THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

And make no mistake, the GOP is making war on the framework of this country. You would be hard put to find an admitted enemy of our country who could plan a more effective attack. And that attack is best illustrated by the GOP offensive against the rail infrastructure in the Northeast.

These troubles have become all too common on the Northeast Corridor, the nation’s busiest rail sector, which stretches from Washington to Boston and carries about 750,000 riders each day on Amtrak and several commuter rail lines. The corridor’s ridership has doubled in the last 30 years even as its old and overloaded infrastructure of tracks, power lines, bridges and tunnels has begun to wear out. And with Amtrak and local transit agencies struggling to secure funding, many fear the disruptions will continue to worsen in the years ahead.

These troubles have become all too common on the Northeast Corridor, the nation’s busiest rail sector, which stretches from Washington to Boston and carries about 750,000 riders each day on Amtrak and several commuter rail lines. The corridor’s ridership has doubled in the last 30 years even as its old and overloaded infrastructure of tracks, power lines, bridges and tunnels has begun to wear out. And with Amtrak and local transit agencies struggling to secure funding, many fear the disruptions will continue to worsen in the years ahead.

But our elected GOP officials know exactly what the problem is, Amtrak.

On Friday, Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, a Republican from Miami and chairman of a House subcommittee on transportation, said Amtrak’s operations were vital, especially in the Northeast Corridor. He said the House measure fully funded Amtrak’s safety and operational needs, although it would trim capital grants and other funding. Mr. Diaz-Balart argued that Amtrak had a “slew of internal financial issues that no level of congressional funding can fix.”

“Amtrak’s leadership must reflect and determine how they can better manage their current funding to avoid these types of delays in the future,” he said in a statement.

Amtrak also depends on money from states, and its relationship with Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, soured last week. On Friday, Mr. Christie accused Amtrak of “abject neglect” of its infrastructure. He said he had asked New Jersey’s attorney general to determine how the state could make sure that the nearly $100 million it pays Amtrak each year was being used properly.

So Congress cuts funding year after year, even going so far as to delay necessary safety measures, and Governors divert funding to their friends so they can build failed casinos and malls, but the fault lies with the victim of their short sighted moves. The GOP does love to blame their victims.