DO YOU GET THE PICTURE?

A promise kept
Posted: October 1, 20071:00 a.m. Eastern

When the foreign-owned EuroMoney PLC denied WND's Jerome Corsi entry into its New York City conference, even as a paying member of the public, I pledged to you that we would redouble our efforts to cover what happens in this secret meeting where plots are hatched to sell off pieces of America's infrastructure to foreigners.

I'm happy to say we honored that commitment last week.

This secret confab at the Waldorf Astoria is one of many in which so-called "public-private partnerships" are forged.

These partnerships are billed as ways to make government more efficient. But they are really schemes to enrich private investors at the expense of U.S. taxpayers.

Let me give you an example of the way this works.

Your hard-earned tax dollars are forcibly confiscated from you by local, state and federal governments to build a highway. Once that highway is built, most of the upfront investment has already been made – by you. But then local, state and federal bureaucrats sell off or lease the highway to foreign investors to make "improvements." These improvements could involve widening, resurfacing or routine maintenance.

For their part, the foreigners now have a roadway already used by millions of Americans. The easements are all in place. The local, state and federal governments have already exercised eminent domain to seize private property to build the road. Taxpayers have already shouldered the heavy lifting.

The foreign entity can now build tolls on the highway and rake in profits largely on the hard work of American taxpayers, whose "sweat equity" in the project is rewarded with the collection of more fees by the foreign investors.

Do you get the picture?

That is, in essence, what happens at conferences like the EuroMoney PLC conference that took place in New York this week. Deals are made. Local bureaucrats and elected officials are seduced into building more partnerships like this.

It's great for all concerned – the politicians and the foreign investors. It's just a bad deal for the American people.

After all, if it's profitable for a foreign company to improve roadways with toll collections, why wouldn't it be profitable for the American people to do so – especially after they have been coerced into making the major investment on the building of the roadway?

Obviously, these are uncomfortable questions for the folks trying to make a quick buck at EuroMoney PLC. That's why they blocked WND from covering the event, even though other handpicked "journalists" are invited to attend free. That's why they banned WND from attending even when we agreed to pay the $1,999 registration fee as any other member of the public could.

Do you want to know how Americans are losing their ability to hold elected officials accountable to them and to the rule of law?

This is one example.

Do you want to know how Americans are losing their national sovereignty, piece by bloody piece, without even noticing?

This is one example.

Do you want to know how Americans are losing their country, their historically free institutions, their real estate, their liberty?

This is one example.

But we're not wringing our hands in defeat. When someone tells representatives of WND we can't go somewhere in their own country, we recognize this is a place we are needed most.

And that's what we did last week in our coverage of the EuroMoney PLC conference. I wanted you to understand this background, because, on the surface, it may not seem like the most important meeting taking place in the U.S. You may not have comprehended why we went to such lengths to penetrate the secrecy of this event.

This is the kind of reporting that sets WND apart from the rest of the media – our commitment to being true watchdogs of government and other powerful institutions, some of them bigger than government itself. (You can read more about this commitment – this principle – in my new book, "Stop the Presses! The Inside Story of the New Media Revolution.")

Please pay close attention to these matters, because someday we may wake up and wonder where America has gone.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57905