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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump just sold off a large chunk of America
This is bad. Very bad. Sorry I can't paste a quote, the site won't let me copy. In essence, Saudi's "invested" $20BIL to help privatize America's infrastructure for profit. Selling off the roads and bridges taxpayers all paid for. Because, you know, taxing the wealthy would be too much of a burden.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/saudi-arabias-20-billion-wager-with-blackstone-is-record-sized-bet-on-us-infrastructure-2017-05-21?link=sfmw_tw
Vinca
(50,304 posts)WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)joshdawg
(2,651 posts)Toll roads are a rip-off.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)joshdawg
(2,651 posts)We both agree toll roads are a rip off
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,040 posts)Atman
(31,464 posts)Unless you know the back roads, be sure to bring a wallet full of cash or an EZPass. There's tolls everywhere, even on wide open roads in the middle of nowhere...no on ramp/exit ramp, just stop and pay some money. Florida is a prime example of what is wrong with this system. Total rip-off.
karynnj
(59,504 posts)Worse, many exits do not have a cash alternative meaning you have to go out of your way to another one. Signs say that you will be fined if you exit without a sunpass. No info on any alternative way to pay was on any sign. We were just visiting having brought our car down on Amtrak. For future reference, Floridians, is there a way to pay on line?
Atman
(31,464 posts)Right along with the candy. Buy a small portable transponder for about $10, or a bigger permanent self-stick window transponder for $30. Of course, you still have to link it to a bank account. CHA-CHING. Plus, LOTS of Central Florida's smaller exit ramps have unmanned toll booths that accept exact change only. Don't have it? Don't worry, just drive through -- they'll take a picture of your license plate and send you a $2.50 bill for a 50 cent toll.
Oh, and virtually ALL Florida rental cars come with SunPass installed and activated. You can still use the cash lane, but if you go through one of the unmanned toll booths (in many areas you have no choice) it will automatically start billing you, and add $2.50 a day to your rental charges, plus whatever the cost of the tolls. It's a total racket.
We had noticed the signs at exits before ours and saw there were lots of ones that either had exact change or were manned, so we overshot our exit when it said we could not exit. I did see signs that there would be no non sunpass exits from one point to Miami, but we were not going there.
I would never have thought to look in the vending machines.
tom_kelly
(962 posts)If you drive through a SunPass only exit without SP, they will bill you with Toll by Plate. I stay off the toll roads as much as possible here but jumped on the TP for one exit a few months ago. Yep, that exit was SP only. Got a bill in the mail for $16+ and had to open a TBP account to pay it. I hope you enjoy your stay otherwise.
karynnj
(59,504 posts)We spent about 2 and a half weeks in Florida last February. It was a very minor inconvenience, but when I saw the comment, I thought it could be good to ask. Thanks.
Response to Atman (Reply #25)
Atman This message was self-deleted by its author.
GoCubsGo
(32,093 posts)Nearly half the states have at least one. Google "Indiana Toll Road" to see how well they work. It's quite a saga, and not in a good way.
madokie
(51,076 posts)out of the whitehouse as soon as yesterday
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)that would be a 24/7/365 scandal if Hillary or some other Dem was involved??
betsuni
(25,618 posts)to be accused of planning it and it's the apocalypse with everyone's hair on fire 24/7/365.
democratisphere
(17,235 posts)to foil their "tolls for all roads" plot.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)NewJeffCT
(56,829 posts)like Chinese investors do now, and many Japanese investors did starting in the 1980s and controlling roads, bridges and other critical infrastructure.
ewagner
(18,964 posts)...when I first read it I thought it was an agreement by the Saudis to purchase public debt for infrastructure..municipal bonds, state bonds etc...
but SELLING OFF INFRASTRUCTURE....as in PRIVATIZING?????
You gotta be kidding.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)This sort of deal definitely pre-dates Trump.
From April 2016:
Here's a guessing game with scary implications: how much of America does Saudi Arabia own?
By virtue of its vast oil riches, the Saudi kingdom is widely believed to be one of the biggest owners of U.S. debt.
http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/19/investing/saudi-arabia-threat-dump-us-assets-911-bill/
Atman
(31,464 posts)This is about owning/controlling actual INFRASTRUCTURE. And, as the article points out (or maybe it was Robert Reich commenting on the article), investors like this will only want to invest in infrastructure that will make them money, like a high-priced toll on a vital bridge. Small towns who need water supplies, or their own small roads fixed, they'll get nothing because they wont be any money in it for the investors. Sadly, this was ANOTHER one of Trump's promises that were ignored by the electorate because, you know, emails. Ironically, this will be one of the only promises he's actually kept so far.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf countries are scooping up farmland in drought-afflicted regions of the U.S. Southwest, and that has some people in California and Arizona seeing red.
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/15/saudi-arabia-buying-up-farmland-in-us-southwest.html
TexasProgresive
(12,158 posts)Saudi Arabia joined the parade of investors into U.S. public works by pledging a record investment with Blackstone Group LP.
The countrys Public Investment Fund agreed to commit $20 billion to Blackstones BX, +4.85% new infrastructure fund in the latest push around the world by large investors to buy up airports, pipelines and other public projects, particularly in the U.S.
Blackstone said Saturday the kingdoms money would seed an investment fund that the New York private-equity giant hopes will reach $40 billion and have spending power of up to $100 billion once debt is added to the mix.
Towlie
(5,328 posts)... or use a plug-in like NoScript.
TexasProgresive
(12,158 posts)I've run into a few, very few, sites that block copy and paste, and I always try to get around it just for spite.
Atman
(31,464 posts)The Marketwatch site apparently blocked the Copy feature. It would highlight as usual when I pressed the text, but would immediately go away when I lifted/moved my finger.
TexasProgresive
(12,158 posts)The evil empire is at it again.
I have trouble competently copying on my iPhone. Often I end up highlighting not what I want. Thanks for the update
angrychair
(8,733 posts)So will the Saudi-based Bin Laden Construction (whatever they call themselves now) get the contracts for the road construction?
BlueJac
(7,838 posts)it is like you are in Disney parks, pay roads everywhere.
SticksnStones
(2,108 posts)It now costs $15 to cross the George Washington Bridge...that's just a regular car, crossing the bridge.
What's the limit, I wonder. $30, $40, $50?
At what point is the toll demonstrably exorbitant?
A HERETIC I AM
(24,377 posts)SticksnStones
(2,108 posts)Politicians see tolls as the cash cow just waiting to be milked...
A HERETIC I AM
(24,377 posts)5 axle "Class 7" tractor trailer weighing up to 80,000 pounds
Yeah. Driving a big truck in the NE isn't cheap. Glad I don't have to do it anymore
https://turnpikeinfo.com/toll-calculator.php?road_name=pennsylvania-turnpike&state=pennsylvania
Atman
(31,464 posts)Yup, not a single toll road in Connecticut, but it's a tiny state. Cross the line into NY or MA and be prepared to pay up. But wait...Connecticut is also severely in debt, so there is a proposal to now spend about $450,000,000 to replace the tolls that they already spend $200,000,000 to remove. Gotta love bureaucracy.
A HERETIC I AM
(24,377 posts)In fact, back then driving north on I 95 from the south, your first toll was south of Petersburg, Virginia, and with only a few miles excepted, you were paying tolls all the way into Rhode Island!
Atman
(31,464 posts)Besides the $900 in tolls, if you make it through without damage to your car, you're lucky.
To be fair, both New Haven and Providence have done very extensive re-boots of the highway in the last few years. But in the old days, when there were tolls, that stretch from NYC to Providence was a hair-raising experience, not for the faint of heart. We still avoid it all cost, and come up through Brewster, NY and take 84 East. It still sucks, but the final toll is the Tappan Zee, then relatively clear sailing. Especially if you can do it late at night or at 4:00 am.
A HERETIC I AM
(24,377 posts)Not only driven it in a car, but more times in a big truck than I can count!
Atman
(31,464 posts)The lane are only big enough for a Honda Civic. No margin for error.
duncang
(1,907 posts)gov. goodhair showed how selling out land to make companies rich would get him campaign money. Then when the toll roads failed they pretty much became a junk bond and an extra tax burden for Texans.
"Before Texas could implement the plan, the governor needed 10 changes in Texas law. One would give the Texas Department of Transportation authority to acquire private property through quick condemnations. Another would allow TxDOT to grant private organizations the right to develop all types of transportation projects anywhere in Texas. Perry also wanted and got the authority to hold toll revenues outside the state treasury, assign ownership of those toll revenues to corporate developers, allow the issuance of bonds to finance the corridor, and remove all restrictions on the number of projects that TxDOT could pursue. He also wanted an exemption from federal environmental laws for those projects that had no federal funding. In short, the governor sought a free rein."
https://www.texasobserver.org/2883-the-wrong-of-way-texas-highways-for-lease/
Remember the same person who dipshit donnie likes said he thought Texas should look into ceding from the U.S. then later attempted a run for prez. acting like he was a patriot.
IronLionZion
(45,528 posts)If it's for profit, then they would be putting tolls on roads and bridges and tunnels in busy cities where workers will have to pay each day to use it.
They won't be building up infrastructure in less populated areas like many red states or the rust belt which has people moving out. The Times is British and doesn't seem to know the difference.
Sure, they'll create some construction jobs to build it. But over the long term, that toll money is going overseas and won't help our economy. I suppose the alternative is to not have infrastructure at all so we take what we can get until we can win the next election.
Atman
(31,464 posts)"Saudi Arabia just joined the parade of investors into U.S. public works by pledging a record $20 billion investment with Blackstone Groups new infrastructure fund.
Its the latest push around the world by large investors to buy up U.S. airports, roads, bridges, water systems, and other public projects.
Rather than taxing the wealthy and then using the money to fix our dangerously outdated infrastructure, the states and the federal government increasingly are giving rich investors tax credits to encourage them to do it.
The investors then charge tolls and user fees, and earn big profits.
So the public pays twice once when we subsidize the investors with our tax dollars, and then again when we pay the tolls and user fees that also go into their pockets.
We dont even get the infrastructure thats most needed. Projects most attractive to investors are those whose tolls and fees bring in the biggest bucks giant mega-projects like major new throughways and new bridges.
Not the thousands of smaller bridges, airports, pipes, and water treatment facilities most in need of repair. Not the needs of rural communities and smaller cities and towns too small to generate the tolls and other user fees equity investors want. Not clean energy.
To really make America great again we need more and better infrastructure thats for the public not for big developers and investors. And the only way we get that is if corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes.
What do you think?"
https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FRBReich%2Fposts%2F1574933892519201
dalton99a
(81,578 posts)Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)Squinch
(51,007 posts)to get an attention span.
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)Saudi Arabia joined the parade of investors into U.S. public works by pledging a record investment with Blackstone Group LP.
The countrys Public Investment Fund agreed to commit $20 billion to Blackstones BX, +6.73% new infrastructure fund in the latest push around the world by large investors to buy up airports, pipelines and other public projects, particularly in the U.S.
Blackstone said Saturday the kingdoms money would seed an investment fund that the New York private-equity giant hopes will reach $40 billion and have spending power of up to $100 billion once debt is added to the mix. .....................