The Right will use this crisis to achieve a long-time goal: privatization (through tax cuts, many billions of dollars that belong to the public have been privatized already).
This is how privatization will go.
Businesses will use some of their new cash surpluses to buy public services (roads, bridges, parks, stadiums, libraries, water and waste water systems, trash collection operations, prisons, police/fire/rescue departments,
power generation and distribution setups, etc.). Many will be sold at fire-sale prices. Or given away.
Once in private hands, services that were created with public wealth and have worked well for generations (roads, bridges, parks, stadiums, libraries, water and waste water systems, trash collection operations, prisons, police/fire/rescue departments, power generation and distribution setups, etc.) will be milked, trashed, bled to death.
The public will continue to transfer more tax revenues to private hands for continuing operations or will pay directly for services through fees, tolls, etc.
The services will decline. They will reach the point where new money will need to be invested to keep them going. Business noggins will not regard this as money well spent.
The services will be returned to the public. They will not be sold at fire-sale prices. Nor will they be given away. The companies will demand -- and receive -- compensation, not only for the value of the land, buildings and "improvements," but also for "lost future revenues."
The service infrastructure will be repurchased by the public using tax dollars.
New taxes will be needed to restore the infrastructure to the condition it was in before privatization.
This story happened to appear today: Private services gaining toehold in Tucson (Arizona Star 2011-10-02).
1 comment:
Well said. But what do we do about it? The Democrats are as ready as the Republicans to "save money". There is no reason to think it won't play out just like you said.
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