June 11 , 2013

News

Secrets and privacy both under attack by private sector workers, expers say.  “The privatization of national security work for government is much more extensive today than during the Nixon-Kissinger era,” said John Dean, the former White House counsel who was caught up in the Watergate scandal. New York Daily News

Snowden Fallout Should Trigger Privatization Debate. ‎The debate over whether Snowden is a lawbreaker or treasure has just begun. That’s but a sideshow. A more important debate focused on the privatization of U.S. government functions should also begin. The small government crowd has been dismantling or “right-sizing” government and federal employees for quite some time in the quest to achieve efficiencies…The BAH affair also raises the question about the basic “outsourcing” of national security to the private sector. It doesn’t sit well that a company responsible to the whims of Wall Street is doing the work of the NSA, which is supposed to be the savviest technology unit of federal Washington. O’Dwyer’s PR News           

Pa. liquor privatization drive hits wholesale snag. What may end up derailing the Republicans’ drive to privatize Pennsylvania’s sale of wine and liquor is not who gets to sell it — but who gets to deliver it. The Mercury

LA: Civil service panel agrees to LSU hospital deals. The Civil Service Commission reversed course Monday and agreed to privatization plans for four LSU hospitals, with nearly 4,000 layoffs set to take effect June 23. The commission’s 3-2 vote was the final step needed for Gov. Bobby Jindal to turn over management of university-run hospitals in New Orleans, Lafayette, Houma and Lake Charles to private hospital operators in the local communities. The decision changed course from less than a week earlier, when the commission stalled the plans. NECN

Wal-Mart’s Slow-Motion Privatization. Members of the family have contributed heavily toward efforts to expand charter schools and privatize American education. That doesn’t appear to have changed following the death of John Walton in a 2005 plane crash – in fact it seems to have accelerated.  Seeking Alpha