Cuomo Threatening to Privatize NY Infrastructure Investment

[xchrom]

http://wepartypatriots.com/wp/2012/03/26/cuomo-threatening-to-privatize-ny-infrastructure-investment/

Andrew Cuomo has become the latest Governor to pursue privatization of infrastructure investment for his stae. According to Bloomberg.com, “Cuomo has proposed a $15 billion infrastructure fund that includes state and federal dollars and $3 billion in private investment.” This represents a less drastic interest in privatization than was displayed by Ohio Governor John Kasich and Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, the latter of whom lost $209 million dollars in 2010 on one tollway alone, but has nonetheless sparked criticism:

The state could fund projects more cheaply on its own, said Frank Mauro, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, a Latham, New York-based research and education organization backed by organized labor.

“There’s no real logic to public-private partnerships,” Mauro said in a telephone interview. “If there’s a stream of revenue that makes a project desirable to a private investor, then the same stream could be used for public borrowing at tax- exempt rates.”

A transportation bill approved by the U.S. Senate this month includes an amendment meant to discourage states from leasing by excluding privately operated toll roads from the formula that calculates U.S. highway aid.

The hot-button infrastructure project in question is the Tappan Zee Bridge, a bridge originally completed in 1955 that crosses the Hudson River to the North of New York City proper. Cuomo’s argument for privatization hinges, in part, on the fact that it seeks only to lease, not sell, state assets:

Governor Andrew Cuomo is seeking legislation that would allow private-equity firms to help finance construction of public-works projects, including a new $5.2 billion Tappan Zee Bridge.

[Fawke Em]

1. We really need to call this "corporitization" instead of

"privatization."

Because that is what this really is and lets the reader know what this is.

I know you didn't write it, but I would have put that in the headline.

[xchrom]

2. ...

[Fawke Em]

5. Cool! Glad you agree!

We need to speak more in terms that people get instead of the "pretty, sanitized" terms our GOP and Blue Dogs have foisted on us.

[think]

3. Much more fitting description...

[Arkana]

4. All the more reason to stop him winning the Democratic primaries in 2016.

He's going to run, and unless we find someone good to challenge him he'll win.