Bidding for America...Going Going Gone!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 25, 2008
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The Tyrone Town Council got a huge dose of reality Thursday night. “We’re broke,”said Finance Director Mary Sturm. Sturm said the city’s operating costs per month are $275,000 per month, but the town has only collected $53,000 in revenue this month.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2008/08/tyrone-georgia-finance-director-were.html
The president of the Jefferson County Commission has softened her opposition to bankruptcy and is instructing lawyers to begin research on the impact a bankruptcy filing would have on the county.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2008/08/jefferson-county-alabama-considering.html
DONEGAL, Pa. -- Hobbled by the credit crisis, Wall Street firms and many state governments are hoping that a pockmarked strip of Pennsylvania highway could provide a road out.
Next month, the Pennsylvania legislature is expected to vote on a $12.8 billion deal struck between the governor and a group of private investors to lease America's oldest major toll road, the 537-mile Pennsylvania Turnpike.
If it passes, the deal would be by far the largest ever of its kind in the U.S. Under these arrangements, known as public-private partnerships, investors lease or buy roads, bridges or other infrastructure, operate them independently and collect tolls.
A green light in Pennsylvania could bolster the political will of officials in other states trying to hash out similar deals. That in turn could jump-start projects in waiting, from Florida's Alligator Alley to Chicago's Midway Airport. Last month, New York Gov. David Paterson urged legislators to consider leasing some of his state's roads, bridges and tunnels to help shrink a budget deficit projected at $26.2 billion by 2011.
Proponents say the lease approach could provide financial relief to state governments struggling with foreclosures, ballooning pension obligations and reduced tax bases. That's not to mention crumbling roads -- and lately, a drop in tax revenue to pay for repairs, owing to high gasoline prices that have reduced driving. The U.S. needs about $1.6 trillion in investment over the next several years to bring infrastructure conditions to acceptable levels, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Pennsylvania's needs rank among the highest in the nation; the state's Department of Transportation estimates it will cost $11 billion just to repair the state's bridges. Drivers complain about the turnpike's potholes, insufficient shoulder room, and continual construction.
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB121971201641371425.html
Wall Street would sell its mother if anyone would bid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can anyone compute math anymore??????????????
Selling the turnpike will barely pay for bridge repair in Pennsylvania.....less other infastructure needs. How much of a price hike will a private owner demand once it has a monopoly on the turnpike????
Why the hell are we paying taxes anymore????? The total proceeds of the tunpike sale barely covers 1/3 of NY's projected deficit!!!!!!!!!
Sure Obama wants to give away $100 Billion we don't have(Maybe we can sell the White House?). Bush prosecutes a trillion dollar war to go after bunch of criminals less organized than most drug cartels in South America. Is anyone thinking anymore???
What if there is inflation....what will the turnpike sale proceeds look like in a few years???? Will only the rich be able to travel accross Pennsylvania???
The country that our fathers fought and died to protect is now for sale.....why don't we start auctioning off our politicians(not sure there would be any bidders?).....or at least kill their ridiculous pension and other perk packages that the rest of us can only dream about.
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