Comments on Advance Indiana™: Indiana Toll Road Could Get New Owner

I've heard for years the argument of monetizin...

2014-09-18T11:46:59.997-05:00

I've heard for years the argument of monetizing the 75 years and spending it now. I would agree if the Toll Road ever turned a profit under government control prior to the lease. It didn't. Ever. It was a loss to the State every year. It collected less in tolls than it it cost to run it. That is a loss. Instead, we get someone to give us BILLIONS to let them run it and we get it back without having to pay back the money. Sounds like a great deal for the State and me as a taxpayer.

The "badness" stems from monetizing 75 y...

2014-09-17T14:25:37.075-05:00

The "badness" stems from monetizing 75 years of revenue so all that money can be spent short-term in order to buy votes.

A smaller badness is that all the members of the General Assembly get to use the toll road for free - they were given free electronic passes. And that's JUST the bribes we know about.

A more global badness is that the deal was set up with one goal - to let rich people dodge taxes. Creating a lease creates the ability to depreciate the asset. The very essence of this deal is to shift a tax burden from 'everyone' to the rich lease investors.

I too wonder why it is such a bad idea that Indian...

2014-09-16T06:29:28.402-05:00

I too wonder why it is such a bad idea that Indiana received a great deal of money up front for this lease, gets to keep the money, and may even get unrestricted ownership of the Toll Road back. Please explain where the "badness" is in this.

Failing to find a company that would remain solven...

2014-09-15T16:05:57.059-05:00

Failing to find a company that would remain solvent for the life of the sale and allowing the highway to devolve into the hands of a string of unmotivated owners is no way to conduct business, 10:58.

If and when we get that highway back, the first order of business should be to remove permanently all tolls from it.

Win Moses will be surprised to read here that he v...

2014-09-15T14:50:34.265-05:00

Win Moses will be surprised to read here that he voted for the Toll Road lease.

Is it true that Daniels is planning on trying to ...

2014-09-15T12:07:09.392-05:00

Is it true that Daniels is planning
on trying to outsource the Purdue School of Veterinary Medicine to Pet Supplies Plus to operate?

As I sit and read this I am still trying to unders...

2014-09-15T10:58:15.786-05:00

As I sit and read this I am still trying to understand why this is such a bad deal for the State and taxpayers. The toll road was a net loss for the State for decades. We get billions to let someone else upgrade it and run it including maintenance. If they default, we get it back including all the tolls but don't have to pay back the billions. Explain how this is such a bad deal again!?

Everyone in the Daniels' Administration who wo...

2014-09-15T07:47:54.329-05:00

Everyone in the Daniels' Administration who worked on the sale should be permanently humiliated and barred from future governmental work over this colossal screw up.

Hopefully, this disaster is so epic that other governments won't be able to sell off their roads and that Indiana won't be able to sell off any more roads.