Posted on 12/09/2013 1:26:00 PM PST by Theoria
A deal for hundreds of millions of dollars in public money to draw the Atlanta Braves north of their downtown home is pitting conservative tea party activists against the elected and civic leaders in the staunch Republican county, with opponents saying the use of public money to help a private business is not what American capitalism should be about.
The argument for the deal is simple, says Cobb County Commission Chairman Tim Lee and other supporters. Almost $400 million in county bonds and immediate infrastructure improvements, with debt payments approaching $600 million over 30 years - will generate enough economic activity and, thus, tax revenue to justify the spending.
"This is a home run for Cobb County," Lee said at a public hearing on the eve of the commission's 4-1 vote, "and I'm confident the people of Cobb will come to understand that."
Nonsense, says Atlanta Tea Party Leader Debbie Dooley, whose group has a Cobb chapter.
It's all "appalling hypocrisy" and "arrogance," Dooley explained, particularly from the four Republican commissioners who pitch their conservative credentials and champion the idea of a free market. Dooley and other tea partiers typically associate active, expensive government with Democrats, but it was the commission's lone Democrat who cast the only dissenting vote.
Citizens' groups have blasted both the financing arrangement and the secretive manner that it came about, with commissioners approving a deal in late November, just weeks after Lee and Braves executives shocked Major League Baseball and metropolitan Atlanta by announcing a plan they'd hammered out in private.
The tea party groups have built an alliance that even includes activists like Cobb resident Rich Pellegrino, who frequently leads liberal and progressive causes in the GOP-leaning county. "The labels here don't really matter," Pellegrino said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Amen. Crony-Capitalism is for the Left. Not for real conservatives.
“TEAbaggers hate baseball”
/liberal talking heads
'"Whether it's Republicans, Democrats, whatever, what's going on here is that the chamber of commerce types run the county, and the politicians are doing their bidding."'
The problem here is that there will be a lot of real free market opportunities resulting from the stadium, which some can say is more or less like a utility. The other problem is that this money is paid back….theoretically.
But the main thing is, public stadiums are not our main problem. I’m not in favor of them, but I’d hate to lose a seat that might end Obama Care because were were bitching about a public stadium deal. Just the wrong focus IMO.
what font is that?
“Millionaire players and billionaire owners want your money!”
Let them do a telethon.
Public funding of private business is 100% wrong. Misuse of taxpayer funds is definitely one of the big problems in this country.
Defund the project. Let the team's owners pay for their stadium.
Let's have wise and transparent use of taxpayer monies.
It was the best of Times New Roman, it was the worst of Times New Roman....................
Sometimes called a public-private partnership—where public money winds up in private hands.
lol
It’s a tale of two cities.................
I agree. I did a cursory view of the situation today with limited time, so I may be missing some details. It sounds like, if anything, secrecy of the deal may be a problem. They should at the very least lift the veil to let their voters see what they need to see. Other than that, we need to stay narrowly focused and clearly define the movement to the rest of the public.
I see both sides of these stadium deals. There is no doubt a sports team brings in significant money to the community in both tax dollars and area businesses. I am generally fine with cities participating in building/updated on their dime. I do like to see teams pony up some of the costs since they benefit, too.
Unless this is an exceedingly bad deal for tax payers, I feel TP energy should be put into the major national issues.
This sort of thing is one of the reasons I left Seattle for rural KY.
I was playing in a band in a club Saturday night and noticed that compared to most of the places in the Seattle Bellevue and Kirkland (and Fall City) areas, it was sort of a dive - and typical of the places around these parts. Exposed electrical wires to signs and things, some kinda dumpy furniture and painted walls with old paneling. Stuff like that.
Oddly, I like it. It’s more “down to earth” and has an odd “50’s” charm to it. The people are definitely friendlier.
And a Dos Equis is two bucks.
Most importantly, the traffic is non-existent and my property taxes on a home and 32 acres are less per year than my friend in Maple Valley per MONTH. And I build whatever I want without a permit.
Or I could have a real nice stadium and the “jobs” (and traffic) it brings.
Code
The Vikings stadium deal is going to be a campaign issue in the governor’s race here next year. The thing is going to cost a billion dollars and it’s been reported that the team’s “share” is made up of a loan from the NFL the team would pay anyway, “personal seat licenses” which will be paid for by fans, and naming rights fees which will be passed on to consumers by whatever company forks over the cash. The rest is just ‘straight tax homey’.
Governor Goofy, otherwise known as Mark Dayton, is up to his ears in this, especially after the team’s owners were found liable in a very large fraud case dealing with their real estate holdings in New Jersey. The owners won’t even disclose their net worth as part of that case.
In the main, I would agree with you, but cases like this are giant wastes of taxpayer dollars and someone needs to be held accountable from an electoral standpoint.
That said, I think it's funny how local news is playing up the whole Tea Party anger angle; they didn't seem as concerned about protecting "tax payers" in Summerhill or around the new Falcons stadium.
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