Football Stadiums or Health Care for The Poor

[MineralMan]

This is a Minnesota story, but it has implications beyond that state.

The Republicans, who took over control of both houses of the Minnesota legislature in the 2010 election, are taking big whacks at every program that aids poor people in Minnesota. Huge whacks. Health care programs for low-income people, education, and just about every social program is on the chopping block in the current legislative session. Our Democratic governor will probably veto many of these thing, but still...

Also on the agenda, though, is a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings, who threaten to leave the state if they don't get their new playground where they will play eight games a year. Funding for this stadium will be largely from the public coffers, apparently, and several measures are under consideration by the legislature.

Of course, the usual arguments come up. The stadium will create lots of jobs (most of them temporary). The stadium will revitalize the community (oddly they never seem to). All that sort of thing. Sadly, some Democrats are on board for public funding of this billion dollar project.

As for me, I oppose any expenditure of public funds for facilities that benefit private businesses. I especially oppose such expenditures when huge cuts are being made in social programs. The trade-off doesn't make sense to me, in any way. The billionaire owners of the Minnesota Vikings will benefit from any stadium, while the poor people of the state will be cut off from stuff that means actual deprivation of necessary funding.

I've been communicating with the Democratic legislators on this issue for some time. The essential message I'm sending is this:

No public funds for private sports facilities while poor people are being cut off from survival programs!

I hope every one in Minnesota will join in this campaign. And, if you live in other states, I hope you will watch for similar inequitable legislation and oppose it.

Thanks for reading.

[postulater]

1. They should sell stock in the team to the fans.

They could raise a bunch of money that way.

Seems like some other team did it that way.

Go Pack!

[MineralMan]

4. Oh, I don't think the owners are interested in that.

They just want to be subsidized.

[JonLP24]

13. They are not allowed to according to NFL rules

The reason why the Packers are an exception is because they were "grandfathered" in.

[postulater]

14. If they were Republicans they would just go ahead and do it anyway.

[snappyturtle]

2. K&R Used to live in MN and hope to again in the near future. This

stadium thing is so typical of big business twisting the arms of the people into believing it's in their best interest. I would be going bonkers if I still lived there. Good for you MineralMan for campaigning for sanity.

[MineralMan]

5. Thanks. It's driving me nuts. Let the Vikings go to Los Angeles

if they want. We can still root for them here. Tickets to games are so expensive that I couldn't go to a game if I wanted to.

[hedgehog]

3. If we don't build football stadiums, where will poor people go during disasters?

[jwirr]

6. Absolutely. Is there a petition? I will contact my reps today. Thank you.

[MineralMan]

7. I don't know of a petition, but I don't think petitions are that

useful. Direct communication with legislators works better, particularly if you're active politically.

[jwirr]

8. They used to know me but I have been concentrating on the feds

too much lately. It is high time I get back to basics.

[MineralMan]

9. Since the 2010 election, I'm shifting focus to a more local

sphere. I'll still work for national candidates, but what happened in Minnesota with the legislative elections is troubling. I'll be spending more time on that in 2012.

[badtoworse]

10. What are they actually proposing?

Are they going to spend tax revenues or are they going to issue bonds that will be paid off by revenues (ticket sales, concessions, etc.) from the stadium? It makes a big difference - I wouldn't have a problem if the state issued bonds for this.

[MineralMan]

16. Bonding is a possibility, but it's not one of the primary choices.

There is no specific bill proposed yet.

[DavidDvorkin]

11. So this time around, it's bread OR circuses? Damn!

[crickets]

15. +1 -nt

[Scottybeamer70]

12. Sports will

always trump anything else that needs to be done........
especially helping the poor,,,,,,...I've never seen a
section in the newspaper for "helping those in need"......
Which kids in school get the most attention?......certainly
not the artists, writers, musicians, etc. It's all about sports!