In rough order (i.e., either can move up or down 2-3 positions in the list depending on my mood):<\/p>\n
“So you’re willing to see the Vikings leave?”<\/strong>: \u00a0I’m a baseball fan – and to the extent I care about the NFL, I follow the Bears. \u00a0So I really don’t care.<\/p>\n Seriously? \u00a0No more or less so than I am to see Medtronic or Bill’s Gun Shop or the corner deli or 3M leave. \u00a0They’re businesses. \u00a0In a perfect world, they’d all stay here because taxes and regulations and just plain living and doing business in Minnesota were attractive enough. \u00a0And let’s be honest, we\u00a0do\u00a0<\/em>subsidize businesses, to an extent; tax-increment financing is the main tool Minnesota cities use to draw and keep businesses, which is a sort of subsidy. \u00a0And we constantly trade public infrastructure spending – road, water and sewer improvements – for business commitments. \u00a0And in some cases, we do it because business owners say “cut us a break or we’ll move to Texas”. \u00a0And sometimes we cave, and sometimes we just let ’em go – usually depending on the business’ or its’ executives’ political clout. \u00a0I oppose it then, and I oppose it now.<\/p>\n “For Only $122 Per Minnesotan, It’ll Create Jobs!”<\/strong>: Oh, don’t be a doof. \u00a0That $122 will create jobs anyplace <\/em>you spend it. \u00a0Whether I spend it at the corner grocery store, or at Guitar Center, or at Bill’s Gun Shop, or on Amazon, or at Keegans Irish Pub, it creates jobs. \u00a0In fact, if I recall correctly, a dollar spent on stadia creates fewer <\/em>jobs than a dollar spent elsewhere, on average (and King Banaian will let me know if I’m wrong on that, I’m sure).<\/p>\n “Wow – “No Public Money For Billionaires?” \u00a0Some Republican you are!”<\/strong>: It’s a fair cop. \u00a0I’m a libertarian\/conservative first, and a Republican second. \u00a0Corporate welfare does the economy no more good than subsidizing eternal poverty does.<\/p>\n “The Vikings are a part of our cultural heritage!”<\/strong>: \u00a0<\/strong>So is the Minneapolis music scene. \u00a0Tell you what – I’ll drop $122 on your stadium (on penalty of going to jail if I don’t) if you throw $122 and buy me the Replacements boxed set (on penalty of going to jail if you don’t). \u00a0Or, I don’t care, any<\/em>\u00a0other <\/em>part of our “cultural heritage” – mallard carvings or Guthrie tickets or polka lessons or lefse ingredients or New Ulm beer or Edmund Fitzgerald books or Saint Paul Saints swag or any other <\/em>part of our “cultural heritage”.<\/p>\n Sound fair?<\/p>\n “No – the Vikings are an integral <\/em>part of our cultural heritage!”<\/strong>: Oh, they’re integral<\/em>? \u00a0Then problem solved. \u00a0If they’re an “integral” part of Minnesota, they can’t leave; they – and\/or presumably the state itself – would cease to exist.<\/p>\n “Wow, Mr. Conservative Talk Show Host – “No Money For A Stadium” is the same position John Marty takes!”<\/strong>” \u00a0Wrong. \u00a0John Marty takes the same stance that I <\/em>take. \u00a0Since he favors all manner of other government subsidies – arts, MPR, eternal poverty – I’m the one being consistent.<\/p>\n “It’s an investment in the community!”<\/strong>: Well, you’re half right. \u00a0It’s an investment – in Zygi Wilf. \u00a0Wilf is a real estate mogul; he makes his money by having his investment appreciate. \u00a0The Vikings, even with their current awful season, have appreciated considerably since he bought the team. \u00a0A new stadium – especially attached to immense parking concessions and a vast swathe of retail and entertainment space, as in the Arden Hills site – will tack a huge <\/em>premium onto that investment. \u00a0Now – what’s the only thing better than a huge <\/em>premium? \u00a0A huge premium that someone else pays for <\/em>so you can reap a huge <\/em>windfall and not have to pay – or at least not have to pay full price – for. \u00a0Zygi’s a big boy. \u00a0He can pay for his own immense freaking windfall.<\/p>\n Any more?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In rough order (i.e., either can move up or down 2-3 positions in the list depending on my mood): “So you’re willing to see the Vikings leave?”: \u00a0I’m a baseball fan – and to the extent I care about the NFL, I follow the Bears. \u00a0So I really don’t care. Seriously? \u00a0No more or less […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123,77],"tags":[207],"class_list":["post-25097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-taxes","category-the-rare-sports-post","tag-stadium"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25097"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76355,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25097\/revisions\/76355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}