Greg Kelver, a district representative on the Central Committee of the Libertarian Party of Indiana, had this to say about Daniels' Major Moves proposal in a letter to a volunteer:
"Dan (LPIN Executive Director Dan Drexler) is right on target - there is absolutely no issue with the concept of a "Toll Road" or "privatization" of the road. There is no issue with a private company raising the fees as necessary to cover costs. The issue is the specifics of Daniel's plan and where the money is going after the road is "sold." We have some much better ideas on a plan for how the road can be privatized that are very consistent with libertarian philosophy. Taking it private with an IPO that all Indiana Taxpayers could buy into is a much better way than just letting a handful of foreign companies "bid" for it. Daniels even proclaimed in his State of the State speech how proud he was that he will use "Other People's Money" to fund the other projects in Central and Southern Indiana. That is very unlibertarian - it then is not a "User fee" that pays for the upkeep on the Toll Road - it is just government business as usual with a new twist and more money for the politically connected. And we are selling off our children's future assets to top it all - they pay in the future while Daniel's rakes in the cash now.
You may want to visit our website www.lplp.org to get some links for additional information about the Toll Road plan. We will also be posting on our website later today a press release that outlines some of the reason LaPorte County Libertarians are opposing it.
Daniel's deserves credit for his "privatization attempt" but we have an opportunity to significantly improve the privatization effort in a way that could set a new standard for how those future efforts are done. It is very important that Daly's earlier sale of the Skyway should not be the model that all future privatizations are based on. Daniels Major Screws plan appears to be too close to that deal. "
2 comments:
A damning component of House Bill 1008 is its provision for electronic surveillance.
"But if you read all the way to the end of the bill to privatize the Indiana Toll Road," notes Fort Wayne's Journal-Gazette, "House Bill 1008, it allows for 'automated traffic law enforcement systems' to catch people who don’t pay their tolls on the Indiana Toll Road, or any other future tollway."
The "Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways" [see - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/interstate.html] is designed, in part, for national defense. How will that work if the roads are owned by foreign countries? Is there a conflict of purpose here?
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