Nathan Newman has a new post over at TPM Cafe that takes aim at the recent prison riot here in Indiana as indicative of the larger problems being created by the current obsession of some politicians with the short-term gain offered by privatization schemes. From the story:
This is all part of a broader trend, as Business Week details this week, of cash-strapped states increasingly turning to privatization of public assets like highways, airports and bridges -- a dangerous recipe for undermining public safety and ripping off the taxpayer, as Progressive States Network explained earlier this year.
Slightly below the radar at times, this privatization of public assets and public services, from Iraq to local toll roads, is a political issue spreading corruption and taxpayer ripoffs across the country. Riots in an Indiana prison are just a nasty manifestation of the broader rot in out civic life.
Whether it takes the form of an outrage such as Walter Reed, or the prison riot in New Castle, the move toward rapid privatization in the name of quick cash has proven to be a recipe for disaster. Let's hope that Governor Daniels and others who share his love for selling off state assets take a step back and realize that while there certainly is value in new strategies, there is an even greater value in making certain that your new ideas are doing more good than harm.
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