I hardly ever post in here because of the one-sided - often vitriolic - nature of views which happen to rarely correspond to mine, but I will do a hit-and-run post here where I have a feeling I will find much agreement. It disgusts me when politicians blatantly sacrifice long-term good of the citizens for a quick fix or a quick buck. I thought it was outrageous when states started selling off the toll revenues to private firms, and this is in the same category. Assuming this is a permanent arrangement, and the company acquires the revenue stream in perpetuity, whatever price a company pays will never be enough, unless you happen to think our country has only a few more decades before its destruction. The politician in office gets to spend the windfall and then get libraries, public buildings, schools, state offices, streets, etc. named after them because of his/her largesse lavished upon these groups. Meanwhile everyone else afterward suffers. Every single person afterward. This type of action should be illegal, and I daresay impeachable. Selfish to the most hideous extreme. Major's post today is right on about what should have been proposed. Just think if every politician could get away with doing this on every single issue. In 5 years, this country would utterly implode.
No, I disappeared because arguing with the ignorant is a waste of my time. I was using this thread for the amusement of my financial co-workers, not to satisfy your intellectual curiosities and shortcomings. Examples of the private sector outperforming the public sector?! Are you really that dense? When you need to send a package, do you use FedEx, UPS, or the US Postal Service? I use FedEx. Would you rather go to Ben Taub Hospital or Methodist? Attend Harvard or some huge state school? Snicker. Really in any case that there is not a natural monopoly (google it, I'm sure you don't know what it means), I am in favor of privatization.
TJ are you this dense? you act like the lotto is providing a service. it was created to get more money from the people to fund the state. it is not a service. secondly, it looks like the proposed plan is to sell for $14 billion. finally, a number of some sort...
While this is absolutely true (hell just putting the money in to an S&P 500 fund would outpace the current revenue stream) I tend to agree with others' arguments that they would take the immediate windfall and use it irresponsibly. Financially speaking, anyone with remote fiscal savvy knows that a lump sum is better than a revenue stream, as long as the lump sum is fair.
the problem is that i have heard accepting this $14 billion figure then we will come up short in the state budget by $1 billion a year. is there anyway to get state rev numbers on the web?
Selling the lottery is a great idea...for the short-term. We should also just prepay our expected income taxes. I'm sure the government will do a great job with a lump sum of cash. They've always been good with budgets and fiscal responsibility, right? Since when the hell do Republicans support putting our money in the government's hands? Especially when a buyer is going to only want to buy the income stream for a 15-20% return? What government investment makes that sort of a discount worthwhile??
More corruption from Governor Good Hair... Gov. Perry's son hired by firm consulting on lottery Associated Press AUSTIN — UBS, one of two large financial firms consulting with the governor's office over the possible sale of the Texas lottery, hired Gov. Rick Perry's son to work in its Dallas office about two weeks ago. The governor's office said that there is no relationship between the two events and that Griffin Perry, 23, is a bright young economist who is pursuing a career on his own merits. "He stands on his own two feet. And he got this job on his own," Perry spokesman Robert Black told The Dallas Morning News on Monday. The younger Perry graduated from Vanderbilt University with an economics degree in May. He spent the summer and fall working on his father's re-election campaign. Karina Byrne, a UBS spokeswoman, said Griffin Perry was hired for a specific program in which about a dozen entry-level employees rotate through various parts of the company. The company has 11 such programs nationwide. "We have a vigorous interview and application process. He would have been subjected to the same criteria that would have applied to any other young person applying for the associate program," Byrne said. She said the fact that his father is governor would not have weighed into the calculation. But the hiring comes amid concern that several of the governor's bold policy ideas stand to benefit his associates. Critics of his decision to order vaccines for schoolgirls to help prevent cervical cancer noted that his former chief of staff, Mike Toomey, is registered to lobby for Merck, the only company that makes the vaccine. Craig McDonald, director of the group Texans for Public Justice, which pushes for campaign finance changes, said the Griffin Perry hiring and its timing should raise questions. Last week, Perry laid out his idea for selling the Texas lottery, saying that marketing a lottery concession to private interests could raise $14 billion. He proposed placing the proceeds in three separate trusts, with investment earnings funding public education, health insurance for low-income Texans and one of the largest cancer research projects in the nation. The brokering of a $14 billion lottery concession could mean tens of millions to the chosen firm. "Hiring the governor's son seems to be a way to enamor yourself with the man at the top," McDonald said. He said he recognized that it's not always easy to pick your way through opportunities when you're related to the governor. "But he doesn't have to work for the firm that has a lot of potential business in front of his father," McDonald said. Black noted that every time the state lays a roadway, purchases a building or sells bonds to do it, a private firm makes money. "We didn't just talk to UBS. We talked to others, and we'll continue to talk to others," Black said. No fees or contracts have been paid as of yet, he said. The staff of the governor's office called both Morgan Stanley and UBS for expert advice on the potential sale price of the lottery, Black said. UBS is consulting with Illinois and New Jersey, which are also considering selling their lotteries. Also involved in the UBS consulting team is former U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas, a longtime friend of the governor. He has met with one of the governor's top aides to discuss the idea but not with Perry, Black said last week. Gramm, a UBS vice chairman of investment banking, works out of the company's New York office. Griffin Perry will be working in the separate area of personal wealth management, Black said. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4549877.html The man has no shame, no shame at all. And shame on the Texans who voted for him. You should all crawl under a rock and hide. Simply pathetic. D&D. Texas is Being Sold to the Highest Bidder.
Deckard, I really don't know what to tell you, other than you have to trust me when I say that you simply do not understand finance, economics, or business. UBS is a huge, worldwide entity that has literally thousands of clients and thousands of employees. The State's economic interest is in no way compromised by them hiring a 23-year old who likely (almost certainly) is NOT on the transaction team for this mandate. Let me tell you something, 23-year olds do not have sway at a top notch investment bank. They are grunts who are mainly there to learn, not to drive transactions. I'm very glad to see that UBS and MS were hired to represent the State on the potential sale. That move ensures that our interests are being looked after by financially savvy people. It also completely shoots down you and the rest of the anti-privatization folks' argument of selling at a ridiculous price and squandering future cash flow streams. Sorry 'bout that.
I don't seem to understand, how does a more effective run lottery system benefit the public, I rather it was poorly run, razor thin margins for the operation, and even that margin distributed among people of the state. I don't see FedEx profit sharing with others, so how does it benefit me (or other citizens of this state) if the lotter was sold? I think what would be cool is that we would sell the lottery, then have elections to ban it (it was allowed in the moral south because it was told it'd fund our children's education), then vote in something similar to the lottery, that'd be awesome. I wonder what's entailed in this deal, does it include a non-competition agreement?
Business world folk think they know everything about how everything works, when in reality they are a bunch of brainwashed idiots. You treat "financially savvy people" as dieties, when most of those people are just giant luckboxes. More objective parties remember that so-called "financially savvy people" are often exposed for the frauds that they are, interested in nothing but the almighty dollar. Looks like Perry's son is on the fast track to an executive position. If you don't see that our state's interests are being compromised by this blatant cronyism then, well, you are nothing but a god dammed idiot.
UBS has about 70 thousand employees world wide, one of the biggest Investment Banks in the world. He is probably hired into one of trainee programs which a lot of the IBanks have for new grads. I don't see how is he on the fast track to an executive position. This is not a position which will pay him a lot of money, more than likely he will go back to bus school after a couple of years. What's the news, a new grad with a economics degree got a entry level job in an IBank?
No, I am a law abiding, responsible taxpayer who believes that the "Land of the Free" should not incarcerate more people than any other industrialized nation. And for companies to profit from that incarceration just makes it worse.
Postal service unless I need some service that they do not provide. If I was in a car accident or had some other kind of major trauma, I would choose Ben Taub over just about anyplace in the country. I guess it depends on your definition of "outperforming." I would say that educating far more people than Harvard will in a decade for a LOT less money is an example of a state school outperforming Harvard. I would argue that the lottery is a perfect example of a natural monopoly. Perhaps YOU should Google it.
I appreciate an honest answer from you, Trader_J. I really do. You give so few here of any substance. Of course, I couldn't disagree more, but I am astonished, sir, that you would make what is, for you, a real effort to respond. You are deliberately ignoring conflict of interest. It is an outrageous conflict of interest on Perry's part. I have no real problem with his son, who is young enough that he may not understand how exposed he is to public ridicule. This could actually harm his career in the long run. Again, this is an egregious conflict of interest on the part of Governor Good Hair. It is amazing. The man possesses no shame, whatsoever. Make every excuse you desire. You know I speak the truth. D&D. Interest is More than a Sum Derived from an Investment.
And, yet again, you demonstrate you are completely clueless on the government side of things. The conflict of interest has nothing to do with what influence the son has or his role within UBS. Not surprising from you, though.
With respect to UBS, the timing is just coincidental to their business. My son (in Minnesota) was interviewed, tested, interviewed and interviewed again during Mid January - Early February for what sounds like the same job - entry level position that rotates through various facets of the company. The hiring may raise questions, but the timing certainly shouldn't.
Not only is he not on the deal team but he seems like a lowly assistant broker to private clients, pretty much a nobody. I wouldn't be surprised if this was the result of a favor being called in but honestly it's not like he's the top of the food chain; it just pays to be a child of the powerful; I mean if Chelsea Clinton sends around her resume obviously it gets attention even if her parents don't have anything to do with it. If he really were a "bright young economist", I think he'd be doing something else other than helping some dude cold call old ladies, lol. A rare showing of acumen from trader jorge. What is the world coming to.
