Senate Moves to Privatize Anemic Restaurants

Move takes money- losing subpar eateries off the taxpayer dime
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 9, 2008 8:03 AM CDT
Senate Moves to Privatize Anemic Restaurants
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., speaks on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008, in Washington.    (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

The Senate has voted to privatize its restaurants after decades of losing money, the Washington Post reports. The decision comes after much wrangling among Democrats, split between the $250,000 taxpayer subsidy that keeps the restaurants afloat and the lower wages workers would receive. “You cannot stand on the Senate floor and condemn the privatization of workers, and then turn around and privatize the workers here in the Senate," said one Dem.

But ultimately, “I don't think the taxpayers should be subsidizing something that doesn't need to be,” said Democrat Dianne Feinstein, who leads the Senate rules committee. "There are parts of government that can be run like a business and should be run like businesses." (More Congress stories.)

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