Completing Bush's Dream - National Highway System Toll Way

[TheMastersNemesis]

All this banter about the decaying infrastructure falls on deaf ears when it comes to the GOP. One of the more deeply hidden agendas during the Bush years was to sell off the national highway system to the private sector and let them deal with it. The no new taxes come at a price. The way that the GOP really wants to deal with that system is to make most of the highway system a toll system funded by high interest bonds.

In Colorado we one of our cities leased out part of a tollway around Denver for 75 years to a foreign corporation. And I believe the same thing has been done in the Midwest. One stipulation of these agreements is that cities cannot improve local roads that services the tollway almost guaranteeing that drivers must use that road. And there is no local control over tolls. So these foreign companies can charge what they want.

Most Americans do not know the full extent of what the GOP and big business want to privatize. They are true believers in corporate government as we all know. What is most disturbing about this trend is that most of our commons would no longer be owned by the US citizenry. Water and sewer systems are not far behind these schemes.

And I do believe that the GOP hates high speed trains and mass transit because it takes away drivers who would pay all these tolls that corporations are determined to set up.

The problem is how do we stop this massive fire sale of the entire country?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. Fire sale/privatization and Romney

Romney is linked to Bush

[Zalatix]

2. Quit complaining and drink your purple globalism kool-aid.

It's delicious and it's good for you! Well, good for the global 1%, that is...

[braddy]

3. This toll road thing is a serious problem, even special lanes are becoming for the wealthy

[nanabugg]

4. Tell the Dems to make an ad. Captive audience the last few days of Olympics.

It would be a nice change to see some ads going after the entire GOP rather than just Romney!! They need to be helping our Congress-critters beat the GOP.

[Nye Bevan]

5. Highway tolls, done right, can be great for the environment,

by encouraging people to use mass transit.

[NYC_SKP]

6. Tollways impose inefficiencies. Better to just tax fuel.

Or vehicles, or tires....

[Nye Bevan]

9. Problem there is that hits people in rural areas

where there is no mass transit.

[silvershadow]

7. Mitch Daniels leased the Indiana toll road to

some overseas outfit for 99 years. Of course then he had 7 more years (2 terms) to claim he ran "balanced" budgets. I am not positive, but I think he took a cash-up-front deal, so of course he balance the budgets a handful of years, but he did it with money and assets belonging to our grandchildren's children's generation. And the R's I try to debate this with just don't get that. Never mind that it's public assets. If he can't figure out how to make money off a toll road there's something afoot. Tried to privatize our local welfare offices, too. Fired all the caseworkers statewide and set up IBM call centers to hassle everyone to death, lose paperwork, etc. THere was such an outcry to that one he had to cancel the 10-year contract less than 2 years in. They are critters.

[limpyhobbler]

8. selling off the whole country brick by brick. it stinks. nt