Otis White (Aug.
4 post) wonders why governments are selling their toll roads. Indiana
Gov. Mitch Daniels says raising taxes and tolls is unpalatable for
politicians but the government gets a huge windfall when it sells.
Steve Radack, a county commissioner in Harris County, Texas, where Houston is located… told the Wall Street Journal
recently, he?s handing out copies of the children?s book ?The Giving
Tree? to people interested in selling off the roads. The book is about
a boy and a generous apple tree, which gives the boy its fruit to eat
and anything else he wants, including its branches and trunk. In the
end, of course, there?s nothing left but the stump. Radack uses the
book to make a point: ?If you can sell [a highway] for tremendous
profit, then why is someone buying it? Because they know they can make
even more.? And with a little courage, so could governments.
Mr. Radack apparently has never bought a stock or a second-hand
ticket to an event. Each of those transactions involves selling
something to someone who thinks they can make even more.
Selling the toll road also may not be popular, which gives credence to Gov. Daniels’ hypothesis.
Daniels? approval ratings, the Washington Post
reported recently, plunged from about 50 percent before the [toll road] lease idea
to 37 percent after. Next door in Illinois, the Republican and
Democratic candidates for governor have taken note of Daniels? missteps
and are promising they won?t sell that state?s roads, even though some
estimate the Illinois Tollway alone could fetch $15 billion. ?I have no
interest in turning it over to private investors,? Gov. Rod Blagojevich
told reporters.
