by asdf
Wed Jan 18th, 2006 at 03:44:48 PM EST
A common theme at EuroTrib is exposing the folly of the current marketise-privatise-deregularise-everything drive in the EU, whose promoters point at the USA (and sometimes the UK) as role model. But we have neglected one type of argument from our arsenal: to point out that the model aint' so as our propagandists claim it to be. Hence the relevance of the diary below. _DoDo
The term "Anglo-Saxon Model" has been rejected by the ET community, but I couldn't help noticing these two articles in today's newspaper.
Colorado, and in particular rural Colorado, tends to be pretty conservative. Colorado Springs is the home of many of the most right-wing extremists in American politics, and the community in general is strongly on the side of individual liberty, self-sufficiency, and governmental non-interference in life and industry.
But, when someone's ox is about to be gored then they can change their stripes, to mangle a metaphor.
"Sen. Tom Wiens made good on his promise Monday to revive a bill that would bar private companies from condemning private land to build toll roads for profit. "Senate Bill 78 would make it clear that one private company cannot condemn the property of a Colorado citizen to build a private toll road for its own profit," said Wiens, R-Castle Rock."
RockyMountainNews.com
An old law left over from the 19th century development boom is on the rocks because it allows private road developers to condemn private property. Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but there's an outfit that wants to build a private highway from the Pueblo area, about 100 miles south of Denver, to Fort Collins, about 100 miles north. The road would run across the flat prarie scrubland east of the mountains, which is where the survivalists, marginal ranchers, machine gun merchants, and military bases are located.
The threat of losing their property has outraged these very conservative people, who have banded together to try to get the old law revoked. Last year the bill passed by an overwhelming majority, but was vetoed by the (very conservative) governor. Today it was proposed again, and it seems likely that it will pass and the governor's veto will be over-ridden.
As a result, only the government will be able to build roads. Take that, you European faux-socialists with your private highways!
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"A Colorado state legislative committee voted today to have the Department of Revenue take control of the state's troubled insured motorist database system."
InsuranceJournal.com
If public highways isn't enough to make a conservative's blood boil, surely this retrograde movement by the legislature would get him excited. A simple database of drivers and their insurance--or lack of it--is being run so ineptly by the insurance industry that the state wants to take control of it! That's expected in a place like Massachusetts, but in Colorado?
I bet the next thing is that somebody will think up "congestion charges" for Interstate 25. D*mn commies...
If things get much worse over here, Colorado Springs conservatives are going to have to move to France, so they can have lots of privately supplied water and nuclear generated electricity--like God intended. At least the Anglo-Saxon model is properly respected in Europe, even if we Americans have lost our way...