Goldman Sachs’ Road to Riches

Like a real estate agent representing both buyer and seller, Goldman Sachs simultaneously urges governments to privatize highways, advises them as they structure the deals, and buys a piece of the action.

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Number of city and state governments that have hired Goldman Sachs to advise them on privatizing highways: 4

Amount that Goldman Sachs clients recently put into a fund that invests in infrastructure such as highways: $3 billion

Amount that Goldman Sachs gave to a PAC established by its lobbying firm, Hillco Partners, to push a 2001 Texas ballot measure allowing privately operated roads: $10,000

Minimum amount Goldman Sachs paid Hillco lobbyist J. McCartt, a former aide to Texas governor Rick Perry, between 2002 and 2005: $95,000

Difference between the amount Goldman Sachs offered for Houston’s 83 miles of toll roads in 2005 and what a subsequent study found they were really worth: 86 percent

Number of county commissioners who voted to privatize: 0

Number of Goldman Sachs funds that invested in Australian toll road operator MIG while the bank was advising Indiana on its privatization deal with MIG: 3

Amount it would cost to drive through NYC’s Holland Tunnel if a MIG-style toll pricing scheme had been put in place at its inception: $185

Back to “The Highwaymen”

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We have a considerable $390,000 gap in our online fundraising budget that we have to close by June 30. There is no wiggle room, we've already cut everything we can, and we urgently need more readers to pitch in—especially from this specific blurb you're reading right now.

We'll also be quite transparent and level-headed with you about this.

In "News Never Pays," our fearless CEO, Monika Bauerlein, connects the dots on several concerning media trends that, taken together, expose the fallacy behind the tragic state of journalism right now: That the marketplace will take care of providing the free and independent press citizens in a democracy need, and the Next New Thing to invest millions in will fix the problem. Bottom line: Journalism that serves the people needs the support of the people. That's the Next New Thing.

And it's what MoJo and our community of readers have been doing for 47 years now.

But staying afloat is harder than ever.

In "This Is Not a Crisis. It's The New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, why this moment is particularly urgent, and how we can best communicate that without screaming OMG PLEASE HELP over and over. We also touch on our history and how our nonprofit model makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there: Letting us go deep, focus on underreported beats, and bring unique perspectives to the day's news.

You're here for reporting like that, not fundraising, but one cannot exist without the other, and it's vitally important that we hit our intimidating $390,000 number in online donations by June 30.

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