Subj:    NBC Nightly News; AAA "Expose"
Date:   01-05-03 11:41:47 EDT
From:   [log in to unmask] (NARP)
Reply-to:   [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask] (NARP)

To all NARP members, May 3, 2001--

(1) Last night, NBC Nightly News ran an almost totally negative "hatchet
job" on Amtrak as its "Fleecing of America" segment, by correspondent
Fred Francis. The only passenger interviewed was the sole passenger on
the Janesville train the day they rode. They showed Senate Commerce
Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) calling Amtrak "an endless siphoning of
taxpayer dollars to subsidize a relatively few number of Americans."

The full text of the segment (and the opportunity to vote on how much
you liked or disliked it) is available at
<http://www.msnbc.com/news/567886.asp?cp1=1>. Or, go to <www.nbc.com>,
click on "News & Sports," then click on "Nightly News," and finally
click on "Amtrak, A Great Train Robbery?"

NBC airs brief viewer comments, typically at week's end. If you would
like to send a message, we recommend keeping it positive (and brief).
Perhaps something like: "The Janesville train is an anomaly. Most Amtrak
trains are well used. We need more of them, and I support the public
investment needed to get them."

Send your message to: <[log in to unmask]>. If you prefer regular mail: NBC
News; 30 Rockefeller Plaza; New York, NY 10112.

(2) Another link of interest is
<http://www.TomPaine.com/features/2001/05/01/index.html>, which was
publicized in an ad in yesterday's New York Times. The article discusses
the American Automobile Association's lobbying for more roads, and
relentless opposition to gasoline tax increases, noting charges from
critics that AAA "takes positions on transportation and the environment
largely without the knowledge or permission of its members ... [With 43
million members, AAA] is the second largest membership organization in
the country. The only thing bigger is the Catholic Church."

--Ross B. Capon, NARP Executive Director
</XMP>

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