embassy and IMO the relentless ObamaCares like attacks were to keep focus off their failure to loosen those purse strings possibly causing those 4 American deaths, funny they had no problem loosening them to run their homespun scandal witch hunts.
