And given the servicing the U.K.'s massive debt load requires, this would leave people feeling only slightly better off after austerity than they do now.
Given the extraordinarily difficult circumstances in Afghanistan from the last few weeks, I wonder what makes you confident that two years from now when the last troops leave it will be better than it is today.
In the days ahead I will tell you much more about life on the Amtrak train -- for now, let me just leave you with the thought that there remain few better ways of discovering the many faces of the real America than to visit by rail, especially in an election year.