I find myself increasingly encountering the term, “public-private partnership.” Today, I read two articles centered on this idea, both of which concerned Vice President Mike Pence – and one that concerned Pence’s role in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. One article also included a sprinkling of US secretary of [privatized] education, Betsy DeVos. A major goal of corporate education reform is to deliver public education to private entities (corporations, or even nonprofits, but don’t think that an entity termed “nonprofit” cannot be a handsome money dispenser for those running the nonprofit and doling out contracts). However, the extreme-right-Republican aim does not end with public education but with delivering the operation of the entire American infrastructure to private entities. In the end, what this entails is having private corporations front money to state and local governments in order to lease back to the public what the public already owns. Think of Chicago’s parking meter fiasco. From the May 23, 2016, Chicago Sun-Times: In the public-private partnership, the private entity rakes it in – and the public is thrown into crisis. But let us return to VP Pence. On June 08, 2017, Donald Cohen of In the Public Interest published this post about Pence’ canceling a PBS interview “out of the blue.” It just so happens that a failed public-private partnership connected to Pence was hitting the news. As Cohen writes: In January 2017, Naomi Klein wrote this Intercept article tying Pence with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina– and with the public-private-partnership concept: What could be more lucrative than using crisis (or manufacturing crisis, if necessary) and combining that fear-instilling atmosphere with a little front-end cash in order to beef up corporate profits? That, my friends, is a public-private partnership. In fact, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)– which actively encourages public-private partnerships, including offering model legislation (see here and here and here and here)– will have stalwart voucher promoter, Betsy DeVos, as a featured speaker at its Denver conference in July 2017. Heads up, America: The sharks are eyeing your public infrastructure. *** Longer version originally posted 06-11-17 at deutsch29.wordpress.com. ***
