I've just about had it up to 'here' with our Minnesota stadium menage a trois debacle!! At, according to WCCO.com reports, it'll only run one and-a-half billion bucks to you and me.
that's 1,500,000,000.00 dollars! $1,500,000,000.00!
Why would I call it a debacle? I should call it "pulling the wool over tax payers eyes by the billionaires boys club" Billionaires can afford a team, why can't they build their own stadium? I'll tell you. Down to nearly the last owner, building their own stadium is a losing investment for them. They know this. That's why they prefer the government, which is you and I the tax payers get the privilege to pay for the building. Oh they'll make claims that there'll be way more jobs and great for the community. Well sure if you are in construction or own a bar, restaurant, hotel, motel, you get the idea. Oh and that they might leave MN if they don't get it. They've been saying...Threatening that for 10 years now. (WCCO reality check, Star/Trib)

During the last several weeks on the evening news on any channel you have heard about stadium building. First the Twins, I'll give them a nod for being up front about it. They came to the legislature and said, "we want a new stadium and its only going to cost you 530 million dollars. It'll seat 45,000 not the 65,000 the dome holds, you see, we can't make enough money with 65,000 seats." (run that by again.. You'll make more with 20,000 LESS seats?) Again the owners like to infer that they'll leave with their teams. I'm at a point to call their bluff. Our congress members have even voted for the first time to NOT put it up as an up or down referendum vote for us the taxed, to be taxed more. But as one congressman put it, they're the Minnesota Twins, not the Hennepin county Twins!! I'm agreeing! Let ALL of MN get taxed as Hennepin county has since 1977.

Second the Vikings, they are being a bit more sneaky. The owner is dangling a billion dollar development investment carrot called the Northern Lights. But not a penny of that will be spent until AFTER a stadium has been built for them. They only want 280 million from the lucky county we build it in, and another 115 million from the state. You feel the wool being pulled over your eyes yet?!?!
1. Don't forget that the dome is the only stadium that hosted the super bowl, a world series and the final four. With 65,000 seats it had to creatively rearrange bunches of the seats for more to QUALIFY to be in the running.
2. We're still paying the dome tax even though it(the dome)was finished early and under budget. The tax was supposed to be 'retired', but really, how many taxes have truly 'died' once they're on the books?

My favorite is the Gophers. They have about 3 thousand acres(also known as UMore Park, possibly polluted since WWII ammunition was made there. Other than that it's tax exempt)of state land in Dakota county. Which they, and this is arguable, call theirs. Here is the sneaky part, they will 'give'it to the state after we the tax payers give the University just under 10 million dollars a year for the next 25 years. Then the state taxpayers will reown 3000 acres of timber, scrub & swamp land, which has to be kept that way. Again no value return resource for us tax payers. The rest of the stadium money will come from gate fees and taxes and student contributions (curious, isn't a contribution voluntary?). Without the land deal, the student contribution would stay at 50.00 per student per semester. The land deal brings it down to 25.00. The radical runaway regents thought this one up. A clever bunch don't you think!! Anyone feel the wool? And you just thought they all were tired of just playing at a perfectly good dome!!