The plain fact is that professional sports teams do not increase economic activity, especially when they play in taxpayer-financed stadiums. As Dennis Coates and other economists have shown, pro sports teams are generally a net dragPosted on 08/12/2015 7:18:02 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
While ongoing reportage of the Donald Trump Traveling Tijuana Donkey Show crashes into the latest revelations from Hillary Clinton's Personal Email Server Fun Times Revue, there's more pedestrian scandal taking place in plain sight.
This one involves Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who's running on his tough-as-nails budget-cutting credentials. Come tomorrow, Walker will commit no less than $400 million of taxpayer money to a stadium deal to keep the NBA Bucks in Milwaukee:
The state would put $250 million toward the arena, with interest adding up over decades. The subsidy, approved last month with bipartisan support in Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled legislature, wasn’t addressed in the first presidential debate Thursday. That might change in future forums—or attack ads.
That's bad enough, of course. But what makes the situation even worse is that Walker is actually trying to sell it as something other politically motivated corporate welfare of the basest sort:
Walker, 47, argues that the subsidy is a "good deal," partly because Wisconsin would lose revenue if the Bucks leave, as they had threatened. The owners of the Bucks, a team whose value Forbes pegged at $600 million, will pick up half the cost of the $500 million arena.
Read more from Bloomberg here.
You got that? A business worth $600 million doesn't have the cash or the credit to build its own damn palace (despite covering just half of costs, the Bucks will get virtually all revenue generated by venue forever and ever amen).
The plain fact is that professional sports teams do not increase economic activity, especially when they play in taxpayer-financed stadiums. As Dennis Coates and other economists have shown, pro sports teams are generally a net drag
(Excerpt) Read more at reason.com ...
If you can't count on a libertarian to be inappropriately vulgar and condescending, who can you count on?
Woo HOO! It’s about time the NRA got a stadium. Oh. Never mind.
I hate fascism. That’s why I’m voting for Trump or Cruz in November 2016 regardless of who the GOPe force on us.
That’s nothing compared with the reaming that the St. Louis Rams are giving the Missouri taxpayers.
Amen. Hopefully we will get to vote for both of them on the same ticket.:)
A bad idea with impressively bad timing. This could do irreparable harm to his image.
Apparently you to make some snide remark about libertarians rather than address the theme of the thread that so-called "conservative" Walker is raping the taxpayers to the tune of $400,000,000 to the primary benefit of a professional sports team with a secondary benefit to the construction industry no doubt all bought and paid for by the Chamber of Commerce. GOP business as usual.
It will bring in a lot more than 400 million in revenue to the state. Not to mention all the new jobs. It’s a great idea.
Seems to me that the man is showing his true colors. Sticking it to the taxpayers in true GOP-e fashion. Kind of reminds me of Bush and Dole handing our wallets over to Archer Daniels Midlands with the phony baloney ethanol as a renewable fuel scam.
Celebrity capitalism is no more defensible than crony capitalism.
Then they should have no problem getting bank financing.
I found the comment vulgar, but who cares? It’s irrelevant to the fact presented.
I don’t find it so. I think it speaks volumes about Nick and his magazine. And it didn’t come out of nowhere.
I remember as a 20-something, watching "This Week with David Brinkley," wondering why ADM was constantly running ads about ethanol.
You live and learn.
God save us from the censorious. I found it vaguely amusing.
Good for you. And where did I ask or demand that it be censored?
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.