This presentation was given by Tom Tresser (http://www.tresser.com) on February 23, 2016. tom@civiclab.us.

1. “Privatization 101
Who Benefits? Who Pays?”
February 23, 2016
Tom Tresser

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3. 3
I am speaking. “Raise Your
Hand” if you CAN hear me.

4. 4
I am speaking. “Raise Your
Hand” if you CAN NOT hear
me.

5. “Privatization 101
Who Benefits? Who Pays?”
February 23, 2016
Tom Tresser

6. 6
You will be invited to join our Facebook
private group “CivicSchool” so you can
keep the learning and exchange going!
Within 48 hours you will receive a link to
a private web page on the TIF
Illumination Project web site with:
- Video of this presentation
- PowerPoint slide deck from this
presentation

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10. “You’re next!
You’re next!”

11. Bad deals
bleed city.

16. 5% or
40%?

21. Richard
Norment,
Executive
Director, The
National
Council for
Public-Private
Partnerships

23. Richard
Norment,
Executive
Director, The
National
Council for
Public-Private
Partnerships
“You’re
next!”
“You’re
next!”

24. From: http://inthesetimes.com/article/17533/how_to_sell_off_a_city - Rick Perlstein

26. The Frame for Privatization
He who frames
the argument
wins the
argument…

27. The Frame for Privatization
1.We are broke.
2.Government is
stupid. Private sector
is genius.

28. The Frame for Privatization
Therefore…
If you (Ms. Citizen) want
anything new or
improved from
government, we need to
turn to the private
sector.

29. OOPS!
Maybe
private
sector is
NOT the
best
steward of
the public
good.

31. “The average
private
government
contractor with
a security
clearance earns
about $20,000
more each year
than a
government
employee with
the same
clearance.”

32. So what’s the REAL reason...?
Paul Krugman, Winner
Nobel Prize in
Economics, 2008
From his column in the
New York Times, June
21, 2012….

33. “But the main answer, surely, is to follow the money.
Never mind what privatization does or doesn’t do to
state budgets; think instead of what it does for both
the campaign coffers and the personal finances of
politicians and their friends. As more and more
government functions get privatized, states become
pay-to-play paradises, in which both political
contributions and contracts for friends and relatives
become a quid pro quo for getting government
business. Are the corporations capturing the
politicians, or the politicians capturing the
corporations? Does it matter?…The point, then, is
that you shouldn’t imagine that what The Times
discovered about prison privatization in New Jersey
is an isolated instance of bad behavior. It is, instead,
almost surely a glimpse of a pervasive and growing
reality, of a corrupt nexus of privatization and
patronage that is undermining government across
much of our nation.”

34. We
are not
broke!

35. Top 1% Income Share 1913 to 2013
Growing income inequality

36. Watch the first 6 minutes of this video @
http://tinyurl.com/NewYork-Is-Not-Broke

37. In the universe there are
1,210 billionaires

38. 412 Billionaires in the USA!

39. How many
Billionaires in
New York?
68!

40. New York
IS NOT
BROKE!
68
Billionaires
in
New
York

41. Reinstituting the 1972 NYS income tax
structure would yield $8 billion
more in income tax
revenue for New York,
while reducing income
taxes for 95% of us!
http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/taxhistory2.htm

43. Tax wealth
not work.

44. TIFS =
Giant
Slush Fund

45. What are TIFs?

46. Where are TIFs?

47. How Many TIFs?

49. TIF $ in the Loop
24

50. 123 S. Dearborn
Street – Dearborn
Center
32 W. Randolph
Street –Oriental
Theater
1 N. Dearborn Street -
Sears
TIF $ in the Loop

51. 188 W. Randolph
Street – Randolph
Tower Apartments
230 N. Michigan
Avenue –
Hard Rock Hotel
555 W. Monroe
Street –
PepsiCo
TIF $ in the Loop and West Loop

52. THE CITY HAD $1.44 BILLION IN
UNSPENT TIF FUNDS AT THE
END OF 2014!
CAN YOU SAY
“UNACCOUNTABLE
SLUSH FUND”?

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55. These TIF transfers of property taxes to wealthy and
successful companies divert public funds from vital
units of government. They are yet more examples of
the 99% being ripped off to enrich the 1%.

56. Stop
giving away
our stuff!

57. The Feds
are wasting
our money

60. Illinois net loss of
$253 billion from
1991 – 2001

62. ILLINOIS NET
FEDERAL
TAX LOSS =
$ 4 BILLION/
YEAR.

63. Stop
wars now.
Demilitarize
USA.

64. To Sum Up – Connect The Dots
• We are NOT broke
• Ask “Who benefits?” from privatization
• Tax wealth, not work
• Don’t give away our stuff
• Demilitarize, re-prioritize federal spending
• Protect & extend the public sector/space
• Demand MORE PUBLIC, not less.

65. 65
Next online webinar
“TIF 101”
March 8, 6:30pm - $10
http://tif-101-march-8.eventbrite.com

66. New crowdfunding campaign!
Chicago is NOT broke!
Help me prove it.
http://tinyurl.com/Chi-Not-Broke-Campaign