Privatization At The Heart Of Divisive Battles In Wisconsin (article mentions ALEC's role)

[highplainsdem]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/17/privatization-wisconsin_n_873871.html

Privatization At The Heart Of Divisive Battles In Wisconsin
Posted: 06/17/11 03:09 PM ET
Amanda Terkel


WASHINGTON -- Milwaukee's Mitchell Airport is in good shape. Last year, it was the fastest-growing airport in the United States and one of the top airports in the world. It's been picking up business from northern Illinois and is marketing itself as an alternative to Chicago's busy O'Hare International Airport.

But in 2008, Scott Walker, Wisconsin's Republican governor who was then the Milwaukee County executive, was pushing hard to sell off the airport, arguing for a deal that would generate $25 million annually for the county transit system.

-snipping paragraphs about other planned and botched attempts at privatization when Walker was Milwaukee county executive-

Walker, as the nation would come to learn, wasn't content to sell off assets at the local level. The project that he embarked on as a freshman governor in 2011 is little more than an extension of the philosophy he displayed as county executive: Walker is trying to undo the social contract and replace it with a private one.

-snip-

The American Legislative Exchange Council is one of the groups most actively advocating privatization nationwide. It has 2,500 legislative members, which is about a third of all state lawmakers around the country. One of its most valuable functions is crafting model legislation that lawmakers can then use to propose real bills in their own states. In the past few years, ALEC-inspired legislation has been popping up with increased frequency around the country.

-snip-

I've posted before about the push to privatize Milwaukee government assets and ALEC's role. That's linked to from the long compilation topic on the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) (see reply 229 there, which links to a separate topic about the plans for financial martial law in Wisconsin). I've posted about this at Daily Kos, too: Scott Walker: Wanna buy some public land? Have I got a Milwaukee park for you!.

This new Huffington Post article brings up ALEC's role in urging states to privatize and sell off assets, which is more obvious than ever now that ALEC has launched its "Publicopoly" initiative.

But the article also says ALEC's Public Affairs director told HuffPo that ALEC hasn't been involved with Walker or collective bargaining "in any way, shape or form" (ALEC's attempt to dissociate itself from some of the more toxic and widely unpopular results of its policies).

That isn't true.

The simple fact is that Walker's controversial, union-busting budget repair bill was written by a former ALEC state chair (Mike Huebsch, Department of Administration Secretary), and other current and former ALEC state chairs hold key positions in the legislature (see reply 258 in the compilation topic, and the separate topic it links to). ALEC's goals run counter to unions, so union-busting has to be a goal as well, even if it isn't publicly stated.

Privatization of government assets is controversial, too. Walker has tried to distance himself from the plans to declare a financial emergency in Milwaukee so the state can sell off Milwaukee assets, but his links to those plans are obvious.

ALEC is much more open now about its goal of privatizing government services and selling off government assets. Remember, ALEC is dominated by private sector members. No piece of ALEC model legislation is ever given final approval by public sector members until its private sector members, representing corporations and the wealthy, have approved it. Those private sector members are eager to make more money off government assets and services.

Despite the innocent-sounding rationales offered, this is not being done to help government and citizens. Like Walker's planned deal to privatize Milwaukee's rapidly growing, profitable airport for a fixed amount for the county each year, with the buyer making more and more money off the deal each year, these are deals meant to enrich donors and cronies.

And because of ALEC's dangerous influence, this push to privatize government assets -- to skim off the most profitable government assets for the private sector -- is happening across the country, not just in Wisconsin.

[Scuba]

1. Thank you for posting this!!!

[highplainsdem]

2. Thanks, Scuba!

:hi: