Posted on 06/07/2022 5:07:51 AM PDT by Jacquerie
Gov. Ron DeSantis red-lined the $35 million budget item approved by the House and Senate to build a youth sports complex in Pasco County. The Rays clearly hoped to move their spring training headquarters there from Port Charlotte.
DeSantis gave two reasons for the veto.
The first: the Governor said he doesn’t “support giving taxpayer dollars to professional sports stadiums, period.”
He’s not wrong there.
But the other reason was more in line with his “think like I do, or else” agenda.
After the massacre in Uvalde, Texas, the Rays donated $50,000 to Everytown for Gun Safety. They tweeted:
“We all deserve to be safe — in schools, grocery stores, places of worship, our neighborhoods, houses, and America,” the Rays posted. “The most recent shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde have shaken us to the core. This cannot become normal. We cannot become numb. We cannot look the other way.”
They added, “We all know, if nothing changes, nothing changes.”
The Governor, who favors no-license open so-called “constitutional carry” in Florida, was not amused. Since he said he planned to veto the ballpark plan anyway, why not use it as an example for those who disagree with him.
DeSantis said it was “inappropriate to subsidize political activism of a private corporation. So I think, either way, it’s not appropriate.”
Just ask the Walt Disney Co. about its return on investment after it got crossways with the Governor. We remember that, right?
(Excerpt) Read more at floridapolitics.com ...
Florida Man, Florida Man, tells disney to shove it up their can.
Florida Man, Florida Man, shows the devil rays he’s more of a man.
Read “Stealing From Each Other” years ago. These Sports complexes built by taxpayers are not a good investment. Teams could cut player salaries for funding. Folks could use those tax funds for better infrastructure that benefits all.
“But the other reason was more in line with his “think like I do, or else” agenda”
The dems have been doing this for 40 years, I hope the Republicans will try it more often.
Watching them squirm and cry is such good fun.
Smart move. They spent $50,000 to lose $35 million.
If the Rays have $50k sitting around to fund political advocacy...they don't need taxpayer monies.
Keep up the good work Heavy D.
Actually, when you cut the salaries somewhat to pay for their facilities, it is tantamount to “taxing the rich” to pay for their infrastructure. The left should LOVE it.
The Left picks and chooses funding for Corporations routinely . The right generally believes in free markets. The result? Corporations go woke because that is where the public money is. DeSantis does not play that game so corporations learn it is best to be neutral in his state.
They're all "gun free zones"!
its a criminal waste of tax payers dollars to fund these projects. The owner\operator makes millions and never pay a cent back. They like to say it brings employment to the city and the city benefits from sales of goods at surrounding bars and restaurants. The fact is, the benefit the city receives via those sales do not amount to a billion dollar stadium that the owner wants replaced every 20 years. I have never seen a cost\benefit or ROI calculation on a big stadium project that showed it was in the municipality’s favor. Smaller projects I admit will be more likely to recoup government expenditures, but the big ones have no way to get there unless the stadium is used for a lot longer than 20 years.
““We all deserve to be safe — in schools, grocery stores, places of worship, our neighborhoods, houses, and America,” the Rays posted.”
How are you going to be safe if you can’t protect yourself from all the freaks on the streets, you ninnies?
Kudos to Gov. DeSantis.
(Tampa Bay) Rays learn the hard way what it means to be lowlife human beings.
You want to play sports? Go play sports.
You want to play politics? Welcome to the party, pal.
the owners are billionaires
the players are multi-millionaires
but they want my last nickel?
go spit!
With the sexual grooming of the pro sports organizations like MLB and NFL, it is best not to let them build “youth” sports centers.
Predators go to where the prey is, or they lure them in. Either way, don’t let our children around them.
Basically the scam goes like this:
Let the billionaire owners build their own stadiums.
Since revenue sharing started in MLB, the Yankees have contributed over 368 million back to less budget teams. TB got a good share of it for years. Even with teams for the past 6 years have been really competative, they barely have anyone come to the “tuna fish can” of a Stadium.
Corporate welfare should never have seen the light of day.
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