Stadium bill stalls in House!!!

[Deja Q]

http://wcco.com/localnews/local_story_128134605.html

"There's no question this is a setback," said Vikings executive Mike Kelly. "With that being said there is a lot of people going back to their offices trying to figure out what happened here and what the impact of that was."

(snip)
Some legislators and team lobbyists attributed the defeat to a significant changes made by the committee. It reworked the funding model to include metrowide liquor and car rental taxes instead of a complicated plan to divert some income and sales taxes generated at the stadium to debt repayment.

The liquor and car rental taxes wouldn't be new. They would be an extension of existing taxes that are due to go down January 2006 as part of an effort to make Minnesota's tax rates match others nationwide.


Yo, Mike K, here's what's happening here so you can lay off your gaggle of sleazy spinmeisters: Half the people in the House Ways and Means committee have enough frigging SENSE to not pass this abomination through! The Twins (not to mention the Vikings) are far wealthier than the mast majority of Minnesotans combined. That, and enough other reasons, make putting public funds into your private coffers illogical and irrational. Hell, supporting the light rail initiative is a far, far better thing to do. (of course, if the light rail project is a private venture, then it becomes another issue...)

And I will not drink a drop of liquor ever again if this atrocity passes. Sheesh, make everybody pay for something very few can use because only very few can afford the monsterous ticket prices and snacks!!

I will do everything possible to avoid being a pawn in your game. You will not mooch off of me. You will not exploit me. You will not violate me.

[Lindacooks]

1. Thank God.

With all the cruel budget cuts Pawlenty and his facist pigs made to social programs in this state, new stadiums would just be the last straw. Those spoiled millionaires do NOT need a new playground paid for with tax money or ANY public money that should go to people who really need help.

[SmileyBoy]

2. I'm not gonna even respond to these stupid comments you all have...

Apparently I'm the only DUer on here who sees the benefit of new stadiums in the Twin Cities area. You can cry all you want about how "new playgrounds are being built for billionaires", and I just don't fucking care anymore. I've had it up to here with all your anti-stadium GARBAGE.

Peace out.

[no name no slogan]

3. They want stadiums, they can build them THEMSELVES.

It's just plain WRONG for the taxpayers to subsidize stadium construction when the team owners will be the ONLY ones who realize any revenue from their use-- even in off-season times!

The state budget is a MESS. Because Tim "No Tax" Pawlenty won't bother to raise income taxes on millionaires, our schools and public services are reaching Mississippi-level quality.

We simply CANNOT AFFORD to build stadiums for these people. They have the finances and the credit to build them themselves if they want them that badly. Right now, I cannot afford healthcare because of a pre-existing condition. Why the hell would I want MY tax money to help out the likes of Carl Pohlad (a banking multi-millionaire) and Red McCombs (a used-car selling multi-millionaire)?

Also, the people in this country are sick and tired of being held hostage by greedy multi-millionaire team owners who threaten to "leave town" if they don't get their stadium. I say, tell them to leave. Where else are they going to go? Omaha? LA? Hell, those places won't want them-- so they're stuck here.

When Red McCombs bought the Vikings, he knew damn well they had a lease at the Dome until 2011. Since he knew the deal up front, why is he pulling this crybaby bullshit now? Red is not a stupid man-- he KNEW what he was getting into. If his investment isn't paying off as well as he'd like it, tough shit. People lose money in bad investments every day-- it's not my job as a taxpayer to pay for their dumbass mistakes.

The same goes for the Twins: If they likes the old Met so much, WHY DID THE MOVE? There was no gun to Cal Griffith's temple in 1980. The Twins could have stayed there, or built their own stadium then.

Carl Pohlad has more money than GOD. If he really wanted a new stadium, it would be built by now. The only reason he holds on to the Twins is so that he doesn't have to pay taxes every year. The fans don't seem to mind too much, either, as attendance at the Twins games has been steady and getting stronger over recent years.

Public money is there for a reason: to help out those who are unable to help themselves, for whatever reason. If the sport teams wants stadiums so damned bad, they should have a bake sale, or a yard sale, or go on TV like Jerry Lewis on Labor Day. Or, better yet, pass a hat at the games.

[keep_left]

7. Right on.

I love the Republican definition of "free market". It's free markets for poor people, state socialism for the wealthy.

Seriously, last I checked, pro sports was not having any problem finding a revenue stream. In fact, Pohlad and Co. just had a major PR disaster with their new sports network. They basically vertically integrated their sports operations with cable TV by starting a network with exclusive rights to the Twins games. Then they priced it out of the market and the cable companies wouldn't buy their programming! Since then, I think they eventually worked something out with a few of the cable companies. This is SOP for Pohlad's organization, not to mention the other sports team owners. They're just pursuing a totalistic agenda, because the politicians aren't pushing back.

If Pohlad is so keen on a sports stadium, then he should do what all other businesses do: get more investors.

[Nobody]

4. There were THREE referenda on this issue

and THREE times we the people said NO.

The people saying NO are sports fans as well as non-sports fans. We DO NOT want to pay for something any other business owner would be told to get a bank loan for.

The new stadium plans includes lots of luxury boxes and about the same average sports fan seating as at the dome. These luxury boxes would NOT be open to the general public.

We don't want this rammed down our throats. The teams aren't going to leave, they have a lease that they'd be breaking, and I for one am tired of being blackmailed.

[Viking12]

5. What benefits??

Temporary, part-time, low paying jobs with no benefits? Redistribution of discretionary income into the hands of billionaire owners?

What benefits are you claiming exist to justify this excessive corporate welfare?

[Zookeeper]

6. You don't live in the Twin Cities, do you?

My third grade son had a class with 32 students this year. I'm surprised the teacher even knew who he was. Libraries are closing down. We've lost the Planetarium and our "basic services" are suffering here.

I would like to see the owners of the sports teams cough up for a new stadium. There aren't all that many restaurants and bars around the Metrodome, and there is no reason to believe that would change with a new downtown sports facility, at least not enough to reimburse the taxpayers for the expense. Although, SOME cities (not all from my personal experience) may see a revitalization of the area surrounding a stadium, I just don't think Mpls/St. Paul would be one of those places. Suburbanites here just want to get out of the city after a game and I don't think the folks moving into the expensive new downtown lofts and condos are really all that interested.