Posted on 07/04/2009 10:41:56 AM PDT by IbJensen
Opponents of the controversial Trans-Texas Corridor believe Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry is proceeding with toll road plans under the cover of a special session of the legislature.
Perry's stated goals include extending the authority of the Texas Department of Transportation, TxDOT, to operate for two more years with an allocation of $2 billion in state funds that could be targeted for building toll roads along Interstate Highways 35 and 69 in what was previously called TTC-35 and TTC-69 under the Trans-Texas Corridor plan.
The Houston Chronicle acknowledged transportation would the main focus of the special session and that an emphasis will be on a measure that allows private companies to build more toll roads across the state – an idea that opponents have dubbed "the largest tax increase in history."
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
I wonder why. This should be a very popular move in the Lone Star State.
Perry is just another RINO.
According to the story:
“Gov. Perry wants to get the legislature to reauthorize through 2013 the ability of Texas to enter into Comprehensive Development Agreements, or CDAs, with foreign developers to develop Texas highways under public-private partnerships,”
Why Cintra? Why foreign companies?
Why toll roads... or in other words, Why not just use the highway taxes for highway purposes instead of welfare?
Ibjenson, I'm a fellow Texian. But, I am having trouble following your thinking. So, are you for or against the building of toll roads, and especially the I-35 Trans Texas Corridor? I live in the DFW area and the only thing I know for sure is we need more roads asap as in yesterday. Personally, I don't see an alternative to the toll system as the voting public is not willing to increase the gasoline tax. Additionally, toll roads puts the cost on users. If you disagree, please give your thoughts as I would be interested, and open minded.
Texas does face a decision about how to pay for roads.
But the lege punted the decision into the next session, which is in 2011.
They were able to do this because of the infrastructure stimulus money gave them some interim financing.
With a few clicks, you and Corsi could have known this.
...and God-willing by 2011 we’ll have a governor who’s top priority IS NOT sending billions of Texas dollars to monopolized toll road companies (some foreign).
“Additionally, toll roads puts the cost on users.”
That was definitely true in Kentucky, where they built a whole system of toll roads and told the public that they would become freeways once paid off. Guess what - they’re paid off and they are FREEWAYS.
As to Texas, if tolls were just used to pay for the operation and upkeep of the roads, the level of ANGER in this state would not be nearly as high...as tolls would be 1/2 or less than they are now, and that’s WITHOUT them being privately built and operated (with monopoly protection). With these private toll roads, you’re looking at paying maybe 4 or 5 times the cost of the road, for the privilege of being allowed to drive on it.
Here in Harris County we find the toll road authority so flush with cash that they are now spending it to upgrade streets nowhere near the toll roads...and like Kentucky, we were told the roads would be free once paid off. So, in essence, these toll roads are nothing more than MIDDLE CLASS TAXES, with a small amount of money actually used to operate the highway.
Why Cintra? Why foreign companies?
Because Perry works for those who hired him, not the People of Texas.
Why toll roads... or in other words, Why not just use the highway taxes for highway purposes instead of welfare?
Welfare has nothing to do with it.
If you want roads to travel on, then one way or the other, you're going to have to pay for their construction and maintenance.
General "highway taxes" (I assume you mean gas tax, licensing fees, etc.) are OK for general funding, but always run into the problem of how much gets allocated to which road.
Tolls are a better way of collecting funds dedicated to a specific use. If you don't use the road, then you don't pay the toll.
There is nothing wrong with collecting tolls to pay for public highways, as long as ALL the revenue collected is used to pay for the road. The problem with Perry's toll proposal is that he wants to screw the users of the highway, and divert the toll revenues to his crony "investors".
Perry is recovering from a broken collarbone. I’m not sure he’d be in his office to take a phone call.
Agree - if the tolls are just used for the highway, then fine, charge just for that. For the TTC highways Perry had talked about, that should come out to 2 to 5 cents per mile (they are VERY CHEAP to build as they mostly go through rural areas, and the land is basically free...as the landowners WILL donate land for a freeway...but not a toll road).
In Harris County here in Texas, the toll road commission (that I mentioned earlier) charges 12 to 15 cents per mile...why - because people will pay it. These roads are also very cheap as the state already owns the land and actually built the more expensive interchanges.
Now we’re talking 25 to who knows what cents per mile. When you get that high, you choke off travel (which is fine, as that means Cintra will not have to add lanes) and DESTROY the economy of a region.
That’s what we’re dealing with here in Texas. The issue appears to be dormant now, and hopefully it does one way or another.
(I still want to retire here)
STUNNING GRASSROOTS VICTORY!
- Public roads protected from foreign toll operators, public pension funds protected, too
Wow! Despite the backroom deals and the leadership in Austin moving at a breathless pace to ram Governor Perry’s controversial road privatization schemes (the sale of TX hwys to foreign toll operators in deals called CDAs) down Texans’ throats, Texans stood-up to Goliath and WON! CDAs, or comprehensive development agreements, did NOT get re-authorized. In fact, the bill didn’t even have the votes to get out of committee. That’s DEAD ON ARRIVAL folks, thanks to YOU!
Your phone calls, trips to legislators’ offices, public testimony, attendance at press conferences, etc. scored this hard-fought VICTORY! Special kudos to Don Dixon, Pat Dossey, Robert Morrow, and TURF Board Member Hank Gilbert for covering the special session like a blanket and NEVER letting up on lawmakers. We truly have MUCH to celebrate this Independence Day!
Who is the Goliath YOU defeated?
Not just Perry, but the BIG MONEY behind the scenes working 24/7 for their sweetheart deals that sell-out Texans and break the bank...both your own personal bank account and the BILLIONS in public debt taxpayers have to pay back with INTEREST for GENERATIONS!
Trans Texas Corridor update
However, our victory is tempered by a bitter pill...Trans Texas Corridor route TTC-69/I-69 was excepted out of the moratorium, SB 792, in 2007 (which we fought vehemently to defeat), so TxDOT has the authority to enter into CDAs for that project through 2011.
TURF, in cooperation with two private property rights foundations (Stewards of the Range and American Land Foundation) and local governments, have been instrumental in forming subregional planning commissions in the path of TTC-69, and plan to use these commissions to challenge TTC-69 and keep it from ever being built.
We believe TTC-35 cannot move forward, except segments 5 & 6 of SH 130, the first leg of the TTC-35 whose CDA was signed in March of 2007.
HEROES AND VILLAINS
Sen. John Carona and others like Steve Ogden promised to bring back CDAs next session (read it here, CAUTION: upon reading how eager our politicians are to sell us out, you may be tempted to throw things at your computer).
They want to bring it up when they can bury it among 5,000 bills flying around a regular session when the grassroots have an even harder time tracking and defeating bills, and when lawmakers don’t have their actions under a microscope. Our job is to hang in there to make sure that doesn’t happen. We MUST remain vigilant and NEVER give up because the other side never does. If they win, they get 50 year deals. When we win, we have to keep fighting and keep defeating it because when billions of dollars are at stake, the BIG MONEY will keep after it (the other side hopes we’ll wear out or give up).
These senators need to be taken to the woodshed and TOSSED OUT OF OFFICE for being complicit in pushing risky toll road schemes that sell-off our public infrastructure and raid public pension funds over the LOUD objections of Texans.
TAXPAYER HERO David Leibowitz deserves our thanks!
Rep. David Leibowitz, the unwavering, stalwart taxpayer hero, again came to the rescue as he led the charge to fix the bill that created a “Revolving Fund” that would have raided teacher retirement and public employee pension funds for risky toll rod schemes.
The Legislature continued TxDOT for two more years, and moved its sunset date to next session. So we have another crack at cleaning house and fixing the agency. Stay tuned, but for now, relish this hard-fought grassroots victory!
If you’re grateful to your fellow Texans who helped DEFEAT foreign-control of TX highways & the mechanism to build the Trans Texas Corridor as well as protect public pension funds....
Please consider a donation to:
Texas TURF
18866 Stone Oak Parkway, Suite 103-37
San Antonio, Texas 78258
OR
Donate through our Website with a credit/debit card.
If you have any questions, please call me at 210-496-2997.
Sincerely,
Sudie Sartor, Treasurer
______________________
“Texans Uniting for Reform & Freedom”
http://www.texasturf.org
“Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men.”
— John Adams
Forward this TURF Alert
Corsi must have book to sell.. Wasn’t he detained somewhere??
DFW doesn’t need more roads in DFW. DFW needs the state to build roads that allows traffic between South Texas (Houston, Austin, San Antonio, etc.) to travel to OK City and places north without being congestively funneled through DFW.
TXDOT claims that its road plans aim to reduce congestion and pollution, but that’s nonsense as long as they force virtually all north-south traffic into the Metroplex.
We need diversion, alternative routes, not just more of the same.
But, but the Bush administration told us that this highway was just some sort of fairy tale(?)
Right?
Wrong!
I have no argument with your statement. However, as you suggested, various alternatives have been suggested over the years, i.e., Del Rio >Abilene >OKC (my vote), even Ojinaga > Midland/Odessa > Lubbock > Amarillo > OKC. But, whatever the route suggested, it always comes back to “not in my back yard”. So, here we all sit, spinning on our thumbs. Got a solution?
I am not sure of your point. If roads are to be built, then billions must be sent to somebody to build them. Also, what's the issue with a foreign company building the roads? Apparently, domestic consortiums are not interested. Haven't heard of any expressing interest anyway. Lastly, there is one little fact about Texas that I have not seen mentioned in this thread; and that being road construction must be fully funded before construction can begin. So, this constraint, good or bad as it may be, makes it difficult to stay in front of demand. It's always a catch up game because of this law.
“Also, what’s the issue with a foreign company building the roads?”
No problem with this. The question is who operates it, and then are they doing it to make money, and then are they being given a captive audience through a monopoly. If so, then there DEFINITELY is a problem. No different from the robber-barons of our past.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robber_baron_(industrialist)
As to paying for the roads...regardless of whether we can borrow (which we now can, by the way), if we let the gas tax lapse (as we have), then we can NEVER pay for our roads. So, raise the gas tax...and if you don’t want to do that, the state can operate their own toll roads (and I don’t care who builds them).
“and then are they doing it to make money, and then are they being given a captive audience through a monopoly. If so, then there DEFINITELY is a problem. No different from the robber-barons of our past.”
Of course Tolls are built by the winning contractor(s) to make money and the Toll operator as well. And, once the a bid is granted and contracts are signed, the winner(s) does indeed have a monolopy for the length of the contract. Why would that be a problem? That’s the way business is typically done...
“That’s the way business is typically done...”
Actually, no. Normally, if you give the company a monopoly (like the phone company), you regulate it, since they would otherwise charge super-high prices.
There are no plans to regulate these monopolies.
Actually, you are incorrect. Once a contract is signed by all parties, unless the terms of the contract is violated, the vendor has a virtually monopoly for the life of the contract.
“Actually, you are incorrect. Once a contract is signed by all parties, unless the terms of the contract is violated, the vendor has a virtually monopoly for the life of the contract.”
Last time I checked, the phone company needed government approval to raise rates...at least in the US. Not sure what country you’re referring to.
““Actually, you are incorrect. Once a contract is signed by all parties, unless the terms of the contract is violated, the vendor has a virtually monopoly for the life of the contract.”
“Last time I checked, the phone company needed government approval to raise rates...at least in the US. Not sure what country you’re referring to.”
You are exactly right. using your example, a phone company’s rates are set in the T&C’s of the RFQ when the contract goes out for bid. After the contract is signed, agreed upon rates must be adhered to, unless the principal agrees to a rate change. Back to square one; contractor has a monopoly on whatever T&C’s stipulated in the contract.
...and these design-build contracts don’t regulate price. That’s the big difference.
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