TheAgitator.com
Pigs at the Trough
Sunday, April 11th, 2004So cash-strapped Washington D.C., which can’t fix its roads, adequately police its streets, or keep from poisoning its own citizens with lead-laden water, apparently can find $340 million to build an entirely taxpayer-funded baseball stadium in hopes of luring the Montreal Expos downtown.
Ugh
Radley Balko’s on top of recent pigs feeding at the trough here and here.
What do you mean DC can’t afford to fix the roads? Why, just two years ago they had 14th Street open like a trout for 5 solid months.
- Josh
America’s pastime! You’re being unpatriotic!
Don’t forget the 25K seat soccer stadium that should be full two or three times a year easy!
So . . . if this latest request for corporate welfare succeeds, will they remain the Expos? They deserve a more DC-type name.
How about the Washington Whores?
Houston did the same thing. They spent a billion dollars (really!) on, count ‘em, three new professional sports venues in the last four years. Now , all of a sudden, the city’s budget deficit is twice that predicted just a few months ago, the school district is reducing staff, and reducing bus routes in response to their huge deficit, and the city is closing libraries to cut costs.
The purest ideological response to this, from the Libertarian point fo view, is to boycott any and all activities related to these pork-barrel behemoths. To hell with pro sports until they figure a way to play without their grubby hands in my damn pockets.
David, you forgot to mention that Houston is also closing some of it’s smaller schools because of this budget shortfall… but hellelujah! Lee P Brown(or as we Pat Gray listeners like to call him ‘The Dread Pirate Mayor’) is no longer in office. He was so horrible that he makes even Bill White (another democrat) look good to me (not a democrat). I never understood where all that money was coming from to build 3 stinking stadiums in 4 years… at least not until I moved into Houston’s city limits.
Ms Dani’s comment reminds me of how a politicians personal likes and dislikeds can effect policy. He probably paid for all the new stadiums just because he likes sports.
I remember when a Louisiana governor signed a seatbelt law and a law allowing motorcyclist to ride without helmets at the same time. He was a big time Harley rider.
David, your comments about Houston are ironic, seeing that LA lost having a football franchise primarily because it had no public financing to boost its bid. Now it sounds like Houston is in dire fiscal straits, a circumstance with which we Californians are familar. While we still don’t have a football team, could you imagine how much more worse LA’s fiscal situation would be if it followed Houston’s lead?
Of course, major league owners don’t give a rat’s ass about that. All they care about is getting as much money up front without the commensurate risk. I don’t blame them, however; they’re businessmen, after all. But that doesn’t mean cities should enable such irrational behavior.
I suspect it had more to do with money than personal preference. Either one, in the “arena” of public policy-making and the expenditure of tax dollars, is evil in the extreme, however.
While we still don’t have a football team
Russ . . . you never did.
While we still don’t have a football team
Hey Irwindale! How about another couple million to conduct more feasibility research? By the way, I have no intention of moving the Raiders to your godforsaken shithole of a city but I want you to think I will and line my pockets in the process.
Lee P was more concerned with leaving his mark, or legacy if you will. He wasn’t physically in Houston long enough to even know the difference between downtown and the Galleria.
Just so the perception is not falsely skewed, Houston is definitely not in dire straits and Bill White (new mayor) is actually doing a great job so far. He’s done pretty much nothing but CUT city budget and pork. I would vote for him, given another chance.