Apparently, the Senate Restaurant almost never turns a profit and will now be privatized.

First - Many of our representatives in Congress assure us that they can run the economy, yet, they can't even run a restaurant with a semi-captive audience!

Second - Whenever I hear that the state is going to privatize something, I am saddened. Privatization always means Corporatism that will be promoted as Capitalism. We get the worst of both worlds. Something which merely cost taxpayer money and was inefficient will now be used as an excuse to grant an exclusive contract to the best briber - AND - the vast majority of Americans will believe that Capitalism means favors, mistreatment, bribery, bad service, etc...

In Baltimore there are neighborhood markets with multiple vendors and in shopping malls there are food courts that manage to turn a profit. The Senate is sitting on prime real estate and a practically guaranteed consumer base if half-decent services are provided, and the best they can come up with is to give the contract to a single company (that also runs the House Restaurant). Wouldn't it make more sense to just post classifieds listing commercial space, collect the rent checks, and leave the rest up to market forces?