Blackwell wants to lease Ohio Turnpike out for 99 years.

Now we learn that this Repuglican wants to sell our highway for a few pieces of silver to the Cintra-Macquarie Consortium, comprising firms from Spain and Australia. They already hold the leases on the Chicago Skyway and the Indiana Toll Road. American roads and infrastructures should remain in the possession of America.

We must NOT elect this election fraud criminal!

Leasing turnpike: A road to riches?
Blackwell says his plan could net millions for cities, but others urge caution
Sunday, June 04, 2006

Columbus- Imagine Ohio reaping a $4 billion to $6 billion windfall that allows millions to be invested in Cleveland, Dayton and other struggling cities where Democrats dominate - without raising taxes.

Instead, it would be done by leasing the Ohio Turnpike.

New businesses eventually would sprout, downtown housing would follow, and city coffers would swell.

Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, the Republican nominee for governor, champions such a plan and hopes it will boost Ohio's economy, along with his prospects in this year's competitive race for governor.

The money would come from leasing the 241-mile toll road that offers truckers a direct route between Pittsburgh and Chicago and carries thousands of commuters daily across northern Ohio.

"There is an emerging market appetite for this type of investment," Blackwell said. "It's time for Ohio to get on board." ...

It also feeds Republican hopes that Blackwell, who aspires to be Ohio's first black governor, can win over a sizable slice of black voters who live in large cities and historically support Democrats.

Blackwell announced the idea several months ago, saying the proceeds could be used for scholarships, expanding broadband access and development of alternative energy sources. But in his new book, "Rebuilding America" ... he fine-tunes the mechanics of the proposal and introduces a plan for targeted investment. Ohio banks would administer the money and target it to big cities and Appalachia - both regions that Democratic rival Ted Strickland, an Appalachian native, needs to win this November. ...

Although privately owned and operated toll roads are common around the world, they are just taking hold in the United States, where they are viewed as a way to generate quick cash without raising taxes. Private lease companies see them as a means of turning hefty profits over the long term through higher tolls, better management and increased efficiencies.

In 2005, Chicago signed a 99-year lease of its Skyway for $1.83 billion. Indiana followed with a deal to turn over control of its toll road to a private firm in exchange for $3.85 billion.

Under the lease agreement Blackwell envisions, the concessionaire will make an upfront, lump-sum payment and win the right to collect and keep all tolls for 99 years. Toll proceeds must be used for upkeep and maintenance of the road.

The company would not get control of gas taxes, and the State Highway Patrol would keep its responsibilities for policing the turnpike. ... while Blackwell calls for the leaseholder to maintain the turnpike, it does not estimate the cost of rebuilding it at least twice over the 99-year life of the contract. Based on past spending, they project this cost to be $771 million. ...

http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/114940996298790.xml?nohio&coll=2

evantually, the wall become brown.

Blackwell is grasping at straws!

for the benefit of all. A private company should NOT be allowed to maintain our public roadways.

now HATED in Indiana. Just a handful of weeks back, Daniels made an appearance at the sports arena in Indianapolis and he was BOOED - loud & clear - by the attendees and that is just *unheard of* in Indiana.

:wow:

Our local alternative paper also just ran an article about a dramatic increase in activity in Democratic Party in Northern Indiana - which is enough to make a blue Hoosier feint!

from my idiot governor Mitch Daniels. The lease of the Indiana toll road is primairly respinsible for hiw awful approval rating in the state. Talk about byers remorse, lots of Hoosiers are feeling it right now.

And we can see how successful THAT mess was to that state. :sarcasm:

But Crackwell doesn't really CARE what the people think, does he?

He's gonna cakewalk into office if he pulls the same sh*t he and his people were able to do in '04.

This dude, like Katherine Harris will do whatever it takes to get a W in his win column. WHATEVER IT TAKES within or without the law.

Don't think so? Read Mr. Kennedy's Rolling Stone article. Its sums up Blackwell and Co. very nicely.

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10432334/was_the_2004_election_stolen

but they must have gotten some negative feedback. You can hardly find the story on their web site, now.

Their story left out a lot of important details, including the fact that other states who've done this have sold to foreign owned companies.

I say not. This guy is a model of bad behavior.

The other thing that needs to be done is for someone to analyze the lease agreement to determine the overall results during the 99 year lease time.

Questions that need to be asked and answered:

How will the money be used?
Will the money be paid out at one time or over the lease period?
When will the money run out?
Where will they get the money to replace the lease payment to maintain the state budget?
Is the leaser required to be registered as a lobbyist in the state of Ohio?
Why is the leaser willing to pay such a high payment for the lease agreement?
Why can't the State of Ohio able to obtain the same if not higher amount by raising the toll?
Won't the leaser raise the toll when they obtain the lease?

to 100 for that one day only.

which if you go to that website you are restricted on the information you can retrieve...interesting a citizen of the usa cannot access information that soon will be in those hands?

That'll work!...Won't it? :shrug:

the arabs are so yesterday....

a British company. It was the first time in the country that a public airport was leased to a private firm. After 3 years of miserable declining ridership, they're now trying to change the name thinking it's the answer to their incompetence. It's named for the family responsible for donating the land for the airport to our city, who had foresight enough to believe that a city needed an airport in more modern times as much as it needed a train station before. The corrupt city Repugs quickly diseminated control to the state, which, after years of increasing ridership and growing success(they even tested the Concord on the strip and touted the airport as the 4th NYC international airport), leased it off for 99 years. :dunce:

to a Dubai firm?

he's deciding who gets a voter card, who gets voting machines, and whose vote gets counted. Wanna bet who wins that partiicular election?

Which will be operated as a toll road by the same Spanish firm. Candidates Bell, Strayhorn & Friedman all oppose the plan. As do many Texans.

Political trio hits the road – and the governor, too
By Mike Anderson Tribune-Herald staff writer
March 24, 2005

SEATON, Texas – Three gubernatorial candidates Friday night raised their voices in a chorus of opposition to the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor and the Republican governor who crafted it.

About a thousand people gathered at Seaton Star Hall, near Temple, to hear speeches by Democratic candidate Chris Bell and independent candidates Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman focusing on the increasingly controversial transportation plan.

Gov. Rick Perry, who proposed the corridor in 2002 as a way to accommodate the state's projected trade and population growth, didn't attend Friday's event.

"I think the Trans-Texas Corridor is a product of the culture of corruption," Bell said. "Rick Perry's toll road boondoggle doesn't make any sense except for the road builders who've poured money into his campaign coffers."

The proposed corridor would bisect Texas from the Mexican border to Oklahoma and bring together highways, rail and utility infrastructure in a 1,200-foot-wide tollway. The corridor is expected to parallel Interstate 35 and pass through McLennan County. State highway officials could announce the 10-mile-wide environmental impact study area for the corridor in the next few weeks.

www.chrisbell.com/node/1136?t=6

If people thinks this will mean more money for education, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell them. An extra layer of administration is automatically added. How does that save money?

When the road was built tolls were supposed to pay for its cost. When they paid it off, the toll would end. That was decades ago.

Yeah, right, like Hackwell's going to get rid of a cash cow / quintessential money laundry. He's stupid, but not that stupid.