News
Man Who Worked On Parking Meter Deal Writes NYT Blog Praising Privatization. A post on The New York Times DealBook blog arguing in favor of cities embarking on privatization projects failed to mention the author works for a firm that was instrumental in drafting Chicago’s parking meter deal. Chicagoist
Privatization of weather and climate data: What could possibly go wrong? The now-familiar scenario where government agency is strangled by budget cuts until it’s forced to look to private industry to continue its mission. And so private industry is stepping into the void, with companies such as Skybox Imaging with its mini-fridge sized satellite, so much more flexible and easier to launch. Daily Kos
‘Stand Your Ground’ group pushes privatization of public education. The group that pushed “Stand Your Ground” laws in Florida and other states has been mighty busy working to get laws passed in the area of school reform — and the aim has been the privatization of public education. Washington Post
Education Laws Written By For-Profit Schools Considered In 43 States. School privatization laws crafted by corporate interests have been introduced in nearly every state in the first half of 2013, according to the Center for Media and Democracy. 43 states and the District of Columbia are considering school legislation developed by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the umbrella organization that pushes state laws catered to business interests on a myriad of topics. ThinkProgress
Privatizing War (cont.) From Tuesday’s list of Pentagon contract announcements: Jorge Scientific Corp., Arlington, Va., was awarded an $11,810,908 modification (P00006) to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee, option-filled, multi-year contract (W560MY-13-C-0004) to provide counterinsurgency advisory and assistance teams services throughout Afghanistan. The cumulative total face value of this contract is $21,262,084. …This concern, we have noted in the past, has been paid tens of millions of dollars to plan and fight the war in Afghanistan. Don’t we have military folks to do that? TIME
CT: Sale of Bethel’s Water System Would be a “Tax Through the Tap”. Not only would the privatization mean much higher water rates for town residents in the future, it would also take the drinking water system out of local public control. Food and Water Watch