Stunning Texas grassroots victory over Governor Slick Rick Perry
Grassroots defeat GOLIATH: Stop the sale of TX roads to foreign corporations, protect public pension funds
Written by Terri Hall
Friday, 03 July 2009
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Austin, TX – July 2, 2009) Today, ordinary Texans brought Governor Rick Perry’s road privatization, toll road, and Trans Texas Corridor agenda to a screeching halt. The Legislature adjourned without re-authorizing private toll road contracts called Comprehensive Development Agreements (or CDAs). The grassroots scored another victory by KILLING the revolving fund in HB 1, preventing the $2 billion in bonds from being spent to build toll roads, convert freeways to toll roads, or subsidize private toll deals, as well as protecting public employee pension funds from risky toll roads schemes that are failing all over the world.
“It is a hard-fought victory for the grassroots. We killed Goliath, not just Perry’s controversial toll road policies, but we defeated a sold out Senate and the BIG MONEY, the lobbyists, who sank millions into pushing for the sale of Texas highways,” Hank Gilbert, Texas TURF Board member and President of Piney Woods Subregional Planning Commission.
“We applaud Rep. David Leibowitz, once again, for standing up for Texas taxpayers and leading 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 road schemes. He authored the bill to KILL the Trans Texas Corridor and another to prevent the conversion of freeways to tollways during the regular session. He’s a proven taxpayer hero and Texans owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude,” said TURF Founder, Terri Hall.
“However, no session is without a few villains. CDA proponents and senate leaders like John Carona and Steve Ogden need to be taken to the woodshed for promising to promote the MOST expensive method of road funding, CDAs, next session, and for wanting to continue to raid public pension funds over the LOUD objections of Texans. None of this is dead in their minds, just postponed until they can resurrect this controversial public fleecing for another day,” Hall emphasized.
Taxpayers wanted Perry’s controversial and virtually universally detested road privatization schemes to die a natural death August 31 as scheduled, which will also KILL the mechanism to build the Trans Texas Corridor (or TTC). Today, they achieved just that. However, TTC-69/I-69 was excepted out of the moratorium, SB 792, in 2007, 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 the TTC and keep it from ever being built.
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bump
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I say this is huge
holy shitballs Texas. I am so grateful you stalled this Trans Texas Corridor, I stress the word stall, because they will try to find a back door to get it through. Great job Texas, a big holy shit goes out to you. Hope I don't get banned for that, but this post made me happy.
A few
words like that passed thru my mind when we got the news....:-)
It'll be great to not have to fight this particular issue for a while; give us a little time to focus on lots of other issues.
The upshot is that if we can stall/stop it here, it saves the states "upstream" from having to fight it just yet.
For those in AZ, watch out!! I think y'all are being considered for an "alternate" route if they can't make it thru here.
Sounds like a victory, but...
I could care less about teacher retirements and public employee pension funds. Sounds more like a victory for DemocRats and unions than anything else.
way to go
texas
Why are Texan Libertarians against toll roads?
I am gladd TCC is dead for now...but tolling in general is a better way to fund roads then the federal and state gas tax. One gas tax is declining revenue source generally and two, fed gas tax is a big waste and is used to coerce states in an end run around 10th amendment (.08 etc).
But tolling brings the tax to the service. This is much more libertarian approach.
I get being upset about previously tax funded roads turning into toll roads...but they are not "free roads" they are tax funded. But allowing for tolling managed lanes on previously built tax funded roads would help traffic tremendously and be more of a market solution versus unused paternalistic HOA lanes.
Your suggestion wasn't an option.
We're talking about using the brute force of gov't taking private property so that a privately-owned monopoly could profit. I've just got issues with any gov't action that forcibly takes from an individual so that someone else can profit.
The "non-compete" portions of the contracts were purely special-interest and had nothing to do with free market.
All said, it was set up to be a huge rip-off for the citizens & taxpayers.
An alternate solution: opt out of the Fed Hwy program. Tx is a "donor" state when it comes to federal highway money. We only get back about 80% of what we send in for Fed gas taxes...the remaining 20% is "redistributed" to other states. If we just kept all those tax dollars here instead sending to FedGov, we'd probably take care of much of our hwy funding issues.
Agreed
The Federal Gas Tax has got to go. I think Eisenhower's purpose has been fullfilled by now. Like all temporary taxes it has remained.
It is worse than simply making Texas a donor state. It also wastes a tremendous amount of money sending it up to Washington--much is lost even before it can be redistributed. Then, of course the roads are much more expensive to build because of the federal strings attached...this before we get to the point that it is used as a carrot and stick to make states do what the feds want.
Unfortunately, aside from some self respect, there is no opting out of federal tax. Texans would still pay it we just wouldn't get it back through our congressional earmarks.
I agree about the noncompete portions and the TTC was ill designed and kind of grafty.
God Bless Texas!
I just love being a Texan, and I just loved being a part of raging against the machine.
I hope you'll take the time to watch: Truth Be Tolled
It's only a matter of time before YOUR state will face these issues because it is all a part of "Sustainable Development."
You'll need to be armed to the teeth to take them on, so check out this video on Sustainable Development (Agenda 21):
http://www.educatorsoflib...
Once the video starts playing, skip ahead about 19 minutes and watch.
A long, difficult fight
that took YEARS and tens of thousands of Texans getting involved. At long last we win......a 2-year reprieve. And then the sell-outs in Austin will be back representing their special-interest clients rather than the taxpaying citizens in their districts.
The victory is sweet, but only temporary....Sadly, we will be having this same fight again 2 years from now.
And to clarify: Some of the proposals were to convert highways that were already paid for into toll roads that were "leased" by private corporations....If I've already paid for a road, I damn sure don't want to pay a toll to drive on it.
Second issue: The outright abuse of private property owners....Over a half-million acres of rural farm/ranch/timberlands would have been forcibly taken to put new toll roads into areas where there is NO traffic and completely by-passed urban/metro areas that are screaming for new roads.
Third issue: This whole issue of toll roads wasn't for Texans, it was to construct the NAFTA Superhighway...Part of the NWO scheme. No thanks to that, any way they try to sell it.
Many thanks to all those in and out of Texas that helped bring this monster to light....and stayed in the fight. Special thanks to Terri Hall & Hank Gilbert for their relentless and tireless work & leadership. It was a hard-won victory and I will savor it for a few days. Then, time to move on to the next fight.
Better in private hands than controlled by government
The government is inefficient as all get-out. Why have them involved in anything not vital to national security? It's nuts. Sell the roads and have the funds given not to the government but rather to the taxpayers. Get virtually everything into the private sector.
It's good news the people care and have clout;
but I'm not a big fan of governments owning roads. Check out http://www.walterblock.co... for some excellent arguments in favor of privatizing roads, and many other thoughtful essays. Walter Block is an Austrian School economist.
I am too
But the government already built the roads and the people are already paying taxes to maintain them. The federal government subsides road construction would it them subsidize these companies?
Do companies get to claim private property to build new roads, do they get lobby government to do it for them?
Also in the original bill that Terri Hall fought against there
was a non compete clause where the toll road owners would have a guarnteed income with no competition.
Mrs. Hall has been fighting this road war for many years and I am glad that she is a Texan on the side of we the people.
I was told by a worker at a
I was told by a worker at a new toll bridge at Lake of the Ozarks, that her company (a British owned one) had the contract for every toll bridge and road in the country....
just my thoughts
the big picture on this is "local representation"
this is how government should work. we said "no" to Rick Perry's reality and replaced it with our own.
Rick Perry is crap. He was pro mandatory vaccination for our daughters, he was pro trans texas corridor, he's a corporate lackey.
He was stopped.
As for toll roads themselves, that isn't a simple topic. The topic can only be rationally discussed in a backdrop of less federal interventionism and federal nannyism. I would prefer to abolish the IRS, and the federal reserve, and have only state taxes, each state deciding how they fund public stuff, like roads, police, firemen, etc. Perhaps against that backdrop, toll roads make sense. I'd prefer toll roads over a GPS enforced tax per mile program... but of course I'm talking about things that do not exist. Reality is, we are going to pay one way or another. But this was an exercising of the constituency's power. We said no. It's a small victory.
But I like it.
Every now and then...Good news BUMPs occur.
thank you!
------
Libera me, let the truth break, what my fears make..
Libera me......from this dark dream, to the life-stream! --Leslie Phillips
What's next after End the Fed? Repeal the XVI and XVII Amendments!
Bump!
----------------
Ron Paul Supporter Since 1997
`Wise people, even though all laws were abolished, would still lead the same life'- Aristophanes -
Bump it! Medina for Governor!
This good news is the result of a vast network of Ron Paul supporters each acting individually in concert with many other Texans who are themselves fed up with the NEO-CON-nazi soft money PAC rackets that have these Foreign Special Interests controlling and even owning the local Texas media outlets while attempting to successfully bury the stories of their corruption and mafia fascist state tactics.
But in fact the corruption is so plainly obvious that these NEO-CON (prostitute conservatives) are serving well to strengthen and fortify our resolve and expand our network reach both inside and outside the borders of Texas and across both major parties.
Much thanks to Terri Hall, Hank Gilbert and Debra Medina for their exhaustive work on our behalf!
Rick "TOLL ROAD" Perry, Kay "BAILOUT" Hutchinson and John "BP" Cornyn are equally part of the problem and therefore never be credible parties to a clean transparent solution.
Debra Medina for Texas Governor 2010!
Rand Paul for US Senate in Kentucky!
Ron Paul 2012, Join or Die!
DONT TREAD ON ME
AN APPEAL TO HEAVEN - WASHINGTON'S CRUISERS
YES!
we need to keep reminding texans, and all americans, about toll road perry, bailout hutchinson, and all of the rest!
here, in tennessee, its "bailout" alexander and "corrupt" corker...keep bringing this to the attention of all voters in your districts/states and we'll force diebold's hand!
O Captain, My Captain, rise up and hear the bells!
bump
bravo got to love Texas....
Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.”
– Patrick Henry, speech to the Virginia Convention
amen
way to go my texas brothers and sisters...
Privatizing the roads would be a great idea
...just as long as we don't let any dang foreigners become owners ;-) That would be unAmerican! Public (socialist) road ownership seems to be very popular in America. If we could privatize the roads we could get rid of the state issued driver's license.
Remember, driving is a privilege not a right when the government owns the road.
The trouble with this is that we, the taxpayer, have already....
........paid for these roads. (I am speaking as someone who actually lives in Texas). Why should we be forced to pay again? Especially to a government designated private corporation?
A true anarchist, if you really knew what that meant, would not care about "dang foreigners" or what exactly is "unAmerican" and what is not, since there are no governments in your anarchist fantasy world. You can't have it both ways.
In other words I think you, like all the other self-proclaimed anarchists, have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be unaware of which you speak (or frauds, if you prefer).
You are wrong.
However it is because you lack fundamental understanding of how the system truely operates.
www.TeamLaw.net
I reserve the right to govern myself.
"Privatizing the roads would
"Privatizing the roads would be a great idea just as long as we don't let any dang foreigners become owners."
For arguement sake lets assume our roads and bridges were put up for sale based on that criteria. A year later the owners of these domestic companies are approached with buyout offers from overseas interest. By application of free and unrestricted economics you or I couldn't have a word to say about it, which is in sharp contrast with the topic of this thread - taxpayer representatives having the last word.
You bring up a great point.
You bring up a great point. Walter Block has a great point of view on road privatization.
I forget where it occurred, but in the transfer from public to private, citizens were given shares under the new owner. They should receive something in the transaction for the cost incurred, and given the 'public' owns them. In this case, the shareholders would have a say in a private sale.
nice writing netzorro
nice writing netzorro
Sorry about the lack of
Sorry about the lack of credit where credit is due (now corrected). But if you notice its all quotes and Halls name is mentioned several times. Enjoy the victory and don't be such a nitpick.
“It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds”
-Sam Adams
a lot of posts on the DP are
a lot of posts on the DP are not so great.
your post was a good one.
now that it's credited, it's an excellent one.
people can easily look more into the whos, whats and whys when a post is sourced.
yes that was sarcasm.
yes that was sarcasm. people who publish other people's work, which is wrong, but if you're going to do it, should at the very least give credit to the writer, and the publication.
Here's the info/link:
Writer: Terri Hall
Publication: MySA Blogs
Link: http://voices.mysanantoni...
Yehhhhh!
Shoot off fireworks on this Fourth of July in celebration. Any small or large victory is very much appreciated. In the meantime, the skies are full of weird stuff right now. Not letting up on July 4th. We have lots of work to do. Medina for Governor. End the secrecy. No more Waco Treaties behind closed doors with Perry/Bush/etc with the blessings of Culberson, Hutchison and others. Stay on top of them, keep watching them, spoil their plans. Drop the curtains of secrecy all over the nation.
There was a recent
story, here in PA regarding raising the limits for truck drivers and safety, etc.
What I noticed different - was that the STATE Trooper called our inerstate highways in PA "federal highways". What's up with that?
This is GREAT NEWS, however, we KNOW they will not let it end. They will be back, bit bigger guns and more tyranny.