After leading the press to believe he was going to make an “announcement” at a press conference Friday, May 11, where he would threaten to call continual special sessions until he got his way with HB 1892, Governor Rick Perry was a no show.
Instead, he trotted out all the usual tollers, most from North Texas, and one from the Port of Corpus Cristi to opine about HB 1892. The only real news to come of it was when Ben Wear asked one, out of only two questions from the press, about the viability of tolling I-69 in South Texas. Alan Johnson with the Harlingen Chamber of Commerce then admitted I-69 from Corpus Cristi to about Victoria isn’t toll viable (which is how they plan to build/fund the I-69 corridor, with a CDA toll contract).
Judy Hawley with Port of Corpus Cristi, also made a noteworthy statement that without CDA PRIVATE toll contracts, it will greatly impede their ability to keep GLOBAL trade moving and inhibit their ability to continue building trade corridors. My question is this? Why should Texas taxpayers have to pay for a TRADE CORRIDOR to benefit PRIVATE GLOBAL CORPORATIONS? And why should Texans bear the brunt of our Nation’s commerce? Texas taxpayers pay for these trade corridors through environmental studies, legal costs, and engineering as we already have for the Trans Texas Corridor TTC-35 plans. Let the private companies build their own trade corridor…go offer private landowners a great price for their land and build their own private trade route. You may ask what’s the difference between the private money going into a CDA and a private trade route companies do on their own? EMINENT DOMAIN!
That’s why these private hogs at the trough are pushing this on us without a public vote…they want to marry the corporation with government so they can exploit the government’s unique power to forcibly take people’s private land at rock bottom prices through eminent domain. It takes away a pesky little thing like free market and freedom of choice!