Posted on 09/21/2006 9:55:17 PM PDT by DaveTesla
Taxpayer Abuse: Your Millions in Katrina Relief Go To . . . A Football Stadium
By Debbie Schlussel
With all the news stories in the world--Ahmadinejad & Chavez Double-Teaming America, Jihad against the Pope, the House Voter ID bill--USA Today chose the most important item of the day as its cover story, today:
New Orleans NFL Homecoming: City Throwing a Party at Restored Superdome Buried toward the end of the story is the money-shot--an answer to the question we all deserve to know about:
Who paid for the $185 million in improvements, repairs, and reconstruction of the Superdome--the office of millionaires, billionaires, and gazillionaires?
$170 Million of Your Katrina "Relief" Was it the billionaires who own teams throughout the NFL, including the New Orleans Saints that are housed in the Superdome? NOPE. According to USA Today, the NFL gazillionaires donated only $15 million of the $185 million cost--a drop in the bucket to these fatcats.
Was it the millionaires who play in the Superdome at all Saints' home games, every football season--and owe their millions to those who come to see the games and buy team merchandise? NOPE.
We can't have billionaires and millionaires putting money out of their own pockets, their own wallets. That just wouldn't be right.
So who paid for the newly glimmering Superdome--$170 million of $185 million in Superdome costs?
YOU DID!
Yup. Taxpayers paid money in the name of public assistance programs for relief from Katrina and other disasters. Who knew the "public assistance" was not for poor, homeless, downtrodden hurricane victims, but for . . . NFL gazillionaires?! Should "public assistance" go to improved scoreboards, upgraded suites and club lounges, and "leatherette" upholstery? Taxpayers got soaked.
From the article:
The money being used for this was from the public-assistance program from FEMA on insurance disasters. Here's what your money went to pay for. Does this sound like "hurricane relief" or "public assistance" to you?:
Besides repairs, improvements and upgrades were made during construction. About $42 million was spent. The most noticeable change for fans will be new scoreboards. Scoreboard system
* Two larger (41% bigger) video boards (27 by 48 feet) in the end zones, with high definition quality.
* Four LED ribbon boards, or video halo boards (3 feet, 6 inches by 193 feet).
* Four color scoreboards (8 feet by 44 feet) replace a black-and-white system. Located in four corners in the 400 level.
Concessions
* All 38 concession stands and three kitchens modernized with stainless steel. . . .
Stadium seats
* 8,000 club-level seats and 4,000 box suite seats replaced with leatherette seats.
Future renovations (September 2006-August 2007)
* Four club lounges, each 19,000 square feet (in design) in each of the four corners.
* 137 suites remodeled and refurbished.
Your tax dollars at "work." USA Today's headline is incorrect. New Orleans isn't throwing the party at the Superdome. You are.
Look where our tax money went.
Un-f***ing believable.
Im going to come right out and say it-Katrina was a big scam. It covered up corruption in the state of Louisiana, allowed the media to blame a sitting President for a natural disaster, and bought a lot of TVs, tattoos, and ipods. Were people hurt by the storm? Absolutely. But honest and resonable people moved on with their lives, while a multitude are still scamming the system. But anyone who points out the scams, is labled insensitive..
They have to have jobs for all those poor indigents who lost their homes.
So much for restoring houses and repairing infrastructure.
I hope El Rushbo, O'Reilly and the rest of the gang pick this up and run with it.
At least it will shut greedy Benson up from demanding the new stadium he has been blackmailing the state with.
So, was Katrina a disaster or a reward?
If I remember correctly, our tax money paid for the practice stadium for the Carolina Panthers via the Appalachian Regional Commission. :(
And we had to listen to Chavez blast Bush for not rebuilding all of the homes in New Orleans today?
This is what happened to CAUSE this...taxpayer funds that were earmarked for LEVEE construction...were siphoned off for casinos and other "entertainment" venues...and NOW, the SAME taxpayers are paying for MORE ENTERTAINMENT venues instead of the necessary improvement so the CITY can then get the revenue to pay for it's OWN entertainment venues.
I wonder if Mary Landrieu knows of this??? LOLOLOL --thank me!
Normally I would ignore this, but... As a resident of New Orleans who left after the hurricane...
The Dome was damaged as a result of the hurricane. The Saints bring millions of dollars to city. Thousands of people are employed as a result of the team and the dome.
Now just call me a liberal or some other such nonsense and get on with your bashing, but at least look at all teh facts.
I'd much rather the superdome renovation than the new stadium greedy little Benson wanted.
cardina,
Just one problem with your hypothosis: lots of hard-working people, liberals and conservatives, lost everything they had. Most of them are working hard still to come back but it's hard. Contrary to your thinking, Katrina exposed the corruption in LA. This much is true.
I predict Atlanta 24, Same Old Orleans 21.
Nothing shocks me anymore.
Remember all those $2000 dollar credit cards the government handed out after Katrina that ended up buying lapdances, designer handbags, and gambling at Las Vegas Casinos.
I give up.
The biggest thing Katrina did was show America (and the rest of the world) the failure of the welfare state. We had large numbers of people (not everyone) there who were incapable of taking care of themselves and/or their families.
How could ANYONE live in a hurricane zone below sea level and not have the desire (or ability) to get their children out of that place before the storm hit?
I will never forget the MSNBC interview of the woman with three kids who (while smoking a cigarette) told the reporter that they did not have enough money to pay for the gas to evacuate in their car.
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