The Broncos' John Elway DOESN'T Believe In Safety Nets. Like the NFL's TAX-EXEMPT STATUS?

[Segami]

As we prepare for this afternoon's Super Bowl, regardless of whether you're cheering for the Denver Broncos or Seattle Seahawks, here's some food for thought.


This morning on Fox News Sunday, legendary Broncos quarterback—and current executive VP of football operations for the Denver Broncos—John Elway explained that he's a Republican because he "doesn't believe in safety nets."

"..I believe that we’re giving the opportunity to succeed or not succeed. Obviously, we’ve got to have some kind of safety nets. But I think my philosophy is when given the opportunity to go take advantage of that, I think that’s when you get the best out of people..."

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/02/john-elway-to-fox-news-im-republican-because-i-dont-believe-in-safety-nets/

So, is John Elway gonna support revoking the NFL's tax exempt status? As Laura Clawson reported this week, Utah Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz has proposed legislation that would strip the National Football League's tax-exempt status.

With fellow Republican John Elway saying he doesn't believe in safety nets, isn't it time that the NFL get off its government dole and pay taxes like the rest of us?




http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/02/1274497/-The-Broncos-John-Elway-doesn-t-believe-in-safety-net-Like-the-NFL-s-tax-exempt-status

[Scuba]

1. Elway wants the taxpayers to fund a new stadium.

Mile High opened in 2001, 75% funded by taxpayers.

[meadowlark5]

10. I haven't heard about this

Seriously? I don't follow football but I do live in Colorado. Is he really wanting a new stadium? What's wrong with the current stadium?

I bet he was really hoping for the Broncos to win (for a multitude of reasons) but it would certainly have made getting a tax added to the sales tax to get his new stadium much more palatable to the residents.

[Scuba]

12. More here ...

http://cognidissidence.blogspot.com/2014/02/john-elway-is-super.html

In one of the most massive legislative lobbying efforts in recent memory, two dozen lobbyists have been drafted by eight groups to win a tax-subsidized stadium for the Denver Broncos.

According to state records, the Broncos and others are willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to win approval of a bill that would let taxpayers decide if they'll pay $266 million to replace Mile High Stadium.

"I've never seen such an aggressive effort on any piece of legislation down here, especially since there was no real organized opposition - no paid, professional lobbyists against it,'' said Sen. Mike Coffman, a 10-year veteran of the Legislature.

[meadowlark5]

14. Amazing

We've had numerous ballot issues over the years to get funding for our schools, but most have been voted down. I'll bet dollars to donuts, if this gets on the ballot it will pass overwhelmingly. Give a bunch of multi-millionaire sports figures a free stadium but screw the kids.

You know what's going to help this economy? Legalized pot. That will bring more money/tax revenue to our economy than a new stadium that most people can't even afford to buy a ticket to a game.

I hope this loss puts a stop to that or at least keeps people from approving it.

[cojoel]

48. That article is from 1999

and it refers to the construction of the current stadium, which is currently called Sports Authority Field, or some such thing. They did some "improvements" over the last off-season, including a large screen (I have never been inside the place but have driven by on I-25). I don't they are trying to replace it again so soon.

[Scuba]

50. Thanks for clarifying that. Does not mitigate Elway's hypocrisy.

[WhiteTara]

2. No, no! He meant the rest of us!

He needs all the safety nets he can get...bring on those subsidies!

[intheflow]

3. You mean safety nets like the NFL union, John?

What a asshole!

[awoke_in_2003]

34. Now that he is management and not a player...

I bet you a dollar he's now against NFLPU

[Segami]

4. "...Easterbrook says he's heard this argument before that stadiums boost local economies...

....But he says it doesn't stand up to scrutiny. He says investment in infrastructure like roads and bridges "has a multiplier effect every day of the year." Spending on stadiums, on the other hand, "has a multiplier effect 10 or 12 days of the year."

"In terms of civic investment, football makes no sense at all not only its lack of multiplier effect on the local economy, but far more importantly, all the owners are billionaires," he says. "It can pay for its own stadiums."

Compared to similar businesses, NFL stadiums pay little or no property taxes.

"Research shows that about 70 percent of the cost of building and operating the NFL stadiums has been paid for by the public," Easterbrook says. "I estimate if you roll it all together subsidies, tax favors etc. it's roughly a billion dollars a year."

Take the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, which will host this year's Super Bowl. Easterbrook says comparable businesses pay about $20 million a year in local property taxes.

"It pays $6 million a year through a political agreement that exempted the billionaire ownership families of the Jets and Giants that jointly own that stadium from the kind of taxes that are paid by mere average people," he says.

But not giving in to subsidy requests could also be a bad political move.

Easterbrook points to Minnesota, where the family that owns the Vikings threatened to leave a year ago and convinced the state Legislature to spend millions on a new facility. Easterbrook doubts the team actually would have left, but he says the governor had essentially two options: "One, he can say, 'I'm the man who kept the Vikings in Minnesota;' or maybe if they left ... then he would have been blamed for losing the Vikings...."


http://www.gpb.org/news/2014/01/19/the-nfl-big-business-with-big-tax-breaks

[joeglow3]

13. I don't blame the owners

I blame the voters. As a huge sports fan, I am shocked by the voters who continually approve these bond measures. And so long as there are suckers in just one city, all the other cities will follow suit out of fear that they won't get a team. Personally, I can't blame anyone for taking free money.

[exboyfil]

33. Sometimes as voters it is hard

to get accountability. Look at the shameful way the Vikings stadium got approved. Pull tab lottery receipts - give me a break. They knew it was poison to propose any tax increases to fund the stadium but that is exactly what they did. $200 M came from the tax exempt NFL ($50M in grants and $150M in loans).

[joeglow3]

44. We got hit here in Omaha

NCAA wanted a new stadium for the CWS. The city built one and told the voters it would lead to increased events held downtown and increased infill around the stadium and would pay for itself. A few years later and neither of those has come to fruition.

[11 Bravo]

5. Why are John Elway and Mr. Ed never seen together? I'm just saying ...

[kairos12]

17. Wilbuuuurrrrr. LOL

[pangaia]

52. You can add Manning to the 3 horse circus.

[underpants]

6. Your team needed a safety net last night

Never liked him to start with but then I saw him ON STAGE with Palin. He is a right wing asshole.

[kairos12]

20. Also a defense, an offense, a mobile QB, a coach who can make adjustments, and kick

coverage team.

[Berlum]

7. Republicon Socialism for the NFL, Inc. (R)

Great poster...

[calimary]

25. OMG! republi-CON Socialism!

We oughta start leaning on the whole Corporate WELFARE meme. Oh, you don't believe in welfare? Well, we AGREE!!! Welfare for the rich needs to GO. You don't like welfare, well, neither do we. And we'll start by peeling it away on the folks who need it the least. After all, that football dude is correct. The NFL and other ultra-wealthy enterprises that are CLEARLY NOT non-profits - do NOT need taxpayer support! They're more than well-enough able to take care of themselves and pull themselves up by their own expensive designer bootstraps. Or maybe they cut back - only thirteen Rolex watches this year instead of fourteen. A mere five yachts instead of six. I think they'll still be able to struggle by, don't you? Even if they have to tighten their Armani or Dolce & Gabbana belts a little, don't you? I mean, if the Queen of England has to economize a little, why can't the koch brothers and the walton family? They very likely won't even feel it, anyway.

[Are_grits_groceries]

8. Most of the NFL owners are conservative jackasses.

That goes for some of their hires and players too.
Here's an article about the Broncos and Seahawks and the politics in both groups:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2014/02/02/269504944/super-bowl-xlviii-a-political-guide

[Aristus]

15. Repukes don't like Russell Wilson as much as Democrats, huh?

Wilson is an outspoken Christian, which GOP-ers claim to love, but he's also a black man in a leadership position, which they can't stand, obviously...

[Are_grits_groceries]

18. Race rules all.

Bigoted morans!

[Jim__]

9. "I believe that we’re giv(en) the opportunity to succeed or not succeed."

Everybody's given an equal opportunity to succeed or not succeed, right John? I can't imagine how it could not be so.

[aggiesal]

37. This from a guy who had everything given to him . . .

His dad was a college football coach at the upper levels, John grew
up never hurting for money. Then he got a scholarship to Stanford
so he didn't have to pay for his college education, or leave with a
massive college debt that is so currently prevalent.
Gets drafted by then Baltimore Colts and throws a hissy fit until
he got his way, and got traded to the Denver Broncos, never having
played a single game with the Colts.

[JaneyVee]

11. Corporate welfare for rich corporations is the biggest safety net of all.

[CBGLuthier]

16. This guy did not believe in Safety Nets either

See where it got him.

[tclambert]

19. And quarterbacks don't need offensive linemen to block for them, either.

Only a wimp can't stand on his own two feet and make that play without any help while dodging that defensive tackle.

I bet John Galt wouldn't need blockers!

[calimary]

21. Looks like that's what his pals coulda used yesterday, as I understand the score.

I didn't watch. Don't really get football and all the adulation and worship that falls all over it. And I tend to appreciate the underdog more.

I think the NFL has PLENTY ENOUGH money to be able to cough up a little more to help their country and their countrymen. No pity. The last thing the NFL needs is a taxpayer-funded rich-man's safety net. WTF??? They don't deserve tax exempt status! They're no non-profit! They're all about profit-and-nothing-but-profit forcryingoutloud. They can WELL afford to lift more of the load and probably not even feel it.

[aggiesal]

43. The league and their offices is the non-profit. . . .

Each individual team is not a nonprofit. They are for profit corporations or private for profit entities, except the Green Bay Packers, which is a Co-Op and owned by the shareholders. All profit for the Packers are distributed to the shareholders except for a reserve which is mandated by law.

As I understand it.

[heaven05]

23. fuck elway and all the rest of his ilk!!!!!

[cilla4progress]

24. And somehow I feel

coach Pete Carroll has a Buddhist slant: live in the moment; one play at a time. Stay positive. Have fun. Energy. Filter out the static.

Pick up the castoffs. All for one and one for all. We are family. It's the caring for one another that makes it work. Total team effort. No ego.

And Russell Wilson's religiosity, of the Christian variety, is so authentic and honest, I find it heartwarming, more than anything.

[JEB]

26. Fuck him and the horse he rode in on.

[awoke_in_2003]

35. He is the horse he rode in on...

well, at least the back half of it.

[BeyondGeography]

27. His spanking was quite liberal last night

Glorious, really.

[Blue Owl]

28. But he does believe in Coors Light -- 'nuff said...

[navarth]

29. I remember Elway from BEFORE he went into the NFL

He impressed me as an asshole way back then: remember? He was too fucking high and mighty to go to Baltimore. I imagine the Baltimore fans have had enough disrespect from Irsay, the jerk that moved the Colts out of town. Fuck Elway.

[underpants]

39. Yep that is never discussed

Superstar boy from private U didn't want to play for Marchibroda so he went and played baseball for the Yankees.

I'm a Browns fan so Elway is .... Well you know

[navarth]

53. well Go Browns!

...unless you're playing the Lions of course. You guys are one of the underdog teams I'd like to see in the super bowl. Buffalo too.

We don't need to talk about the Lions, unless you want to gloat.

[Gothmog]

30. Elway is an idiot

I wonder if Elway wants to run for office?

[Segami]

31. It would seem that a future run for office is in the air....

grooming another Reagan-like candidate......

[underpants]

38. There was some talk of him running for Senate a few years ago

Close to when he retired. It stopped pretty quick, not sure if it was because he had just got divorced (dumped his first wife for a newer model ) or if everyone in Denver owing him money (he owned about 50 or 80 car dealerships at one point).

[DeSwiss]

32. The Seattle Seahawks team that just roundly whooped his team's ass......

...is full of guys who were saved by ''safety nets.'' And the Broncos do too. Asshole.

- He should stick to what he knows: X's and O's. In fact, based on the game last night, they need the practice. A lot of practice......

K&R


18 Plays - The First Time The Denver Broncos Choked And Another Team Of Safety Net Babies Whooped Denver's ASS!!!

[Blue_Tires]

36. I'll let you in on a little secret:

Front office management/ownership in professional sports will be as far right as you can imaging 99 times out of 100, and that's all sports, any team, any city....

[frylock]

40. hunh. i wonder if john elway's auto dealerships benefited from the auto industry bailout?

nah, couldn't be.

[dionysus]

41. when i went to colorado for a work trip, there were tons of ads for elway dealerships,

he's got to have a shitload of them.

[aggiesal]

42. NFL is the most Socialistic pro league in the US . . .

Every dollar collected for tickets are distributed evenly between both teams
(except for luxury boxes).

All money collected through media coverage (TV, Radio, Internet, ...) is
distributed evenly amongst all the teams in the league. In fact the money
made from the media contract covers every teams expenses, so ticket sales
are pure profit.

What owners want , if they could get it is a stadium with the majority of seats
being luxury box tickets! so they wouldn't have to share ticket revenue.

The first to figure this out was the owner of the Miami Dolphins, Joe Robbie,
who built the first modern day luxury box stadium. Orange Bowl did not have
any luxury boxes so Joe Robbie had a stadium designed with luxury boxes
completely surrounding the field. He liked it so much he had 2 decks of
luxury boxes.

Jerry Jones has taken stadiums to the extreme in Dallas, witha ton of luxury boxes.
This no doubt is what the Denver Broncos are seeing.

[muriel_volestrangler]

45. So, I guess when he joined the Broncos as an executive, he didn't use their high draft numbers?

Well, of course he did. He needed that safety net for a team that had a 4-12 losing record the previous season:

The 2011 Denver Broncos season was the franchise's 42nd season in the National Football League and the 52nd overall. It also marked the first season under head coach John Fox, as well as the first with John Elway as the team's Executive Vice President of Football Operations.
...
Round Selection Player Position College Signed Waived Notes
1 2 Von Miller LB Texas A&M July 28[22] – –
2 45 Rahim Moore S UCLA July 28[23] – [24]
46 Orlando Franklin OT Miami July 29[25] – [26]
3 67 Nate Irving LB NC State July 29[25] – –
4 108 Quinton Carter S Oklahoma July 29[25] – [24][27]
129 Julius Thomas TE Portland State July 27[28] – [29][30]
5 None [24][29][31]
6 189 Mike Mohamed LB California July 27[28] September 22[32] [27][29][33]
7 204 Virgil Green TE Nevada July 27[28] – [29]
247 Jeremy Beal DE Oklahoma July 27[28] September 3[34] [35]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Denver_Broncos_season

4 draft picks in the top 67. That's what I call a safety net.

[napkinz]

46. Seattle scoring a SAFETY on the first play ... how apt!

nt

[napkinz]

47. "Loser Of Super Bowl 48" endorsed "Mr. 47 Percent"

John Elway endorses Romney

"Governor Romney is a proven leader with the experience and background to turn around our struggling economy," Elway said in a release sent out by the Romney campaign Monday.

This endorsement comes as no surprise to many. Elway introduced the candidate at a rally Monday at Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum.

Elway has been helping the Romney campaign and the Republican party for some time. The Starboard Group has been sending out emails from Elway that reads in part:

"There are only 39 days until the November Election! I hope you'll join me in sending a clear message that Mitt Romney is the best candidate to serve as our next President," Elway said in a campaign email sent this weekend.

http://www.9news.com/news/article/292405/222/John-Elway-endorses-Romney

[Cha]

49. John Elway, big mitt romney donator, is a typical hypocritical

republicon. Shoots off his big whiny mouth but there's nothing there.

the NFL doesn't pay taxes to our country?!!!

[pangaia]

51. Hey there Big John,

remember that little game in 1990? Uh... What was that score again.. OH YEA. fifty fuckin' five to... 10! ...TEN... What happened to your 'safety net-your offensive line, THAT day? And against those 'wusses' from San Fran..

And what happened to Papa John's favorite supporter, Mr. P. Manning, on Sunday.
What was that score again ---- 43 to..What was it.. oh yea EIGHT! You guys scored 8 fuckin' points.

Uh.. safety net missing again? I guess you just do it all by yourself. You don't need no safety net.

And while we're at it, WHO built that stadium? YOU? No. The NFL? ...NO..
The suckers in Denver, that's who. The Broncos(otherwise known as the horseasses) took gobs of money from the proletariat so you would have a place to play a little boys game

Kiss my butt, dude.