Friday, May 29, 2015

Reason Foundation Claims Daniels Rescued Indiana From Bankruptcy Through Privatization Deals

Savas Award 1
Daniels shown accepting Reason's Savas Award earlier this month
The Reason Foundation is financed by companies that profiteer from the privatization of government facilities and services so it's no surprise it would be a major fan of former Gov. Mitch Daniels. In its exuberance in awarding Daniels its 2015 Savas Award for Public-Private Partnership Agreements, the organization's magazine gets a bit carried away in describing Daniels' accomplishments as the state's governor:
. . . During his tenure, Indiana went from bankruptcy to a AAA credit rating, led the nation in infrastructure building, and passed sweeping education reforms, including the nation's first statewide school choice voucher program.
His administration implemented several major statewide public-private partnerships, including a long-term lease of the Indiana Toll Road, a major welfare eligibility modernization initiative, and a private management agreement for the Hoosier Lottery. After a series of reforms—which included the passage of a right-to-work law—Indiana's business climate is now rated among the nation's best . . .
Indiana was bankrupt when Daniels became governor? Please. Remember, this was the same organization that touted huge benefits Indianapolis taxpayers supposedly gained from the privatization of the city's parking meter assets for the benefit of ACS/Xerox and its law firm, Barnes & Thornburg. You pretty much have to take what the say with a grain of salt.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Reason, in all its guises, is a large reason (heh) why the Libertarian Party has been losing prior allies.

Mitch Daniels was a disaster whose skill was unlocking public assets for private profit.

It's well known the Kochs own Cato.

Unigov said...

Reason is 90% good, but 10% corporate BS. I was just thinking today that Reason:

1) Thinks businesses should be able to fill their windows with signage. E.g., an Autozone or supermarket with a glass front should be able to fill 100% of the glass area with signs. What Reason doesn't get, or won't admit, is that Autozone's, gas stations, etc are built with tons of window space Precisely so they can fill up the glass space with signage. Illegally.

2) A Reason article on tort reform decried the awarding of $300,000 (later reduced) tot he old lady whose crotch was badly burned by hot coffee. Bu publishing that article, Reason demonstrated they have NO clue what punitive damages are. The lady in question was badly burned. The McDonalds in question had been warned about their habit of serving coffee as hot as physically possible.

Eric Morris said...

Why I side with Lew Rockwell and Mises Institute over Reason, Cato, and other Kochtopus-funded Beltarians.

Anonymous said...

So much for the age of 'Reason'