Joined
·
12,108 Posts
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/02/23/general-us-wisconsin-budget-unions_8322532.html
http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/2...ker-and-koch-brothers-buried-in-state-budget/
(1) Notwithstanding ss. 13.48 (14) (am) and 16.705 (1), the department may sell any state−owned heating, cooling, and power plant or may contract with a private entity for the operation of any such plant, with or without solicitation of bids, for any amount that the department determines to be in the best interest of the state. Notwithstanding ss. 196.49 and 196.80, no approval or certification of the public service commission is necessary for a public utility to purchase, or contract for the operation of, such a plant, and any such purchase is considered to be in the public interest and to comply with the criteria for certification of a project under s. 196.49 (3) (b).
:WTF
"Put another way, the state can pick who they want and make whatever deal they want without anyone else having a chance to bid on the deal.
You have to admit- that is pretty unusual. States typically have a strict responsibility to maximize any such sale or lease to fulfill government’s obligation to get the best deal possible for the people of the state.
So, who in the state of Wisconsin would be in a position to buy or operate these utilities such operations and benefit from a bid-free scenario?
There are a few companies that seem best positioned to fill this roll. They are,..............
Flint Hills Resources, LLC, through its subsidiaries, is a leading refining and chemicals company. Its subsidiaries market products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol, olefins, polymers and intermediate chemicals, as well as base oils and asphalt. A subsidiary distributes refined fuel through its strategically located pipelines and terminals in Junction City, Waupun, Madison and Milwaukee. Another subsidiary manufactures asphalt that is distributed to terminals in Green Bay and Stevens Point.
Koch Pipeline Company, L.P. operates a pipeline system that crosses Wisconsin, part of the nearly 4,000 miles of pipelines owned or operated by the company.
The C. Reiss Coal Company is a leading supplier of coal used to generate power. The company has locations in Green Bay, Manitowoc, Ashland and Sheboygan.
All three of these Wisconsin based companies are the largest –or among the largest – in their fields. And they all have one thing in common......
Each of these companies is a subsidiary of Koch Industries.
***********************************************
:WTF:WTF:WTF:WTF:WTF
http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2011/02/22/privatizing-wisconsin/
Koch says it won't gain from Wis. bill
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/storie...www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/50066.html
If this isn't the best summary of the goals of modern conservatism, I don't know what is. It's like a highlight reel of all of the tomahawk dunks of neo-Gilded Age corporatism: privatization, no-bid contracts, deregulation, and naked cronyism. Extra bonus points for the explicit effort to legally redefine the term "public interest" as "whatever the energy industry lobbyists we appoint to these unelected bureaucratic positions say it is."
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/...lker-plan:-Firesale-of-Wisconsin-state-assets
http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/2...ker-and-koch-brothers-buried-in-state-budget/
(1) Notwithstanding ss. 13.48 (14) (am) and 16.705 (1), the department may sell any state−owned heating, cooling, and power plant or may contract with a private entity for the operation of any such plant, with or without solicitation of bids, for any amount that the department determines to be in the best interest of the state. Notwithstanding ss. 196.49 and 196.80, no approval or certification of the public service commission is necessary for a public utility to purchase, or contract for the operation of, such a plant, and any such purchase is considered to be in the public interest and to comply with the criteria for certification of a project under s. 196.49 (3) (b).
:WTF
"Put another way, the state can pick who they want and make whatever deal they want without anyone else having a chance to bid on the deal.
You have to admit- that is pretty unusual. States typically have a strict responsibility to maximize any such sale or lease to fulfill government’s obligation to get the best deal possible for the people of the state.
So, who in the state of Wisconsin would be in a position to buy or operate these utilities such operations and benefit from a bid-free scenario?
There are a few companies that seem best positioned to fill this roll. They are,..............
Flint Hills Resources, LLC, through its subsidiaries, is a leading refining and chemicals company. Its subsidiaries market products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol, olefins, polymers and intermediate chemicals, as well as base oils and asphalt. A subsidiary distributes refined fuel through its strategically located pipelines and terminals in Junction City, Waupun, Madison and Milwaukee. Another subsidiary manufactures asphalt that is distributed to terminals in Green Bay and Stevens Point.
Koch Pipeline Company, L.P. operates a pipeline system that crosses Wisconsin, part of the nearly 4,000 miles of pipelines owned or operated by the company.
The C. Reiss Coal Company is a leading supplier of coal used to generate power. The company has locations in Green Bay, Manitowoc, Ashland and Sheboygan.
All three of these Wisconsin based companies are the largest –or among the largest – in their fields. And they all have one thing in common......
Each of these companies is a subsidiary of Koch Industries.
***********************************************
:WTF:WTF:WTF:WTF:WTF
http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2011/02/22/privatizing-wisconsin/
Koch says it won't gain from Wis. bill
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/storie...www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/50066.html
If this isn't the best summary of the goals of modern conservatism, I don't know what is. It's like a highlight reel of all of the tomahawk dunks of neo-Gilded Age corporatism: privatization, no-bid contracts, deregulation, and naked cronyism. Extra bonus points for the explicit effort to legally redefine the term "public interest" as "whatever the energy industry lobbyists we appoint to these unelected bureaucratic positions say it is."
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/...lker-plan:-Firesale-of-Wisconsin-state-assets
