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As far as I am concerned, it is underhanded. I have yet to see any details, any guidelines, anything at all, as to what Perry is giving away to Cintra. Perhaps you know something that others (including the media) doesn't know - and that gives you comfort that the deal is not so bad.

So Bob the Conservative (may we call you Bob the Conservative?) thinks his governer is a crook. Evidence? None, as you admit. But hey, you say, I never attack the governer or any other republican on any other issue. Great. So where are your conservative ideas for the roads? Publicly funded pork barrels like the big dig and Alaska's bridge to nowhere? You say you are in favor of tolls as long as they are "equitable" with the "possible" exception of trucks? That strikes me as socialism.

You are convinced (without presenting evidence) that the governer will grant a back door monopoly to Cintra. Let's say just for the sake of argument that he does not, that parallel roads continue to be maintained (although not expanded). In that specific case, would you be against the private road operator charging tolls according to market principles as opposed to government charging by politics and bureaucracy?

"You are convinced (without presenting evidence) that the governer will grant a back door monopoly to Cintra. Let's say just for the sake of argument that he does not, that parallel roads continue to be maintained (although not expanded)."

You kind of trip on yourself on this segment. If I-35 cannot be expanded for 50+ years, then Cintra clearly has been provided monopolistic protections. I'll respond to the rest in my next posting.

"Great. So where are your conservative ideas for the roads?"

It's not possible. You cannot have a free market with roads, unless you have no monopolistic protections at all. But if that's the case, Cintra, and no one else will build (since no one would put their money at such high risk).

It's simply not possible. To have a truly free market on intercity ground transportation, you would have to allow Cintra to build their highway (again without protections) - but, for the sake of argument they still go forward with it.

Now, for the market to be truly free. A second company, say Bectel (sp.), decides that the market supports a second roadway, parallel and close to Cintra's roadway. Bectel would have to be given the same eminent domain power that were used to allow Cintra to build their highway. In other words, some of the poor property owners may have a second toll road cut through their land. This would then have to be repeated (or allowed to be repeated) several more times -
then you have a true free market.

Since I cannot see that ever being done, and there is nowhere in world where it's ever been attempted, I'm will to go out on a limb and say that a true free market is not possible in this case.

By the way, it does exist for air transport. That's what allowed Southwest to become the largest passenger carrier in the US, it just cannot be done on the surface. So given that, I choose to support the next best thing - an equitable roadway system.

"So Bob the Conservative (may we call you Bob the Conservative?) thinks his governer is a crook. Evidence? None, as you admit."

You're right, since I haven't seen the contract with Cintra (it's being negotiated in secret). I also haven't seen any hard-stops on the part of the governor - you know lines in the sand, that would protect Texans (such as maximum toll rates, and rate increases, for example). Maybe they're out there, but they are not being disclosed. So yea - I am suspicious when a politician says: "Trust me".

But there is some very smelly stuff regarding one of the key players who now works for Perry. Seems, he was a Cintra lobbyist just a few months prior. Doesn't prove anything - and it's possible he got into a car wreck in those intervening months and lost all memories of working for Cintra - but it does stink.

"Publicly funded pork barrels like the big dig and Alaska's bridge to nowhere? "

As to pure pork. I'm really not aware of that much happening at the state level (certainly nothing that big in Texas). But you are right, at the federal level it can be ugly. But I still trust an open process.