Wisconsin governor Scott Walker has included in his new budget proposal the optional selling off of the state owned steam and electric generating facilities to private enterprise without even a bid process. His reason? “It will save us money.”
What we’re talking about here are mostly steam generating facilities for the university system and other state owned buildings. Walker wants to sell these boiler plants, most of which are in the middle of campuses, to private owners. The state doesn’t even have to go through the bid process, thereby not getting the highest price for these plants.
Currently, the state entities that use the steam for heating and cooling their buildings are getting this energy for cost. Many of the boiler plants have been paid for long ago. There is of course, operational maintenance and employee costs.
If the state sells these facilities, let’s say to Koch Industries, they must have a return on investment or ROI. This means that they have to charge enough for their product to pay for the physical plant they just purchased and earn a reasonable profit. This is basic business 101.
The beauty of this for the business is they have a guaranteed captive customer who has nowhere else to go to purchase their energy.
Let’s take this to its logical end. After years of letting these plants fall into disrepair while ignoring maintenance to increase profits, big business will conveniently walk away at the end of their contract and leave the taxpayer holding the bag for the repairs needed to keep these facilities running.
Does this sound anything like “saving the tax payers money”? Going from purchasing their energy at cost to lining big business pockets? This is an insult to the taxpayer’s intelligence. How dare the Governor take them for such fools!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Hatred is the Badge of the Ignorant.
For some strange reason, ignorant people get elected to public office and somehow end up on the national stage. They first get media attention by making outrageous statements. The more attention, the more outrageous they get. They then start to believe their own hateful bile as other ignorant people come out from under whatever they live under and loudly support these radical positions. These politicians carry around a pocket copy of the constitution but only quote the parts they can twist into supporting their radical positions, all the while shouting out angry divisive speeches and trying to keep us scared of one another.
Many Republican politicians today, Newt Gingrich, Michelle Bachmann, there are many to pick from, will try to convince us to be afraid of or hate something. It doesn’t really matter what, Death panels, Acorn, as long as we are afraid of it. They need something to rally us around and picking a virtually harmless entity and vilifying it is both intellectually lazy and harmful to the fabric of our Nation. They don’t have the ambition or the intelligence to embrace the problems of the day and try to find solutions. They just want to keep us afraid and hateful.
Are we a nation of cowards flocking under the wing of some spiteful, hateful, fear mongering ignorant politician mindlessly following wherever they lead us?
We have very serious problems in this country. Problems that can be solved by serious, intelligent people. I want them to be smarter than some “Joe Six Pack” In order to best solve the issues that face this Nation every day.
All of this hatefulness and fear mongering is nothing but a distraction and a waste of valuable time. We must absolutely stop electing these unpatriotic fools who don’t have a plan other than dividing us and making us afraid.
Democracy is not easy. We must put our shoulders to the stone and take our country back from those who would destroy it with fear and ignorance.
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