#2 2010-10-24 05:35:16
Nothing a war won't fix.
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#3 2010-10-24 06:43:51
Thanks for the link. I hope the article gets some serious attention.
Here in Virginia, the state in essence has leased its most valuable toll roads on a long-term basis (multiple decades), with support from both republican and democratic governors. Actually, the state has used such "public-private partnerships" for "greenfield projects," which just means that the deal includes the construction of new transportation systems as well as long term operation and maintenance. Contrary to the "brownfield projects" like those discussed in the Taibbi article, greenfield projects do not generally include a net payment to the state. Rather, the private entity builds the project and gets its return out of tolls charged over the full term of the deal.
The Griftopia even more convoluted that Taibbi explains, in that the projects can get substantial financing assistance through the federal TIFIA program, which provides capital, loan guarantees and standby credit under extremely favorable terms to sweeten the deal. This is essentially the government bestowing on the private entity special credit market status to private entities who then control what would otherwise be public infrastructure, manipulating credit markets to facilitate the transfer of public functions to corporate interests.
The primary investors are Australian entities that manage pension funds. The private operators have been allowed virtually every toll increase they have requested, and the users keep paying through the nose. Were the roads still operated by the state, political pressure would surely suppress toll increases, and operation and maintenance costs would be subsidized by bonds and other sources.
The biggest recent project in Virginia are the HOT (High Occupancy Toll) lanes on the beltway around DC on the Virginia side. HOT lanes are free for carpools, while single occupancy cars can use them only if they pay tolls that fluctuate according to the level of traffic on the lanes. They are sometimes called "Lexus lanes" because the toll rates can be quite high. The engineering and construction is being done by domestic firms (mostly Fluor), but the long term "ownership" is Transurban, an Australian entity. The same team has another huge HOT Lane project for Route 395 south of DC.
Many more of these deals have been done in Texas with very strong push from Governor Secession. Florida and North Carolina are also active in the field.
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#5 2010-10-24 21:43:17
square wrote:
The sell-off of Pittsburgh parking meters appears to be dead... for now.
Wow, these people are serious about stripping the public assets bare.
http://www.infrastructureinvestor.com/A … x?aID=6384
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#6 2010-10-24 22:36:00
Hello!!!
Welcome to unfettered capitalism.
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#7 2010-10-24 23:56:26
Emmeran wrote:
Welcome to unfettered capitalism.
Felch unearthed this 'Heart of Darkness' nugget some years ago...
(via Project Gutenberg)
===
He paused.
"Mind," he began again, lifting one arm from the elbow, the palm of the hand outwards, so that, with his legs folded before him, he had the pose of a Buddha preaching in European clothes and without a lotus-flower--"Mind, none of us would feel exactly like this. What saves us is efficiency--the devotion to efficiency. But these chaps were not much account, really. They were no colonists; their administration was merely a squeeze, and nothing more, I suspect. They were conquerors, and for that you want only brute force--nothing to boast of, when you have it, since your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others. They grabbed what they could get for the sake of what was to be got. It was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at it blind--as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness. The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much. What redeems it is the idea only. An idea at the back of it; not a sentimental pretence but an idea; and an unselfish belief in the idea--something you can set up, and bow down before, and offer a sacrifice to. . . ."
===
Auto-edited on 2020-08-02 to update URLs
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