privatization sucks

Discussion in 'The big picture' started by Ojo, Jan 7, 2009.

  1. Ojo

    Ojo Junior Member

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    Look at all of those political appointees who have positions at regulatory agencies who have deep ties with the very industries they are supposed to police. Do some real reporting and expose the blatant conflicts of interest that consitently put the publics health at risk. Some of these players may have changed since this information came out but recently it was Michael Friedman who was the Acting Commissioner of the FDA/Senior Vice President, GD Searle (Division of Monsanto); Micky Kantor was Secretary of Commerce/Board of Directors, Monsanto; Lina Fisher was Deputy Administrator, EPA/Executive Vice President, Monsanto; William Ruckelshaus was Chief Administrator, EPA/Board Member, Monsanto; Michael Taylor was Deputy Commissioner for Policy, FDA/Monsanto Senior Counsel and this is just the tip of a very large iceberg. These conflicts of interest are typical for every regulatory agency from the EPA, FDA to the FCC and as we saw with Katrina, FEMA. If one cannot see the relevance between the Perchlorate issue and the regulatory issues then there is no hope. Even if Perchlorate is turns out to be harmless it should invite some scrutiny into the larger problem about how this nation really operates as opposed to what it purports to be.
    (from a comment at)
    https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3094072&page=1
    from
    https://www.flowthefilm.com/takeaction
    from
    https://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/01/05-4

    “Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period, and pursued unalterably through every change of ministers, too plainly prove a deliberate systematical job of reducing us to slaves." --Thomas Jefferson
    excerpt
    https://www.celdf.org/ProgramAreas/Corpo ... fault.aspx

    lots of links and info
    https://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/VANOVEDR/

    https://onthecommons.org/library.php
     
  2. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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    https://www.alternet.org/water/1497..._trick_to_defeating_corporations/?page=entire
    The story of Coatesville is a wake-up call of sorts. Most of us don't think too much about where our water comes from, and it's usually one of our least expensive monthly bills. And right now, the vast majority of us (80 percent) get our water from a public utility. But this figure has multinational water corporations drooling -- the U.S. is a huge market that could be exploited if Americans can be persuaded (or tricked) into giving up control of their most important resource.

    For decades private companies, mostly multinational corporations, have made inroads in the U.S. (and they've had great success elsewhere in the world). But their progress hasn't been major and an inspection of municipalities that have gone from public to private shows that consumers usually end up seeing higher rates and crappier services. And while those facts don't seem like they're changing anytime soon, more and more communities are contemplating privatization, thanks to disaster capitalism.

    In a new report, "Trends in Water Privatization," Food and Water Watch found that from 1991 to 2010, private companies bought or leased about 144 public water systems -- an average of about seven deals a year. But since the economic collapse, things are changing. As of October 2010, at least 39 communities were considering whether they should sell or lease their water infrastructure. And the reasons for privatization are changing. Corporations used to swoop in to try and "rescue" communities when they couldn't afford expensive upgrades, but now, even cities with well-functioning, in-the-black water systems are looking to sell or lease them in hopes that privatization will bring an influx of cash to pay for other programs.

    Sadly, that's not usually how it pans out. "It's always the same false claim: Private is more efficient than public. The public unions are impossible to work with, they'll say, and we have a corporation that can save us dollars," Jack E. Lohman, author of Politicians: Owned and Operated by Corporate America, wrote in the Capital Times. "Rarely is that true, especially after they add all of the exorbitant salaries, bonuses, shareholder profits, marketing and political bribes that must be passed on to the taxpayer. These costs usually far exceed government waste, unless offset by egregiously low salaries that further harm the economy."

    Any sane financial adviser would know that selling off a recurring revenue stream for a one-time boost to the budget doesn't make sense in the long run. After looking at the 10 largest sales and concessions of public water systems, Food and Water Watch found that rates went up an average of 15 percent a year in the 12 years following a privatization deal.
    More at
    https://www.alternet.org/water/1497..._trick_to_defeating_corporations/?page=entire
     

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