Tom Tresser presented at a forum of privatization and the Chicago Infrastructure Trust at SEIU's Chicago HQ on Saturday, June 23, 2012. Visit http://www.civiclab.us. Contact Tom = tom@civiclab.us

1. Connecting The Dots -
Privatization is the
Symptom, Not the Cure
June 23, 2012
Tom Tresser

3. Store front space for activists &
educators to collaborate, research,
teach, build tools/apps that will help
accelerate
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT &
COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT efforts.

5. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-558211/London-2012-cost-20billion--TEN-times-original-budget-ex-Olympics-chief-pr

8. “You’re next!
You’re next!”

9. Bad deals
bleed city.

13. 5% or
40%?

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

21. Watch this 2 ½ minute video @
http://tinyurl.com/InfrastructureTrustExplained

22. June 18, 2012
“Until the case
is made that
this trust is
necessary and
will operate on
the behalf of
the public, the
entire
enterprise
should be
scrapped.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

30. 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….

31. “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.”

32. We
are not
broke!

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

34. New York State faces a budget deficit of
$10 billion in 2011 ~ 1/13th of
a total $132 billion
operating budget

35. Public employees are blamed
(for a crisis we did not create)
Threatened with 9,800 layoffs
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
WHAT’S HAPPENING?

36. A major assault
upon
public education,
public health
and public safety

37. An offensive against
public workers,
led by the nation’s
Governors
and lawmakers,
state by state

39. TEACHERS’
UNIONS
TARGETED…
States with bills to limit or eliminate
ANTI-UNION LEGISLATION collective bargaining for teachers, or
INTRODUCED IN OVER 20 otherwise target teachers' unions
include Wisconsin, Ohio, Tennessee,
STATES Indiana, Nebraska, Texas, New
Hampshire, Michigan, Idaho,
Massachusetts, Oklahoma,
Pennsylvania, Alabama, Florida,
RIGHT-TO-WORK LAWS Minnesota, Missouri, Utah, Arizona,
INTRODUCED IN 14 STATES and others
WISCONSIN AND OHIO HAVE
PASSED SWEEPING ANTI-
UNION LAWS

40. Public employee
union members
7.6 million.
Private sector
union members
7.1 million.
Source:
“(Government) workers of the
world unite! Public-sector
unions have had a good few
decades. Has their luck run
out?”
The Economist, 1/6/11
www.economist.com/node/17849199

41. A major assault
upon organized labor,
an offensive against
all of the unions

42. We need to take
our own pulse!
Remember the
adage: “the best
defense is a
good offense.”
We should ask:
Who are they
defending?

43. THE ASSAULT
ON THE
UNIONS IS
REALLY A
BILLIONAIRES! DEFENSE OF
THE BANKERS
AND
BILLIONAIRES

44. In the universe there are
1,210 billionaires

45. 412 Billionaires in the USA!

46. 68!
How many
Billionaires in
New York?

47. 68
Billionaires
in
New
York
New York
IS NOT
BROKE!

48. X
The wealthiest
New Yorker
is no longer
Mayor
Bloomberg…
(he’s now the 2nd
wealthiest)…

49. Today the
richest New
Yorker is
David Koch,
worth about
$22
Billion!

50. During the heyday of
America’s middle class
(1950-1980) the top 1% had
about 10% of total income.
They now take
25%!

51. Top 1% Income Share 1914 to 2006
Growing
income inequality
^ ^
Eisenhower Reagan
James Parrott, Ph.D., Fiscal Policy Institute,
“Grow Together or Pull Farther Apart? Income Concentration Trends in New York,”
http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/FPI_GrowTogetherOrPullFurtherApart_20101213.pdf

52. New York’s We have the most
wealthiest 1% unequal income
get more than concentration of
35% of all any state in the
income in New nation.
York State.

53. Income shares and household incomes
in New York 1980 compared with 2007
(2007 dollars)
Shares of Total Income (AGI) % change
1980 -Top 5% - 22%
2007 - Top 5% - 49%
1980 - Bottom 95% - 78%
2007 - Bottom 95% - 51%
James Parrott, Ph.D., Fiscal Policy Institute,
“Grow Together or Pull Farther Apart? Income Concentration Trends in New York,”
http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/FPI_GrowTogetherOrPullFurtherApart_20101213.pdf

54. Since 1990,
the top 5% have
GAINED.
THE bottom 95%
have LOST.

55. Income shares and household incomes
in New York 1980 compared with 2007
(2007 dollars)
Average Income (AGI) % change
1980 -Top 1% $446,507
2007 - Top 1% $2,730,973 +511.6%
1980 - Bottom 50% $16,074
2007 - Bottom 50% $14,045 -12.6%
James Parrott, Ph.D., Fiscal Policy Institute,
“Grow Together or Pull Farther Apart? Income Concentration Trends in New York,”
http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/FPI_GrowTogetherOrPullFurtherApart_20101213.pdf

56. Top 0.01% Income Share 1913 to 2008
→
↑
The eve of the Depression
“Striking it Richer:The Evolution of Top Incomes in the United States”Emmanuel Saez, July 17, 2010
http://www.econ.berkeley.edu/~saez/saez-UStopincomes-2008

57. 0.01% of households
That’s 1/10,000th!
take more than 5%
of total income
This is
UNSUSTAINABLE

58. The Wealthiest 1%
(80,000 households) together pull in
over $200 billion annually,
more than 1/3rd of all income in NY.
The state budget deficit is
5% of $200 billion ($10 billion).
Source: James Parrott, Ph.D., “Grow Together or Pull Farther Apart? Income Concentration Trends
in New York,” Dec. 13, 2010, Fiscal Policy Institute

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

60. Lost revenue: billions & billions & billions
NY’s tax-cutting binge from 1994-2000, has lead to the current fiscal crisis.
“Back on Track: Why Progressive Tax Reform is an Essential Part of New York’s Budget
Solution,” March 2009, Fiscal Policy Institute
http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/CWFandFPI_BackOnTrackPersonalIncomeTaxReform_20090323.pdf

61. Tax wealth
not work.

62. TIFS =
Giant
Slush Fund

63. Where are TIFs?
All over Chicago and
Cook County
• 161 in city of Chicago
• Additional 264 in suburban
Cook County
• 2010 = 425 TIF districts in
Cook County

64. Where are TIFs?

65. How Many TIFs?

66. How Much Revenue Do
TIFs Collect?
Cook County Clerk’s Office

67. How Much
Revenue Have
Chicago TIFs
Collected?
Ouch!

68. How Much Revenue Do
TIFs Collect?
2010 TOTAL TIF REVENUE FOR COOK COUNTY
City of Chicago
TIFs diverted $510 MILLION
Suburban Cook County
TIFs diverted $297 MILLION
TOTAL FOR 2010 = $807 MILLION

69. Who Is Harmed By TIFs?
In Chicago, The Board of
Education is SUPPOSED to get
almost 54% of your property
taxes. But…

70. Who Is Harmed By TIFs?
In Chicago, The Board of
Education is SUPPOSED to get
almost 54% of your property
taxes. But…
This property owner is in the
Touhy/Western TIF District and
24% of HIS property taxes were
captured by the district. The
Board of Education only got
39% of his property taxes.
That’s a loss of 15% in
revenues from this single
taxpayer.

71. Who Is Harmed By TIFs?

73. TIF for North Side auto dealer is a boondoggle. (Opinion)(city
officials plans to give Grossinger Auto Group $8.5 million in
tax-increment financing )
Crain's Chicago Business – Jan 14, 2008
TIF addiction in Chicago reached a new low last week.
City officials endorsed a plan to give Grossinger Auto Group
$8.5 million in tax-increment financing to build a dealership at
the bustling intersection of North and Clybourn avenues on the
North Side. The site isn't in a TIF district, but the officials were
kind enough to create one just for the building Grossinger
plans to convert into a four-level auto mall.

74. 2009 revenues
of $2.6
BILLION!

75. IN 2009 THE CITY GAVE CHICAGO
MERCHANTILE EXCHANGE
$15 MILLION TIF $ FOR
REHABBING CORPORATE HQ.
APPROVED BY ALDERMAN
BOB FIORETTI.
2009 revenues
of $2.6
BILLION!

76. New Mayor is “Shocked”!
The Chicago Sun-Times
(5/25/11) reported that
"Without criticizing Daley
directly, Emanuel said he was
‘shocked’ to learn that TIF
districts have been multiplying
for more than two decades
without any job creation
standards."

77. THE CITY HAD $1.4
BILLION IN UNSPENT TIF
FUNDS AT THE END OF
2008 AND NEARLY AS
MUCH AT THE END
OF 2009 AND 2010!
CAN YOU SAY
“UNACCOUNTABLE
SLUSH FUND”?

78. 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%.

79. The Problem Is State-Wide
In Illinois, 360 municipalities have
943 TIF Districts
? In 2010, across the state, 414 TIF
districts were in “non-compliance” for
not filing any or proper financial
statements, according to The Office
of the State Comptroller. That’s 44%
of all Illinois TIFs!

80. Stop
giving away
our stuff!

81. The Feds
are wasting
our money

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

87. ILLINOIS NET
FEDERAL
TAX LOSS
$ 4 BILLION/
YEAR.

88. Stop
wars now.
Demilitarize
USA.

89. To Sum Up
• We are NOT broke
• Tax wealth, not work
• Don’t give away our stuff
• Stop the wars
• Start planning for 2015!
• Take back our stuff. Protect & extend the
public. Cut class size in half. We take care
of our own!

91. tom@civiclab.us
@tomstee
@civiclabchicago
312-804-3230
www.civiclab.us