An Amtrak train leaves the station.

Recently on a Tuesday night, an Amtrak train spectacularly derailed on its way through Philadelphia, killing at least seven people. The following morning, a House appropriations subcommittee voted to cut federal funding for Amtrak by about 20 percent. Those are two dots Republicans don’t want you to connect.

“Don’t use this tragedy in that way,” Rep. Mike Simpson is quoted in a Politico article as saying, after Democrats on the appropriations subcommittee for transportation and housing criticized Republicans for proposing and eventually approving the cuts.

The vote took place before news reports that the train may have been going around a curve at speeds of about 100 miles per hour when the derailment occurred. If those reports had surfaced earlier, the Republican objections to linking budget cuts to the derailment would likely have been much louder.

The objections would also have been equally out of line. Here are a couple of issues to consider.

First, there’s the site of the crash itself, which the New […]