The real Chicago way - Thomas Frank
A privatization scheme that's a loser for taxpayers. The city's
longtime mayor, Richard M. Daley, is such a keen enthusiast of
privatization that he has promoted it as the budget solution for every
government in the land. "If they start leasing public assets—every
city, every county, every state and the federal government—you would
not have to raise any taxes whatsoever," Mr. Daley told the Chicago
Sun-Times in January. "You would have more infrastructure money that
way than any other way in the nation." ...The details of the parking
meter deal, for example, were negotiated by the Daley administration
with almost no public scrutiny. When it came time to approve the
billion-dollar arrangement, the city council got exactly two days. It
was a farce. ..What they eventually learned is that they had handed
over a component of self-governance to a private company that is, by
definition, unconcerned with the public interest. Chicago police will
still hand out parking tickets; the state of Illinois will still
suspend drivers' licenses; but for the next 75 years all of it will be
done to ensure that citizens render proper tribute to Wall Street. And
now comes the inevitable denouement. Last week, the Chicago City
Council voted to plug a hole in its 2010 budget using funds remaining
from the billion-dollar parking-meter haul, despite earlier plans to
invest the money for the long term. Almost all of it will be gone by
the end of next year. It may not fit the myth, but that's the real
Chicago way. Sell off public property without public scrutiny. Prohibit
public input on an essential public service. Rationalize the whole
thing, as Mr. Daley's administration has done, by insisting that
government can't run such things as well as the private sector can.
And then, when the money runs out, privatize something else: The water
supply, maybe. The sewer system. An airport or two. Why not privatize a
U.S. Senate seat, too? Just imagine what Abu Dhabi would pay for that.
The Wall Street Journal
MI: GOP candidate for gov: Privatize most school services
Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Bouchard says he thinks school
districts could save money by having intermediate school districts
contract out transportation, food and janitorial services for schools
within their jurisdiction. The Oakland County sheriff said Tuesday he
has saved $1.6 million a year by privatizing food services at the
county jail. He says schools can see their own savings by consolidating
services and leveraging their purchasing power. He adds that some
school districts already have turned some services over to private
contractors.
AP
LA: Gov't streamlining group done with 1st report
Cost-cutting recommendations that would shrink Louisiana's state work
force, boost outside contracting and rework bureaucracy were offered by
the Commission on Streamlining Government, which wrapped up its first
report Tuesday...The list of recommendations, which was due to
lawmakers and Gov. Bobby Jindal by next week, totals 236
proposals...Among the ideas embraced by the streamlining panel were
proposals to: shrink the number of state-owned cars, reduce the number
of managers in state agencies, close three state-run ferries in south
Louisiana and to privatize some of the state-run institutions for the
developmentally disabled and consolidate others.
ABC News
