February 27, 2006
THOSE ARABS OWN EVERYTHING...:
Indianans suspicious of toll road deal (Theodore Kim, 2/27/06, USA TODAY)
The deal seems simple: An overseas consortium has offered Indiana $3.85 billion to take up all maintenance, operations and revenue on the money-losing Indiana East-West Toll Road for 75 years.The political realities of privatizing one of the Midwest's most important roads have proved to be anything but simple for the deal's architect, Gov. Mitch Daniels.
And so does Republican xenophobia serve to undermine the privatization of government functions, one of the Right's most cherished dreams. Posted by Orrin Judd at February 27, 2006 9:53 AM
The important thing is for those foreigners to maintain the 6-inch potholes in I-65/I-94 in their current pristine shape.
Otherwise, a lot of front end alignment shops in Hoosierland/Chicagoland will go out of business!
Posted by: John J. Coupal at February 27, 2006 10:18 AMFrom the Devil's Dictionary:
Politics: a clash of interests masquerading as a conflict of principles.
What's the point of private business taking over government functions if someone else is going to make the money?
Posted by: Brandon at February 27, 2006 11:23 AMWhy is it that the number of potholes is always an inverse function of the toll rate?
For all the money I spend on the Indiana Tollway it ought to be paved in gold.
Posted by: Gideon at February 27, 2006 11:36 AMGideon,
A direct relationship is best described in that mother of all motorways: The Chicago Skyway !
Posted by: John J. Coupal at February 27, 2006 12:19 PMBack when I lived in the area, the Tollroad was the one without the potholes. To get to Chicago, you could take I-94 for free and hope your suspension held out, or pay for the privilege. It was also the first road plowed after the big New Year's blizzard (the one where Bilandic discovered he didn't have any snow plows), allowing me to escape home from Chicago. It was actually such a money maker in the 80s that they built new exits instead of reducing the tolls.
But the real fear of Hoosiers is that this foreign company will pack it all up and take it home with them.
My dear old Dad (post war German immigrant) had this idea in 1975.
The real kicker would be to contract with some one/nation non-white to fulfill "minority set-aside" rules.
Posted by: Bruno at February 27, 2006 1:17 PMDittos with Brad.
You linked to article about a team that will lose to the White Sox next year.
Posted by: Bruno at February 27, 2006 1:19 PMNow I saw the article. Thanks OJ!
I just have to ask these Hoosiers if they are aware who operates bus lines for Indianapolis' transit system. I suspect Connex, a European carrier that runs routes here in Denver and now runs trains for LA's Metrolink, runs some of them. If so, their opposition to MacQuarie/Cintra, which could very well take it in the shorts on this deal, is extremely silly and so-Horatio-at-the-bridge its pathetic.
Posted by: Brad S at February 27, 2006 2:12 PMI'd love to see the books to try and figure out how you lose money on a toll road whose bonded debt should have been paid off years and years ago. I don't even think New York or New Jersey's governments can pull that off with the NYS Thruway, NJ Turnpike or GS Parkway.
Posted by: John` at February 28, 2006 12:03 AM