Didn't we already go through crap like this?!!
"In the 1990s, the T and other transit agencies were encouraged by federal officials to sell their train equipment to banks and then lease it back. The arrangement brought the T $53 million in upfront payments. In return, the private banks realized a tax benefit"
"The authority was attempting to renegotiate terms of a complex financial deal with the banking giant UBS. Known as a swaption, the arrangement could force the authority to pay out a $450 million lump sum"
Will we NEVER LEARN?
Yup, but the government is looking out for YOUR BEST INTERESTS, right, Amurkn? Why do you STILL BELIEVE THAT?
"Patrick asks bids for Pike plazas; Revenue from 11 service areas to boost agency" by Noah Bierman, Globe Staff | January 14, 2009
The Patrick administration said yesterday that it will let private companies bid on the right to buy or sign long-term leases on 11 service plazas alongside the Massachusetts Turnpike, hoping to reap "a significant upfront payment" for the cash-strapped agency that runs the toll road.
The plan to put all of the Turnpike Authority's well-placed gas station and fast food plazas in private hands follows similar proposals floated by others, including Patrick's rivals, over the past six years. Advocates of privatization have said in the past that the plazas could fetch $300 million on the open market, but Patrick officials said they have not conducted an analysis and would not be confident in the plazas' worth until they receive bids.
Patrick's new transportation secretary, James A. Aloisi Jr., said privatizing the plazas would not on its own eliminate unpopular toll increase proposals for the turnpike and tunnels east of Route 128. He said it would be up to the Turnpike Authority's board to decide whether to ultimately accept bids and, if so, how to use the proceeds.
Yeah, he was a great choice: Patrick the Prick
But the latest announcement, just a day after Patrick called raising the gas tax a "serious alternative," underscores the fast and furious pace among political leaders to demonstrate they are trying to fix the state's broken transportation system as they contemplate higher tolls and taxes....
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Aloisi said the money raised from privatization might go to enhance safety, rebuild infrastructure, or address other needs that would help drivers....
It's always the SAME SET of BROKEN PROMISES and LIES!!
The Turnpike Authority gets significant income by leasing the plazas directly to vendors. Gulf Oil's 10-year-lease, signed in 2000, paid the authority $6.2 million last year.
Aloisi would let a single operator control all 11 properties long term, in exchange for an up-front payment. He said he was not sure what restrictions, if any, the authority would place on gas prices at the plazas, which have unrivaled access to motorists driving across the state....
That's how we have gotten in so much trouble!!!
A similar plan came up in 2006, when Governor Mitt Romney proposed abolishing western tolls and borrowing $86 million on the future value of the service plazas. At the time, state Inspector General Gregory W. Sullivan cited concerns about any plan that would sacrifice long-term proceeds from service plazas in exchange for upfront payments....
Oh, so when a DEMOCRAP proposes the idea, it ain't bad, huh?
Oh, I'm GAGGING on the STENCH of MASSACHUSETTS' HYPOCRISY!!!!!
