USA Highways Being Sold

So, the mainstream is finally waking up to the truth. What takes the mainstream so long to catch on? Finally, a story about foreign companies buy our roads and bridges.

By LESLIE MILLER, Associated Press Writer
Sat Jul 15, 2:44 PM ET



WASHINGTON - Roads and bridges built by U.S. taxpayers are starting to be sold off, and so far foreign-owned companies are doing the buying.



On a single day in June, an Australian-Spanish partnership paid $3.8 billion to lease the Indiana Toll Road. An Australian company bought a 99-year lease on Virginia's Pocahontas Parkway, and Texas officials decided to let a Spanish-American partnership build and run a toll road from Austin to Seguin for 50 years.

Few people know that the tolls from the U.S. side of the tunnel between Detroit and Windsor, Canada, go to a subsidiary of an Australian company — which also owns a bridge in Alabama.

Some experts welcome the trend. Robert Poole, transportation director for the conservative think tank Reason Foundation, said private investors can raise more money than politicians to build new roads because these kind of owners are willing to raise tolls.

"They depoliticize the tolling decision," Poole said. Besides, he said, foreign companies have purchased infrastructure in Europe for years; only now are U.S. companies beginning to get into the business of buying roads and bridges.

Gas taxes and user fees have fueled the expansion of the nation's highway system. Thousands of miles of roads built since the 1950s changed the landscape, accelerating the growth of suburbia and creating a reliance on motor vehicles to move freight, get to work and take vacations.

In 1956, President Eisenhower pushed to create the interstate highway system for a different: to move troops and tanks and evacuate civilians.

The Bush administration's plan to let a foreign company manage U.S. ports met a storm of protest in February. But plans to sell or lease highways to companies outside the United States have not met such resistance.

John Foote, senior fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, said the government can take over a highway in an emergency. But he objects to selling roads to raise cash.

But that is just what Chicago has done.

Last year, the city sold a 99-year lease on the eight-mile Chicago Skyway for $1.83 billion. The buyer was the same consortium that leased the Indiana Toll Road — Macquarie Infrastructure Group of Sydney, Australia, and Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte of Madrid, Spain.

Chicago used the money to pay off debt and fund road projects. Skyway tolls rose 50 cents, to $2.50; By 2017, they will reach $5.

The Indiana Toll Road lease is a better deal, Foote thinks, because the proceeds will pay for urgent projects such as road and bridge improvements.

That need is precisely why cities and states have begun to look to foreign investors.

Between 1980 and 2004, people drove 94 percent more highway miles, according to Federal Highway Administration statistics. But the number of new highway lane miles rose by only 6 percent.

Washington is not likely to produce more money to build roads. The federal highway fund — which will have a balance of about $16 billion by the end of 2006 — will run out in 2009 or 2010, according to White House and congressional estimates.

About half the states now let companies build and operate roads. Many changed their laws recently to do so.

So Illinois lawmakers are examining privatizing the Illinois Tollway, New Jersey lawmakers are considering selling 49 percent of the state's two big toll roads and a gubernatorial candidate in Ohio wants to sell the turnpike.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who championed his state's toll road deal, now wants investors to build and operate a toll road from Indianapolis to Evansville.

Patrick Bauer, the Indiana House's Democratic leader, says such deals are taxpayer rip-offs.

Bauer believes Macquarie-Cintra could make $133 billion over the 75-year life of the Indiana Toll Road lease — for which Indiana got $3.8 billion.

"In five, maybe 10 years, all that money is gone, and the tolls keep rising and the money keeps flowing into the foreign coffers," Bauer said.

Orange County, Calif., got burned by a toll-road lease for a different reason.

The road, part of state Route 91, was built and run for $130 million by California Private Transportation Company, partly owned by France-based Compagnie Financiere et Industrielle des Autoroutes. The toll road opened in 1995.

Seven years later, Orange County was looking at gridlock. But it could not build more roads because of a provision in the lease. So it bought back the lease — for $207.5 million.

To encourage more domestic investment in highways, former Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta made a pitch to Wall Street on May 23.

"The time is now for United States investors — including our financial, construction and engineering institutions — to get involved in transportation investments," said Mineta, who left office July 7.

U.S. companies are getting the message.

San Antonio-based Zachry Construction Co., along with Cintra, received approval on June 29 for a 50-year lease to build and run a toll road from Austin to Seguin for $1.3 billion.

That is part of Texas Gov. Rick Perry's vision to attract more than $80 billion in private funds for roads by 2030. He wants a new tollway from Oklahoma to Mexico and the Gulf Coast, and one from Shreveport, La., and Texarkana to Mexico. Cintra-Zachry reached a $7.2 billion deal last year to develop the project's first phase. The announcement of a $1.3 billion deal in June was part of that $7.2 billion agreement, said Perry's spokesman, Robert Black.

"In Texas, our population is going to double in the next 40 years and our current infrastructure can't handle that growth," Black said.

Not everyone in Texas buys the idea. Harris County officials recently voted against selling three toll roads. Also, independent gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn opposes Perry's toll road plan.

"Texas freeways belong to Texans, not foreign companies," she said.

Keep tuned into this one folks

Bono Sells Out Again

I didn't want to believe my favorite band was a sell out. But, in the past two years I have watched Bono suck up to leaders such as Bush and Blair. The very men that invaded Iraq and solely responsible for the killing of many innocent men, women and children in the Middle East. These men are liars. Now, I see Bono is just another capitalist whore. What brought me to this breaking point was a story I read today on MSNBC:

NEW YORK - A private equity firm that has U2 rock star Bono among its partners Thursday joined forces with two of North America's hottest video game developers, Pandemic Studios LLC and BioWare Corp., creating one of the world's largest independent game-development houses.
In its first investment, one-year-old Elevation Partners said it had created a holding company that owns Pandemic and BioWare but ensures the developers retain their identities and gives them the funds and time to build top-quality games.
The $300 million deal came after California-based Elevation earlier this year bid for British computer games maker Eidos Plc. , the firm behind "Tomb Raider," but was trumped by UK's SCI Entertainment Group Plc.
"The aim is to create bigger and better games and a company that the best talent will really want to work for," Elevation co-founder John Riccitiello told Reuters in an interview.
Analysts said the deal was interesting as it sidestepped the traditional relationship in which developers were dependent on firms that publish their games for funding.
Riccitiello declined to break down the combined investment of $300 million in the joint venture, BioWare/Pandemic Studios, or the shareholdings of each of the three parties, but said Elevation would be the majority stakeholder.
Edmonton, Canada-based BioWare is a celebrated developer of story- and character-based role-playing games such as "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic" and "Jade Empire."
Pandemic is newer, with offices in Los Angeles and Brisbane, Australia, but has won respect among game players for its big-selling action and adventure titles, such as "Full Spectrum Warrior" and "Destroy All Humans."
Elevation Partners' interest in investing in games has come as no surprise as Riccitiello is former president of video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc.
Riccitiello said the attraction of BioWare and Pandemic was the quality of their games, none of which have come under public fire for their violence despite their titles.
He said Bono, a passionate advocate on Third World debt and anti-poverty issues, was a big fan of Pandemic's games, particularly "Destroy All Humans," a quirky game in which the player is a Martian trying to destroy Earth.
Under the terms of the deal, both video game companies will retain their separate brands and creative teams and continue to operate in their respective cities. But the two co-founders of each company will become shareholders and senior executives in holding company BioWare/Pandemic Studios.
Riccitiello will be the new company's chief executive.
All 450 employees will be given stock in the business.
Ray Muzyka, joint CEO of BioWare, said the alliance would be a launch pad for exchanging ideas, technologies and talent.
"In a business where developers often must sell out to survive, this deal is refreshingly new: a partnership of equals," Muzyka said in a statement.
Analysts said the one reason for the alliance could be to pressure higher royalty rates from the firms publishing Pandemic and BioWare games Microsoft Corp. , George Lucas' privately owned Lucas Arts and THQ Inc.
"Video gaming is a pretty profitable industry, but the talent is unknown and the lion's share goes to the publisher. There is a move now to change this," said analyst Michael Pachter, from Wedbush Morgan.
"If this deal succeeds it could encourage more independent developers to do the same and encourage more venture capital firms to invest in this industry."
Riccitiello denied this was a reason for the deal and said the firms' relationships with current publishers remained.
Since Elevation was formed it has raised over $1.9 billion to invest in media and entertainment businesses.

This evidently is an older story from November, but it has just been brought to my attention. How can Bono try and sell us the "save Africa, make poverty history", then invest in video games that have no moral content. If you have the morals of a thug, prositute, and criminals I guess. How could Bono invest in games that have mercenaries and war? This world needs saved from ignorance and I think one of the main problems with society and children are these video games that promote violence, the abuse of women, and make people desensitized to war and killing. I think we have been hoodwinked. My heart is breaking, really just shattered. To think there were real people out there that were making a difference, but in actuality they speak out of both sides of their mouths. Bono is a capitalist. Now I know how he bought his new yacht. Wtg Bono!!! You have become the very person you told us to be aware of. I wish I could get the money back I paid for 10 concerts and countless cds and records. I should have seen the signs of what was to come when U2 started charging $40.00 a year to subscribe to their website. I made this man a very rich guy, so I guess I am the stupid one in this situation. It's a doggy dog world and now I have woken up from this dream. Everyone is out for themselves. Like I always say....the elite become richer, and the poor poorer. Be aware of false icons folks, they are among us.
Whether the Belfast Telegraph believes the controversy is a mistake or not, if you invest in companies and you are so "aware", you should keep track of your investments.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=697665

Bono drawn into dispute over computer game
By Andrew Buncombe06 July 2006
The Irish rock star Bono has been unwittingly caught up in a row over a computer game that features a fictionalised invasion of Venezuela to counter a “power-hungry tyrant” who has seized control of the country and its oil.
The computer game is played from the perspective of a mercenary who is dispatched to Venezuela with the guidance: “If you see it you can buy it, steal it, or blow the living crap out of it.” Called Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, it is made by Pandemic Studios, based in Los Angeles, in which a private equity firm established by the U2 lead singer has invested $300m (£165m). It is one of the world’s largest independent games producers.
In Venezuela, political supporters of President Hugo Chavez have reacted angrily to news of the game – reportedly due for release next year – and called for it to be banned. Gabriela Ramirez, a member of the National Assembly, told the Associated Press that it incorrectly portrayed Mr Chavez as a tyrant and Venezuela as a country on the verge of chaos.
“It sends a message to Americans, ‘You have a danger next door, here in Latin America, and action must be taken’. It’s a justification for an imperialist aggression.”
In the US, activists are dismayed that a man who has campaigned on Aids and poverty should be linked, however unwittingly, to a product that makes entertainment from the destruction of an independent country.
Shirley Pate, of the Venezuelan Solidarity Network in Washington, said: “[The game shows] an attack on the entire city of Caracas, not just the government buildings but also the residential areas.”
Gunnar Gundersen, a member of the Bolivarian Circle movement in Oregon, said: “We have family and friends in Venezuela and many of us have walked and stayed in the places featured in the war game. To us, these are not just clever abstract pictures.”
Pandemic Studios has a reputation for the realism of its games. It has also produced Full Spectrum Warrior, a game that was initially made for the US Army to train soldiers in urban warfare techniques.
No one from Pandemic Studios or Elevation Investment was available for comment yesterday. A spokesperson for Bono failed to return calls.
However, on an online games forum, Scott Walker, the chief designer for the game, recently wrote: “[This] is a work of fictional entertainment. The story, characters and setting of the game should in no way be construed as negative towards the current Venezuelan government or the people of the country.
“One of the key reasons Venezuela was chosen for the setting of Mercenaries 2 is that is a fascinating and colourful country, full of wonderful architecture, geography and culture.”
Earlier this year, Mr Chavez started recruiting and training a people’s militia to help lead a “war of resistance” against what he claims was the threat of an invasion by the US. The US has repeatedly denied the allegation.
Mr Chavez, who was first elected in 1998, survived a short-lived coup in 2002. The US has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to his political opponents, including those who were involved in the coup.
His presidency has seen improvements in literacy and health care and a reduction in poverty, but he has also been accused of increasingly tightening his control of state institutions and introducing measures that could stifle the largely opposition-owned media..

Story from the Belfast Telegraph .


Bono created a company with his wife Ally to help the people in South America have equal trade, now I can only wonder if that was a smokescreen to cover up the fact of his other investments. He sure is learning alot from his neocon friends.

Pathetic Nationalism

The pathetic nationalism of July 4th is wearing off finally! It is sad to witness people become so patriotic on Independance Day when they do not realise what their definition of freedom has caused in the Middle East and other countries that the USA has decided to "free." The other sad reality is..how many of them actually vote? If they did vote, how many of them are worried about voter reform in the USA? Do they worry if their votes or opinions even matter in this "land of the free?" Do they worry that piece by piece of America is being leased or sold out to foreign investors?
People weep at fireworks displays when they see disabled veterans from Vietnam and Iraq. They think about the sacrifice that they and their families endured for the USA. Do they think about those same vets that are coming home and have no jobs, no homes, and a percentage are coming home to broken marriages. Do they think about the programs this administration has eliminated to pay for this very invasion of Iraq? Do they think about the mental illness these soldiers and Iraqis have to live with for the rest of their lives? So, one day a year Americans become patriotic. Whoopity doo! The attention span of the average American has to be a few days, because they forget so easily and go back to their lovely lives, safe from the unclean reality of war. They wave a flag to ease their conscience and change the channel.
Remember Americans...you can't make people free. They have to want freedom. They need to feel it and live it. Invading a nation and enforcing freedom on it's citizens is not freedom. Killing their families in the name of freedom is not freedom. That is imperialism. Purple fingers are not a sign of freedom if you are forced to vote to get a meal.
Anyways, that is my rant. I feel especially sad to know how truly brainwashed my fellow Americans are. Hopefully, they will take a hint from history and the rise and fall of nations, before it is too late.

GOP Grand Oil Party

I am part of Moveon.org and try to participate in as many activism events as I possibly can and
contribute as much as I can. I bought 100 of these bumper stickers today to give to my friends and family and I hope you all take advantage of this opportunity , every little gesture will help to open up the eyes of Americans.

Democrats "cuttin' & runnin"?

Recently those darn Democrats are being labeled as cowards again! Oh yes, you have heard the shouts across the country about those yellow belly Democrats that want to take our troops out of Iraq! How dare they want to bring the sons and daughters of America back home from a land that the USA invaded!! For shame for shame Democrats!

This is a great article by Molly Ivins and she sums it up exquisitely:

All newspaper editors want to know what their readers like. If you would like to read this feature in your local newspaper, please do not hesitate to share your enthusiasm with your local newspaper editor.


RELEASE: TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2006, AND THEREAFTER



JUSTICE, FAIRNESS AND FLIPPING



AUSTIN, Texas -- And then along comes Cut'n'Run Casey. We spend all last week listening to cut'n'run Democrats talking about their cut'n'run strategy for Iraq, and the only issue is whether they want to cut'n'run by the end of this year or to cut'n'run by the end of next year, and oh, by the way, did I mention that Republicans had been choreographed to refer to the Democrats' plans as cut'n'run?

As Vice President Dick ("Last Throes") Cheney said Thursday, redeployment of our troops would be "the worst possible thing we could do. ... No matter how you carve it -- you can call it anything you want -- but basically it is packing it in, going home, persuading and convincing and validating the theory that the Americans don't have the stomach for this fight."

Then right in the middle of Cut'n'Run Week, the top American commander in Iraq, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., held a classified briefing at the Pentagon and revealed his plan to reduce the 14 combat brigades now in Iraq to five or six. And here's the best part: Rather than wait 'til the end of this year or, heaven forefend, next year, Casey wants to start moving those troops out in September, just before whatever it is that happens in early November. They don't call him George W. Jr. for nothing.

One has to admit, the party never ends with the Bush administration. The only question about Cut'n'Run Week is whether they meant to punctuate a week-long festival of referring to Democrats as the party of "retreat" and "the white flag" with this rather abrupt announcement of their own cut'n'run program. Was it an error of timing?

I say no. I say Karl Rove doesn't make timing mistakes. This administration thoroughly believes the media and the people have a collective recollection of no more than one day. Five days of cut'n'run, one day off and BAM, you get your own cut'n'run plan out there.

Republicans have, in fact, a well-developed sense of aesthetics. Regard the superb pairing of the decision NOT to raise the minimum wage with the continued push to repeal the estate tax. House Republicans had almost opened their marble hearts and raised the minimum, now at $5.15 an hour, to a whopping $7.25 an hour by 2009. (Since 1997, when they last raised it, members of Congress have hiked their own pay by $31,000 a year.)

This might have gone well with their decision to reduce the estate tax yet again, so that only the top half a percent of estates will pay it, while it will cost the treasury $602 billion over the first 10 years -- but even better, NO increase in the minimum wage to match the vote to decrease taxes on the very, very, very richest. Is that suave or what?

Also, very slick move on the Voting Rights Act extension. No amendments, no exemptions, the South rose again and blocked the whole deal. Which Southern state do you think will be the first to pass laws to hold down the black vote? My money is on 'Bama -- for sentimental reasons.

And now, on to flag burning. What flag burning, you may well ask. Just because something doesn't happen is no reason not to outlaw it. Or, for that matter, not to amend the Constitution of the United States.

I am considering introducing an amendment to require everyone in the audience at "Peter Pan" to clap for Tinkerbell. I believe 99.8 percent of them do, but that's no reason not to amend the Constitution. I don't believe we should allow people to be different. If someone wants to burn a flag as symbolic political protest, I believe they should be beheaded. Also, flipping the bird at George W. should merit the same -- but not flipping off Clinton, Bill or Hillary.

To find out more about Molly Ivins and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2006 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.