Rick Ungar quotes Think Progress in his Feb. 18, 2011 Forbes Magazine article;
Koch Brothers Behind Wisconsin Effort to Kill Public Unions
Koch owns a coal company subsidiary with facilities in Green Bay, Manitowoc, Ashland and Sheboygan; six timber plants throughout the state; and a large network of pipelines in Wisconsin.
Below the fold more, and a prediction of a huge "FOR SALE" of our Common Good.
In the upcoming? Scott Walker Budget Repair Bill that Scott Walker is anxiously awaiting to become Law we are going to see the Wisconsin Republican House and Senate give the Wisconsin Secretary of Administration (Scott Walker's hand picked; "Yes Sir, I'll do anything you say boss !") and by the Governor's request sole power to sell off Wisconsin state owned heating, cooling and power plants at ALL state facilities;
Scott Walker Budget Repair Bill, Section 44, 16.896
The vast majority of electrical power generated in the above mentioned Green Bay area, and for that matter all of Wisconsin, is produced by fossil fuel (coal) burning plants.
See; Wisconsin Electric Power Plants
This would include smaller heating, cooling and power generating facilities at all State owned institutions that must have a reliable, uninterrupted power supply. There was going to be a large scale conversion of these power plant fuels from fossil fuels to biomass fuels, but Scott Walker canceled these plans almost as soon as he walked into the Governors office for the first time. Remember, fossil fuels good (come on now, play along), anything else that challenges the $$$ flow in the right direction bad, bad, BAD !
See; Walker proposes selling state-owned power plants
I wonder who would be interested in purchasing coal burning electrical power plants, let's say, if the Governor of Wisconsin wanted to put them up for sale, for cheap, to the right buyer (not bidder, no bids necessary, you want it my rich friend you got it !), with no public hearings or anything else to stand in the way of the sell off ?
My prediction is we are going to see this "selling off" or should I say "privatizing" of just about all things (it looks like the Wisconsin State Police will remain State Property) once public in the name of "paying down the budget deficit", but is really going to be in the name of giving those ultra-rich who have bought and paid for large numbers of key lackeys at all levels of our new improved plutocracy a great opportunity to buy up some money makers for dirt cheap and make some real American $$$ the good old corporate conservative capitalist way, over charging your customers and underpaying any sorry bastard unfortunate enough to work for the new "privatized" feed the greed endeavor. For those who knowing or unknowingly (which seems to be the more common form of knowing these days) once benefited from the Common Good, get ready, because it's about to be sold to those who can't wait for you to start paying more for less for what is no longer Common, and Good ? Good for who ?