Hey there, Indianan, how ya doin'? That quaint term -- "Indianans" -- is how we're referred to in the headline on this USA Today story about Gov. Daniels' controversial Indiana Toll Road lease plan. Guess the headline writer must have thought "Hoosiers" was offensive. The story itself is a pretty decent wrapup of the issue and includes this priceless comment from House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer of South Bend:
"This isn't about outsourcing our jobs, but outsourcing our profits," Bauer said. "We're changing the toll road into something that's like a bank: Daniels' bank."
Outsourcing our profits? What profits? All our esteemed leaders have been able to do is spend more than they take in and build up the debt.
Comments
Whatever happened to Mr. Knuth's factoid that the 75-year lease will only profit us a few billion while the new managers will rake in a trillion dollars over the lease term?
If true, wouldn't that be the political headline on this issue? Or will the new commercial managers have to spend a trillion in improvements, maintenance, and inflationary costs in that time?
How high will the tolls have to go for a for-profit company to feel it's reaping "what the market will bear?" Should that prospect scare us? How does our four billion up front compare to what the feds will bring in on the port leases, by the way?