May 6, 2012
Now what?
As the political uproar over Walker's goofy priorities comes to a close, everything seems just a little too quiet. Now what? Well, the next issue will be the use of taxpayer dollars to build a new arena to help Herb Kohl. Kohl, you may remember, got elected to the Senate in 1988 in large measure because he saved the Bucks from moving out of state. Now he has a different song, and it is off-key if you ask me.
As we have been predicting, Kohl wants Milwaukee and Wisconsin to build his team a new home. (The Bradley Center was a gift from Jane Pettit, so now it is time for the taxpayers to give Herb another gift. Or is it?)
Herb says things must "move quickly," and his pal Martin Greenberg set the stage for a Kohl bailout. Catch this line of BS from Greenberg: "While another NBA season has come to an end for the Bucks, the Bucks cannot remain competitive nor will the NBA have along-term relationship with Milwaukee without a new state-of-the-art arena."
Pause for a moment and read Greenberg's comments again. Another Bucks season...another lousy team. Some might say a pathetic team. Greenberg says they cannot "remain competive." They are not competitive, so what in the world is he talking about? And, of course, will a new building make the Bucks a better team? How? Essentially, Greenberg will use any argument that moves us closer to a gift. As the sun rises in the east, the threat to move the team out of Milwaukee is now alive and well in Kohlland.
Greenberg disingenuously asks, "What political leader will take the lead to create a new facility? A new arena could give Milwaukee a strategic real estate development opportunity...could become a centerpiece and a catalyst for further urban transformation." Whoa Nelly. "It could be a sports community where people can work, eat, watch, congregate, learn and socialize." Such a deal! How can we take a pass on that wonderful opportunity? Oh, Okay. Schools in Milwaukee need lots of help, but schools can't move to another state so they will have to wait. First things first!
Greenberg goes on and on and on. A mixed-use development with an arena as an anchor tenant could change the face of downtown Milwaukee.
Who is the new hero? Greenberg names Tim Sheehy, president of the Milwaukee Area Association of Commerce. What a guy that Sheehy is. What a guy! He would pay for the arena with sales taxes. Thanks Tim. Greenberg writes, and I am not kidding, that Sheehy is courageous to propose sales taxes as the answer. Yikes!
Greenberg teaches at Marquette. I can hardly wait for Charles Franklin's poll to show support for public financing of an arena. Of course if the poll results look bad they can just not publish the results.
This is absurd. They have no shame.
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You are right, they have no shame. The appropriate response to this kind of blackmail should be a big, loud, "Go to Hell, and be damned". Schools going down, streets falling apart, no railroads worthy of the name, increased wealth at the top while the rest pick shit with the chickens and these clowns want public money so overpaid college dropouts can play with a ball.
Here in New Mexico we have a Spaceport boondoggle. New roads and public money so millionaires might, someday, somehow, pay tens of thousands for a sub-orbital flight.
We don't need an election, we need a revolution and tumbrels wouldn't be the worst idea either. Let THEM eat cake for a change.
-Griebnotz Doerkpfester | (Glad) I Escaped, WI. | May 6, 2012
Why is it that there is no problem passing a sales tax to build a stadium or arena for professional athletes, where well paid adults play games and throw balls around, but we can not have a sales tax to fund a parks department where parents can watch their own children throw balls around or have a tax to fund a transit system so the people who will be paying for these stadiums, that they may not even be able to afford to get into so see a game, can get to the jobs to earn the money to pay for the damned stadium in the first place?
-Just call me Harry | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | May 6, 2012
We see the blackmail taking place in Minnesota as to the new so necessary Viking stadium - no money for Medicaid or schools or much else for the common good - but we can always get creative for those jocks and jockettes.
I would recommend to all to read the book Free Lunch by David Cay Johnston - especially chapter 7 titled, "Your land is my land" and chapter 8 titled, "Bounty Hunters"
Just don't read the book on an empty stomach!
PS Notice that all paper products now being used in some of our state facilities come from a single source - who just happens to be quite a larger contributor to a certain elected official - imagine that!
-Steve Anderson | Eau Claire, WI | May 7, 2012
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