Heritage Foundation highlights Amtrak concession losses in federal spending report

The conservative Heritage Foundation is highlighting losses from food and drink sales by Amtrak that were the subject of several congressional hearings this year in a new report about federal spending.

The Washington, D.C.-based think tank cited losses of $84 million last year and $833 million over the past 10 years on concessions sold on its trains as an example of government spending that it said was threatening economic growth.

Amtrak has received an approximately $1 billion subsidy from the federal government since it was created by Congress in 1971. But the Heritage Foundation pointed out in its spending report that Amtrak has "never broken even" on food and beverage sales.

The concession numbers were pointed out repeatedly by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) as he tried to stave off a primary challenge. Mica called the losses "staggering," and he used the criticism of the Amtrak food sales to push back against the argument that he was a supporter of government spending. At one point, Mica went to a Capitol-area McDonald's to order a $1 hamburger to make his point.

The Heritage Foundation report, titled Federal Spending by the Numbers, finds that the federal government spend $3.6 trillion in fiscal 2012, which ended last month. The report say the total was 22 percent of the U.S. economy.

"The federal government has closed out its fourth straight year of trillion-dollar-plus deficits, and the imperative to rein in spending has never been greater," the report said. "Because all government spending gets paid for through either taxes or borrowing—both of which burden the economy—spending reduction is an essential condition for promoting economic growth."

The full Heritage Foundation spending report can be read here.

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