I was once a Twins fan. Someday, maybe I will be again. I began my falling out of fandom with the player's strike. Spoiled millionaire players whining for more money, and shutting down the season was kind of unheroic, and a turn off to baseball. This followed by threats to move the team, followed by threats of contraction by the league. Say we build this stadium with public money, and the team moves a few years later. We're stuck with an empty building that cost a fortune, and is now useless.
I support(ed) the Twins financially for my entire life. I bought the tickets. I bought the concessions. I watched commercials during the televised games. I bought the hats and T-shirts. I bought the baseball cards. All the money I voluntarily spent on the Twins over my life still isn't enough for these greedy millionaires. Now, they want to dig into my pocket again with a tax? I've spent enough. Tax baseball merchandise, tickets and advertising if it must be a tax. Tax the snot out of it. I don't care. Wouldn't it be far better to raise the cost of a beer at the stadium $1.00 a cup (heck, it's already ridiculously expensive - if people will pay the current price, surely another dollar won't put them off), bump up the merchandise mark-ups, raise ticket prices a tad, and maybe (heaven forbid) cut back on player payroll to privately finance this commercial venture? The change in my couch is already earmarked. I have to use it to buy food sometimes. I need it more than the Twins do. Dan McGrath Longfellow http://www.subversivepictures.com http://www.smokeoutgary.org > David Tilsen: > It is just 3 cents on $20, or $30 on a 20,000 Camry. I mean it might as > well be found money. The argument is, how stingy can you get. You spill > more than that out of your wallet every day. Let us have our sports > stadium, puulleeesssse. > > Ed Kohler: > That's a good point. If it's such an insignificant amount of money, why > doesn't the county organize an annual "Check Your Couches and Car Seats" > stadium funding proposal? Rifling for coins in the vacuum cleaner bags of > county gas stations and do-it-yourself car washes should cover the costs of > box seats. :-) > > Peter Vevang: > If a stadium is built, I expect the quality of the game to dramatically > improve. I think the game will be exciting again outdoors. It will be a > great community and family event, without violence or noxious advertising, > just green grass and the crack of the bat. > > Ed Kohler: > There's nothing not to like about that vision, outside of the costs. I'd > expect 99%+ of the anti-stadium crowd to favor a new privately financed > ballpark. They're just not interested in spending public money to support a > private business. Some (like myself) would support spending public money if > the investment could be justified, but I haven't seen the numbers. If it WAS > a good investment for the city/county/state, wouldn't that be the pivotal > argument in support of a new publicly financed stadium? > > Dan McGuire: > If Mr. Pohlad is really interested in being remembered as someone who made a > contribution, then he should make a real contribution as in, why not the > whole stadium, not try to get as much out of the deal as he can for himself > or his heirs. > > Ed Kohler: > It would be interesting to know what effect the repeal of the estate tax > (referred to by non-patriots as the "Death Tax") has had on Pohlad's legacy. > Had it not been repealed, would he have been willing to spend more money on > his new stadium rather than handing over the cash to the IRS upon his death? REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@mnforum.org Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
