Just when one thought things couldn't get more interesting, the Obama White House issued its budget for next year which, among other things, ends direct operating subsidies for Amtrak.

It moves those dollars to a transportation trust fund instead-- in an apparent effort at parity between all surface transportation modes.

From the Washington Post:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/02/budget-2012-transportation.html

Now is the time to write your Member of Congress and Florida's Senators to remind them of the importance of Amtrak to our state.

For more insight into the President's budget, check out this interactive graphic here:

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/newsgraphics/2011/0119-budget/

--Jackson McQuigg