The Privatization Scam 0
As my local rag points out, it’s still taking a toll. Here’s a bit (emphasis added):
Many of the nation’s biggest public-private projects (supported by immensely complex webs of public and private investment), are foremost financial and investment instruments.
If you can get a government, as (ex-Governor and convicted influence peddler–ed.) McDonnell did on the Elizabeth River tunnels, to commit to outrageous terms like a 13.5 percent average annual profit, or a yearly elevator on tolls of 3.5 percent or more, all protected by a clause that forces the state to pay if it builds anything that diverts traffic, you’ve helped created a remarkably safe and lucrative financial instrument.
That comes, in this instance, at the expense of people who have no choice but to use the Downtown or Midtown tunnels, where tolls are due to rise to $1.87 per car and $7.36 per truck in 2017 and to keep on rising for decades.
