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.
Doesn't ANY one have insurance in hurricane country?
Oh, please..
Have they fixed the levee's yet ... or are they still complaining they don't have enough money for that?
Guess Not! I just get tired of the Bushbots around here. Bottom line is that Schussel is right. There is no excuse for taxpayer dollars going to fund the reconstruction of a privately owned stadiium whose main beneficiaries are the millionaire and billionaire owners of NFL football teams. BTW, just for the true ignoramouses reading this, these millionaires and billionaires are all leftists who fund things like gay marriage initiatives, abortion, gun control, etc. People should really attempt to think before they reflexively support fat cats. The ugly reality is that most real fat cats - from Bill Gates to Geoge Soros to Warren Buffet - are leftists who hate America and its people. Wake up, people! They're using their vast wealth to undermine this nation and every dollar you spend with them goes towards your own destruction.
I assume you are joking. People with insurance all around are being screwed by insurance companies there. Believe it or not most of New Orleans and the residents are not what you see on TV.
My Uncle lived in MS in Pass Christian. He has a foundation left. The insurance company is playing the game that his house was destroyed by water (1 mile inland no flood zone) and not the hurricane. So they dont want to pay him because he had "flood" damage, if you consider a flood to be a 30 foot wall of water pushed by wind.
My aunt in a non flood zone is replacing here entire home inside including sheetrock, the insurance company jerked her around for a year before coughing up money.. and she had flood insurance.
Fortunately the damage to my home was restricted to roof damage which I was able to show allowed rain water in. I lost all the trees on the property. I only had to fight 3 months for what was definitely covered wind damage.
So please tell me you are jokiing, not all of us lived in projects and looted beer and cigarettes after the storm.
Or racist.
The Dome is self-supporting and brings in millions for the city? Seems to me that some enterprising, civic minded person should have been thrilled to make an investment in such a doggone great deal!
Personally, I'd rather not support the trash that is professional sporting these days.
"So please tell me you are joking, not all of us lived in projects and looted beer and cigarettes after the storm."
_________________________________________
No, because most of those types came here and are still dragging us down in Texas.....bunch of losers who can't (ie won't) find jobs and are sucking our system dry and putting crime rates thru the roof! If Houston gets a hurricane we're going to see if we can get Chocolate City to return the favor and take back all their welfare bums.
Think of it as a down payment for the NEXT time the Superdome gets trashed as a hurricane shelter.
I'd bet they're still trying to get the feces/urine odors out of the bathrooms.
And won't it be great when the next evacuees get to see the roof of the stadium blown off in high definition?
He signed the bill. He therefore bears a share of the responsibility, just as he does for McCain-Feingold, "No Child Left Behind", and numerous other leftist nonsense. He could have announced to the nation that he would veto the bill because significant taxpayer dollars would go to fund millionaire and billionaire NFL owners instead of helping the real victims of the disaster. The majority of the country would have applauded him for such a stand, even if the stinking slimy Marxist media would not have. If he were really savvy, he could turn the class warfare issue against all the filthy rich leftists like Kerry, Gates, Soros, and the entire Hollywood elite.
That's a far cry from telling hurricaine victims to eat cake. Instead, he kncukled under to Jesse jackson and Al Sharpton. Then to top it off, he signed a bill to use taxpayer dollars to bail out leftist millionare and billionaires for their losses. Once again, wake up and face reality. There is a reason that the Republicans are known as the "stupid party."
"I know it's hard for everyone to understand but we need the Dome and the Saints"
You're right, it's hard to understand your socialist, welfare minded, other peoples money, definition of "need".
wow.
It's the same story everywhere around the country. Welcome to true fascism (not the leftist's definition, but their own) - the merger and symbiosis of corporate interests, taxpayer dollars, and ever-expanding government.
You mean the FFFA (Former and Future Felon Athletes). Amen!
Oh Benson still wants his new stadium, but to say so right now would be a PR disaster. Just wait a year.
You said:
"He could have announced to the nation that he would veto the bill because significant taxpayer dollars would go to fund millionaire and billionaire NFL owners instead of helping the real victims of the disaster.
There is a reason that the Republicans are known as the "stupid party.""
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ073.109.pdf
Care to show me where that is located in H.R. 3768?
Ping me when you find it.
Disgusting. We also just finished building a brand new stadium for the worst team in the country (Az. Cardinals) with multiple millions of dollars of taxpayer dollars.
Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.