NATIONAL SECURITY ALERT - America For Sale Or Rent
"Hoosiers also disapprove of the biggest change [Governor] Daniels has sought since becoming governor: the $3.85 billion lease of the Indiana Toll Road to an Australian-Spanish consortium to raise money for highway projects. Only 30 percent of those polled say the lease is a good idea, while 60 percent said it's a bad idea." - Indiana Democratic Party (March 5, 2006)
The State of Indiana, under the leadership of Governor Daniels, and a Republican/ultra-conservative dominated legislature, has approved the leasing of a US Interstate toll road (I-80/I-90) to a corporate consortium involving Spanish and Australian entities. What bothers me is, given all the hubbabalou about national security and terrorism that the Bush administration has pressed upon us, that we are once again allowing a foreign entity to take over and manage an essential asset of our national defense and national security.
The Interstate highway system is a product of the Eisenhower Interstate Highway Program that was specifically designed to allow rapid mobilization of military assets from one part of the country to another in case of attack, natural disaster, terrorism and actual war. Even today, any repairs, extensions, or new roads built as part of the Interstate Highway System must meet specifications that are essentially mandated by military reasoning. I question the soundness, as well as the legality, of the State of Indiana allowing the management of a state and national defense resource to a private corporation, especially one that has its allegiance outside of the United States.
One has to also question the reality of our national security risk if the leaders of our state and federal governments are willing to allow so much of our national security risk to be managed by foreign corporations.... or any corporation other than a government entity that has built-in security and affiliations. Will other states experiencing financial hard times--all too often brought about by mismanagement in the first place--begin leasing out other parts of our interstate highway system? Is our national security, national infrastructure and our ability to direct our own affairs really for sale in this manner?
Someone needs to stand up and say "NO!" Someone needs to state--categorically--that our national security, civil liberties, and infrastructure are safe because "WE the People..." are in charge of our own destiny, our own safety and our own liberty.
The State of Indiana, under the leadership of Governor Daniels, and a Republican/ultra-conservative dominated legislature, has approved the leasing of a US Interstate toll road (I-80/I-90) to a corporate consortium involving Spanish and Australian entities. What bothers me is, given all the hubbabalou about national security and terrorism that the Bush administration has pressed upon us, that we are once again allowing a foreign entity to take over and manage an essential asset of our national defense and national security.
The Interstate highway system is a product of the Eisenhower Interstate Highway Program that was specifically designed to allow rapid mobilization of military assets from one part of the country to another in case of attack, natural disaster, terrorism and actual war. Even today, any repairs, extensions, or new roads built as part of the Interstate Highway System must meet specifications that are essentially mandated by military reasoning. I question the soundness, as well as the legality, of the State of Indiana allowing the management of a state and national defense resource to a private corporation, especially one that has its allegiance outside of the United States.
One has to also question the reality of our national security risk if the leaders of our state and federal governments are willing to allow so much of our national security risk to be managed by foreign corporations.... or any corporation other than a government entity that has built-in security and affiliations. Will other states experiencing financial hard times--all too often brought about by mismanagement in the first place--begin leasing out other parts of our interstate highway system? Is our national security, national infrastructure and our ability to direct our own affairs really for sale in this manner?
Someone needs to stand up and say "NO!" Someone needs to state--categorically--that our national security, civil liberties, and infrastructure are safe because "WE the People..." are in charge of our own destiny, our own safety and our own liberty.
posted by Jim Downey at 5:18 PM
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