The taxpayer, the Falcons and the question of priorities
As owner of the Atlanta Falcons, Arthur Blank runs a class operation that represents the city well. And as such arrangements go, the proposal to build a $1 billion Falcons stadium downtown with $300 million in taxpayer subsidies is reasonable and probably fiscally sound.
But still ….
The NFL is easily the most profitable sports league on the planet. All 32 of its teams are included in Forbes’ magazine’s list of the 50 most valuable sports franchises on the planet. (The Falcons are listed at 35th with a value of $831 million, up from $545 million when Blank bought the team in 2002.) And because live sports programming is becoming more and more valuable to advertisers, lucrative new contracts will bring more the league more than $6 billion a year in TV revenue beginning in 2014. That represents a 50 to 60 percent increase.
Now contrast that prosperity with the fiscal plight of state and local government. Thousands of workers have been laid off in Georgia, including police officers, firefighters and teachers. We tell ourselves that education is the key to prosperity, but in many cases we can’t afford to keep our kids in school for the once-standard 180 days a year. Our transportation infrastructure is inadequate to meet the demands placed upon it, yet any attempt to raise taxes to generate the necessary money is rejected.
Overall, we’re told, government can no longer do the things we want it to do; it must do only those things that we need it to do.
Given those realities, why should the Falcons demand that the public subsidize their new stadium, particularly when the publicly funded Georgia Dome continues to serve that purpose admirably?
The short answer is also the honest answer — because they can. They don’t really need the money, or even a new stadium for that matter, but in a sports-mad world they can get it. So why not? Everyone else is doing it. It’s a “bigger is better” league, from quarterbacks that go 6-5, 275 pounds to stadiums that charge fans a five-figure fee just for the right to later buy tickets. And in that hyper-competitive world, it is considered unacceptable for the Falcons to be condemned to play in the 20-year-old Georgia Dome, the 10th-oldest stadium in the league.
Under the proposed terms, the Georgia World Congress Center Authority would supply the land for a new stadium, plus contribute roughly a third of the construction cost. That public contribution would be raised through a 30-year extension of the hotel/motel tax. Proponents of the deal argue that because the hotel/motel tax is paid by visitors to Atlanta, rather than by residents of metro Atlanta, it is somehow less of a tax. However, it is also money that by a simple act of the Legislature could be diverted to purposes more crucial than subsidizing a quite profitable sports franchise.
Under the terms of the proposal, the Falcons “will retain revenue streams from the new stadium, including tickets, premium seating, food and beverage, sponsorships, naming rights and certain parking revenue.” That’s for all events at the stadium, not just Falcons games. In return, the Falcons will pay the state authority $2.5 million a year. For the sake of context, that’s about what the team pays an offensive lineman.
And again, in the universe of such deals, the Falcons could perhaps have demanded even better treatment.
Assessed from a purely practical point of view, such a deal is still hard to justify. But this is the world of sports, in which rationality and practicality are often bench players to irrationality and emotion. If any other line of work inflicted the concussions, the crippling injuries, the long-term brain damage and shortened lifespans of football, for example, it would have been legislated out of existence long ago.
Instead, we pack stadiums and find ourselves yelling at our TV sets, driven by the human thirst for pride, glory and rushes of adrenalin, even if they have to be experienced second-hand and subsidized with money that would be much better spent elsewhere.
– Jay Bookman
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702 comments Add your comment
Morality?
December 12th, 2012
8:55 am
I don’t want a new stadium until this recession/depression is over – and then build it NORTH of the ghetto…. however I do appreciate Arthur Blank buying the Falcons and making them competitive. For years Rankin Smith was the worst owner in the NFL and the Falcons were a joke.
Ben
December 12th, 2012
8:55 am
Seems like the majority of commenters every time there’s an article on this are against any public funding for a new stadium at this time. And I agree. The Dome has at least a decade left in her.
Oscar
December 12th, 2012
8:55 am
Debbie – If the new stadium is buitl, the Dome will be torn down for parking and some other things.
saywhat?
December 12th, 2012
8:56 am
I see no problem with taxpayers footing 30% of the bill, IF they get 30% of the revenue from its use.
12/12/12
December 12th, 2012
8:57 am
What a waste of taxes!!! No Super Bowl….No New Dome….
Jay
December 12th, 2012
8:57 am
That video has been pulled; it was put there by mistake.
Welcome to the Occupation
December 12th, 2012
8:58 am
Thomas Heyward: “Once you accept the premise that the State can coerce (at gunpoint) wealth from private individuals”
Funny you say that. The private individuals of course acquired their wealth — always, every single time — through a strategic and clever manipulation of the state’s resources, which are just the resources of the people. The private individuals with their wealth are the true usurpers.
Andy
December 12th, 2012
9:00 am
How about Arthur foots the stadium bill 100% and in return the City of ATL will put this $300 million tax into the APD to patrol around the slums that encompass the Dome area, invest in the ATL public school system to increase the graduation rate significantly, add many local GED and vocational programs to get welfare moms into productive jobs and daycare subsides so newly trained welfare moms can afford to go to work? Hell, give these newly trained now employed baby mommas Marta cards too with this tax money.
After 10 years and a lot of hard work, suddenly the City of ATL could have a new working class that will take care of their home and lawn, which in return will raise property values including the value of Arthur’s new stadium. It’s a Win/Win right?
Fred ™
December 12th, 2012
9:00 am
Not that I’m talking to you Jay, (
) but I was curious……. and I was also apparently THE ONLY PERSON who both read every word of the article AND watched the video……..
I always thought most people just clicked over here, read the headline and started arguing without reading a damn thing. I think I just got proof……….
Gale
December 12th, 2012
9:00 am
That’s the rub. If families could afford to regularly take the kids to watch the games in the stadium, the public might be more in favor of giving the Falcons this handout. There would be some social good. But if only folks with enough money to afford these outings can enjoy a new stadium, why would any of us be in favor of this expense? I am not a sports fan, but over the years, many people carry fond memories of family outings to watch sports. If it were affordable, it would have popular support. As it is, even the sports fans don’t support this.
Fred ™
December 12th, 2012
9:01 am
Andy: I’m with you Bro. You ever run for office, you got my vote.
Oscar
December 12th, 2012
9:01 am
Welcome – Not to mention that the main thing the government does is protect them and their wealth.
Fred ™
December 12th, 2012
9:04 am
Alright then. I got my answer to the video question and made contact with the chef blog chick so my mission here is done. Time to resume my poutrage and boycott………
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
December 12th, 2012
9:04 am
julia: , I hope people remember this well come election time
They won’t.
and NOBODY buy tickets to watch Blanks stupid team play in that facility.
The average fan won’t be able to afford it. Looking at the Jerry Jones’ model, two seats, on the 50 yard line, for one game would cost $2100. In the nosebleeds one ticket would cost $378 so that means two or more would be out of the question.
F. Sinkwich
December 12th, 2012
9:06 am
I know!
Divert Obamaphone funds to the stadium.
Problem solved!
Oscar
December 12th, 2012
9:07 am
Debbie – At those prices, no wonder Jerry got so upset with that nose tackle.
Fly-On-The-Wall
December 12th, 2012
9:08 am
If this is a done deal then let’s somehow get the infrastructure tied in as well so at least we can get to a game.
Thomas Heyward Jr
December 12th, 2012
9:09 am
Oscar
December 12th, 2012
8:53 am
Once you accept the premise that the State can coerce (at gunpoint) wealth from private individuals
_____
You can’t have a government without the ability to raise taxes to pay the expense to run it.
Link
—————————————————————————————————————————————-
.
A civilized societ AND Basic decency does not require guns/coercion to finance the government,
Although it DOES require harder work (representing your constituents instead of subjugating them).
.
The State , and their menions, aren’t exactly interested in hard work.
.
And the coercion/gunpoints will continue until that tactic becomes harder work than……any other option.
.
.
The Hammer
December 12th, 2012
9:09 am
As mentioned above, the NFL is a dying market. Not as quickly declining as, say, NASCAR, but declining it is. Just look at the changing demographics of the USA. If the State of Georgia was led by smart people (which it is not), and they really, really wanted to spend $300 million on a stadium, they would build a Soccer-only complex and lure an MLS team to Atlanta (preferably one that would then be associated with Deportivo Toluca FC).
Oscar
December 12th, 2012
9:09 am
Fly – It’s not a done deal. The legislature has to approve it.
JohnnyReb
December 12th, 2012
9:11 am
It’s not too far a leap from today’s NFL to the Arnold sci-fi Running Man. Come to think of it, society is headed in the film’s direction also, but that’s a different subject.
It’s rare that I totally agree with Jay, but yes on this one.
And, only dumb ass politicians would agree to a plan with a 30 year pay back when in plain sight is evidence they won’t be happy when it’s 10 years old (if they still have an audience).
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
December 12th, 2012
9:11 am
oscar they’re going to tear down a perfectly good dome?
What the hell is WRONG with these people?
We just paid it off, so NOW we’re going to tear it down?
No wonder this world is effed up……..our priorities are crappola
===================
Andy: add many local GED and vocational programs to get welfare moms into productive jobs and daycare subsides so newly trained welfare moms can afford to go to work? Hell, give these newly trained now employed baby mommas Marta cards too with this tax money.
Are you the original Andy who used to comment on Luckovich’s blog? If not, you’re sure picking up where he left off……………….
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
December 12th, 2012
9:13 am
Fly – It’s not a done deal. The legislature has to approve it.
AFTER they’re guaranteed their skyboxes and 50 yard line seats for ALL major games………
Steve-USA
December 12th, 2012
9:14 am
Stands – “Whatever the players can negotiate for themselves in an organized fashion, they have more than earned, and I’ll include anything they can manage to sue out of the b@stards down the road to pay for the TBI treatments.”
The players are more than aware of the risks. They are adults fully capable of quitting at any time, after all they should have college degree’s.
Sorry….I forgot….people have no responsibility for their own lives and fate.
The “Right to Work!”……let freedom ring!
Bhorsoft
December 12th, 2012
9:14 am
This is supposed to be a democracy. Put it up for a vote by the public. See what the public wants.
Andy
December 12th, 2012
9:15 am
Sorry, I’m not that Andy.
Dekalb comments
December 12th, 2012
9:15 am
Stop the corporate welfare! If Blank wants a new stadium then do what any other business would do, get an estimate for your project, find funding and build.
Unfortunately cities and states have been played by corporate interests against each other. Georgia and other states use tax and other incentives to lure and retain businesses. This practice is now widespread and many businesses demand it.
Sports teams are probably the worst because if a plastics manufacturer doesn’t move to town with its promise of 200 new jobs, no one is emotionally tied to the loss. But if a city wants to lure a sports team or, heaven forbid, fend off threats to move somewhere else, the public is in a total panic. They have emotions tied to the team or the idea of landing a franchise.
Sports teams are businesses. There is absolutely nothing of Atlanta or Georgia in the Falcons. They are a business. They conduct training and some of their business here when they play games here. But they are a business, a for-profit business. They should be treated as such.
If cities would refuse to play the tax and other incentives game to lure sports franchises or the same to retain them, this stuff would stop. But as long as there are cities out there willing to play the game, owners will blackmail cities (and fans).
JDW
December 12th, 2012
9:15 am
I’d be interested in a new stadium if it were OUTSIDE Atlanta – like the Patriots have their stadium in little Foxborough, Massachusetts. Going into Atlanta is always a disaster. The city is a dangerous cesspool, and the town, outside of a few rich blocks, looks like freakin’ Detroit! Put it somewhere in Cobb like they did with the Cobb Center – right off the highway – and maybe some naysayers would be more interested. As it is – the Dome is STILL getting some of the biggest games already. Still has the SEC championship each year. STILL is on the short list for superbowls. What MORE can we expect to get with a new stadium that benefits the actual paycheck to paycheck fan?
Joe Hussein Mama
December 12th, 2012
9:16 am
That stadium? You didn’t build that.
Oscar
December 12th, 2012
9:17 am
Bhorsoft – No, it’s a representive democracy. Decisions like this are made by our elected representives.
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
December 12th, 2012
9:17 am
Fred – check your email!
Andy
December 12th, 2012
9:18 am
I agree, make it a statewide ballet referendum.
The overwhelming majority of people, both democrats and republicans, are against any type of tax money to be used on a new billion dollar stadium, particularly during a global recession/depression.
Email your legislators…today!
JohnnyReb
December 12th, 2012
9:18 am
Bhorsoft – we are a republic, not a democracy. You know, where we elect our representatives to make the decisions instead of us voting on every matter. Chose wisely, on more than just beer.
Brosephus™
December 12th, 2012
9:19 am
Overall, we’re told, government can no longer do the things we want it to do; it must do only those things that we need it to do.
Given those realities, why should the Falcons demand that the public subsidize their new stadium, particularly when the publicly funded Georgia Dome continues to serve that purpose admirably?
Jay
When you live in a “pro business” state that’s run by the “pro business” party, what else do you expect? Professional football is about as “pro” a business as any other one, isn’t it? Maybe we need a Pro-Georgia Citizens party instead of the party of big business running things.
Fly-On-The-Wall
December 12th, 2012
9:20 am
So anyone want to give their take on how long it will be until our Governor and some legislators to be found handing out sweetheart deals to their cronies? Oh, and our $300M part of the price tag goes much higher due to this corruption.
Rabbit
December 12th, 2012
9:20 am
Squeeze the deal if it’s done. At least demand a quarterback’s salary.
Schools are pushing kids into other classrooms when teachers are out sick – out of substitute money. And before you say they are malingering and should tough it out at work, picture a parent who discovered their child contracted influenza from a teacher who didn’t avoid being the contagion for the school.
For a combination of reasons, prison beds are scarce and probationers just phone it in these days. Caseloads are so large, there’s no physical way to supervise. Child protective services probably has a lower caseload of children in care than 10 years ago. They’ll tell you it’s because they focus on returning children to other family members. Truth: It’s because they can’tt meet Federal guidelines and are grossly underfunded.
So, yes, change that advice, if you can’t get a deal that the state gets points off the take, then make a deal that pays at least as much as the quarterback… and the backup quarterback.
Morality?
December 12th, 2012
9:21 am
What % of the stadium funding will go to the cartel that runs Atlanta?
Oscar
December 12th, 2012
9:21 am
Fly – I thought that had already happened.
guy
December 12th, 2012
9:24 am
Simple Truth, Yes,when you are in debt up to your eyeballs,you don’t buy new toys. Neither do you only cut the rate of spending,you slash it to the bone.It will hurt for awhile but it’s the only way to run a country or a business! That’s where we are today. No, the Falcons need to pay for their own stadium!
DannyX
December 12th, 2012
9:24 am
Where can I get my very own DealDome?
DannyX
December 12th, 2012
9:25 am
Will the seats vibrate at the DealDome?
bigbill
December 12th, 2012
9:27 am
Amazing how our national dialogue about safety nets and welfare for the poor, e.g., food stamps, medicaid, etc., so often bitterly opposed by conservatives who deem such programs as absolutely intolerable manifestations of socialism, rarely seems to include this utterly perverse (but acceptable) version of welfare. Food Stamps for the hungry? No Way! But hundreds of millions of Atlanta taxpayers funds provided to billionaire Falcons owner Arthur Blank to keep him from moving his team out of Atlanta? No problem!
Poor people can’t threaten to leave town if their desperately needed benefits are cut or cancelled. Where is the conservative hue and cry of “socialism” in this case? Why are conservatives who are adamant about cutting Medicaid strangely AWOL on billionaire Arthur Blank’s blatant welfare grab. They must be busy lining up their sky box stadium seat tickets.
Biff & Chaz from the Yacht Club
December 12th, 2012
9:27 am
now don’t go stirring up our base, mr muckraking-journalist-man –
Damn, we just got em fooled that its OK for big gubmint welfare
to trickle up, but not down to the people that need it.
(we sold em on bootstraps, hahahahaha)
Welcome to the Occupation
December 12th, 2012
9:27 am
JohnnyReb: “Bhorsoft – we are a republic, not a democracy”
It’s always interesting to observe the things that conservatives say with the greatest glee.
Fly-On-The-Wall
December 12th, 2012
9:27 am
Oscar – good one!
Steve-USA "Right to Work = Freedom"
December 12th, 2012
9:28 am
So two guys start Home Depot, one of them gives the City of Atlanta $250 million to build an aquarium, the other asks for hundreds of millions from the State for a football stadium.
UNCLE SAMANTHA
December 12th, 2012
9:28 am
white liberal racism at work
not wanting inner city residents to have jobs to feed their children with income from the new stadium
new stadium haters who want it built in their suburbs so they dont have to drive the global warming causing SUV downtown
and even if the stadium is built with revenue from out of towners
shame on the white liberal hypocrisy
Biff & Chaz from the Yacht Club
December 12th, 2012
9:29 am
but thanks for your vote, hahahaha
see you at wal-mart! (not really, we have people for that)
oops
December 12th, 2012
9:29 am
here’s the only way this should’ve been financed with public money
a parking space tax of $10 per space on all parking within a 1 mile radius of the stadium on game days and any other major stadium events
whatever bondable revenue that would produce should be the amount the city would pitch in
Joe Hussein Mama
December 12th, 2012
9:29 am
Just out of curiosity, is there ANY other American city that’s in a position to lure the Falcons away AND has the financial wherewithal to satisfy Blank’s demands?
If not, I say we tell Blank to go pound sand.
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
December 12th, 2012
9:31 am
Usink: the nfl should hold a frickin BAKE SALE if they want a new stadium – not ask the taxpayers to subsidize it.
That’s what public schools have to do to raise money for things like band instruments/uniforms/trips; football boosters raise money for the football team, and girl scouts go do to door selling cookies to raise money for their troop/organization.
Everyone in America is tightening their belts and doing without — yet we are supposed to hold our nose and dish our pride for the advent of a new stadium that the majority of people in Atlanta, (since its ATLANTA’s hotel/motel taxes that are being used and NOT any other region, its’ only fitting that ATLANTA should be where the new stadium is built — duh! to anyone who thinks otherwise), don’t want and AREN’T interested in!
I wonder, have politicians ALWAYS been this obtuse?
Thomas Heyward Jr
December 12th, 2012
9:32 am
Welcome to the Occupation
December 12th, 2012
8:58 am
Thomas Heyward: “Once you accept the premise that the State can coerce (at gunpoint) wealth from private individuals”
Funny you say that. The private individuals of course acquired their wealth — always, every single time — through a strategic and clever manipulation of the state’s resources, which are just the resources of the people. The private individuals with their wealth are the true usurpers.
———————————————————————————————————————–
.
So use the State…………and let the mob taketh the wealth away.
.
It makes no party……more civilized.
.
or decent.
Vashtai
December 12th, 2012
9:32 am
The former GM plant in Doraville would have been a perfect site for Arthur’s Folly. Add my vote to no taxpayer subsidy for Arthur’s stadium.
Georgia
December 12th, 2012
9:33 am
Obviously few of the rocket scientists (and uberspellers), and dedicated professional proofreaders here understand how important falcon football is. It’s really all we have. We go through our lives underpaid, undersexed, overdissed by family, friends and coworkers. So, after church on Sunday (where we’re reminded of even more shortcomings), falcon football is the only thing that slakes.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
December 12th, 2012
9:35 am
1) “Given those realities, why should the Falcons demand that the public subsidize their new stadium, particularly when the publicly funded Georgia Dome continues to serve that purpose admirably?”
One of the RARE times we agree.
2) “If any other line of work inflicted the concussions, the crippling injuries, the long-term brain damage and shortened lifespans of football, for example, it would have been legislated out of existence long ago.”
Except for our military.
Doggone/GA
December 12th, 2012
9:36 am
“Bhorsoft – we are a republic, not a democracy”
Wrong. We are a democratic republic – which IS a democracy. Has your dictionary gone missing?
Aquagirl
December 12th, 2012
9:36 am
Put it somewhere in Cobb like they did with the Cobb Center – right off the highway – and maybe some naysayers would be more interested.
You think they build stadiums for local middle-class folks? BWAH! Hey, you want to buy a bridge real cheap?
There’s no infrastructure (like hotels and communist-marxist transit full of scary dark people) to handle a stadium in your beloved suburbs. Keep your terrified self out there, apparently you haven’t realized nobody cares about your fee-fees. I hear there’s a real nice baseball stadium y’all suckers funded though.
ATL Born and Raised
December 12th, 2012
9:36 am
Against. And wholeheartedly.
NFL will give ATL exactly one Superbowl with no net gain to the city (like last time), and then it will be back in New Orleans in their ancient of days superdome and Miami because those are cities people actually enjoy visiting.
I’d be more worried about the effect the hotel/motel tax is going to have on ATL’s convention business which brings more money to the city than sports. I just booked an outrageous $600/night room for Dragon*Con this year. Thank goodness I’m a Marriott elite member and could pay with points. Though I would argue as an ATL resident I shouldn’t have to pay this so-called “outsider” tax on my staycation room.
nobodyyouknow
December 12th, 2012
9:37 am
There are so many things that need to be done in Atlanta.
williebkind
December 12th, 2012
9:42 am
“There are so many things that need to be done in Atlanta.”
Yeah send the liberals back north or to the east or west coast. And send the homosexual Reed with them.
Willydoit?
December 12th, 2012
9:43 am
Arthur Blank should just take one of his billions and build the stadium himself…Heck, he can get the supplies at Home Depot at cost!!
albeit
December 12th, 2012
9:44 am
State government workers have not a pay increase in 5 years and the insurance have gone up every year, can’t afford to pay for a stadium
Andy
December 12th, 2012
9:46 am
Why would the Super Bowl come to ATL more than one token time?
Have you been anywhere on foot at night near the Dome? There’s nothing there to do to satisfy 100,000+++ people 18hrs a day for a week. Buckhood is long gone. Midtown is too far of a hike.
Not to mention who wants to pay 1000’s of dollars per person to hang out in ATL in February on overcast 35 degree days?
UNCLE SAMANTHA
December 12th, 2012
9:47 am
DOG needs to go to a charter school
http://www.lexrex.com/enlightened/AmericanIdeal/aspects/demrep.html
we are a representative republic
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
December 12th, 2012
9:47 am
“……. democratic republic – which IS a democracy.”
Our Republic (”and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands”) is a “form” of democracy but not a “pure democracy”. A pure democracy means majority rule on everything. That was something our founding fathers feared greatly and rightfully so.
Ken
December 12th, 2012
9:48 am
Jay, right on. Taxpayers should not pay one dime.
Joe Hussein Mama
December 12th, 2012
9:48 am
Williebkind — “Yeah send the liberals back north or to the east or west coast.”
What makes you think we’re not FROM here, buckaroo?
Morality?
December 12th, 2012
9:49 am
Again I ask – What per cent of the stadium money will be kicked back to the cartel that runs Atlanta?
Joe Hussein Mama
December 12th, 2012
9:50 am
U. Samantha — “DOG needs to go to a charter school”
On the contrary. Nobody *needs* to go to a charter school.
Andy
December 12th, 2012
9:51 am
The cartel will be paid like all politicians are paid, with envelopes full of cash under the table from special interests/contractors.
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
December 12th, 2012
9:51 am
Hiya Joe!
Joe: Just out of curiosity, is there ANY other American city that’s in a position to lure the Falcons away AND has the financial wherewithal to satisfy Blank’s demands?
who else would want them? Maybe if they’d WIN something people would be more apt to do them a solid; but the Falcons are KNOWN to be a “choke” team. I mean when the New Orleans Saints won a Superbowl before the Falcons, I was thinking that the end of the world HAD to be nearer in time!
wayne
December 12th, 2012
9:52 am
People need sports to take their minds off of Obamanomics that has destroyed our way of life and are willing to do whatever is needed to take our minds off of the misery we endure under a socialist regime!
Doggone/GA
December 12th, 2012
9:55 am
“we are a representative republic”
aka: a democratic republic
re·pub·lic
[ri-puhb-lik] Show IPA
noun
1. a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them.
2. any body of persons viewed as a commonwealth.
3. a state in which the head of government is not a monarch or other hereditary head of state.
de·moc·ra·cy
[dih-mok-ruh-see] Show IPA
noun, plural de·moc·ra·cies.
1. government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.
2. a state having such a form of government: The United States and Canada are democracies.
Somebody needs to open a dictionary now and then to avoid making a public fool of themselves
UNCLE SAMANTHA
December 12th, 2012
9:56 am
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
quit trying to educate liberals……………… think of the movie As Good As It Gets and this quote
Secretary: How do you write women so well?
Melvin Udall: I think of a man, and I take away reason and accountability.
now apply it to liberals
stands for decibels
December 12th, 2012
9:56 am
Haven’t said this in awhile, but…
And, only dumb ass politicians would agree to a plan with a 30 year pay back when in plain sight is evidence they won’t be happy when it’s 10 years old (if they still have an audience).
Sometimes, JohnnyReb, you’re all right.
/drive-by
Joe Hussein Mama
December 12th, 2012
9:57 am
D. DoRight — “who else would want them? Maybe if they’d WIN something people would be more apt to do them a solid; but the Falcons are KNOWN to be a “choke” team. ”
How do, Ma’am!
To be honest, I didn’t want to bring the Falcons’ performance into it; I just wondered if there even WAS a city that had both the money and desire to bring in an NFL team if we called Blank’s bluff and he went shopping for a new home. Given the fiscal belt-tightening of today, I can’t imagine that there is such a city, but I thought that perhaps one of our pro foo-baw following posters might have a notion.
That being said, I don’t disagree at all with your characterization of the Falcons as choke artists.
Robert
December 12th, 2012
9:57 am
The City of Atlanta should look at other NFL cities (DC,NY,etc.) who have either caved in and built a new football stadium or watched their football team go to another part of the State or a new State.
Other cities in the State of GA are already planning to meet this need. Would Falcon’s fans travel to Roswell/Milton/Alpharetta to watch their football team? Yes they will. Can these cites put together the financing plan? Yes they can.
The City of Atlanta really has no leverage in this case.
Erwin's cat
December 12th, 2012
9:59 am
Good for Mr Blank and good for the Falcons and the city of Atlanta..let the tourists pay for it…brilliant!
Morality?
December 12th, 2012
9:59 am
And just what % of downtown residence buy tickets to Falcon’s games and what % of downtown residents pay motel taxes? Makes sense to move the stadium out of the ghetto – NORTH of downtown. Build it once this recession/depression is over – say in about 10/20 years if we are lucky.
UNCLE SAMANTHA
December 12th, 2012
10:00 am
poor dog
doesnt know how to distinguish a FORM of government from a TYPE of government
state approved charter schools rule
Doggone/GA
December 12th, 2012
10:01 am
“doesnt know how to distinguish a FORM of government from a TYPE of government”
Yep, I do. We have a democratic republic. *I* can read the dictionary and actually UNDERSTAND what it says.
Doggone/GA
December 12th, 2012
10:02 am
BTW: “representative republic” is redundent. A republic is, by definition, a representative form of government
bookman parrot
December 12th, 2012
10:04 am
i think BHO should wave his magic obama messiah wand and make a stadium appear for free. LOL
Georgia
December 12th, 2012
10:04 am
Man, detroit’s been taking it on the chin lately. Sean Penn compared Haiti to Detroit. Many Americans confess that if America had an a-hole, it would be detroit, not Cleveland, or buffalo. Just be glad you live in a city where you get a new stadium every twenty years.
atler8
December 12th, 2012
10:05 am
williebkind
As per normal, just go away please.
JDW
Regarding your 9:15 here, you really ought to get out more.
The “few rich blocks” in Atlanta comment is priceless. Thanks for the laugh!
Morality?
December 12th, 2012
10:06 am
We can complain – we can whine – still Blank is going to get his stadium – Why? “Cause the cartel that runs Atlanta is greedy for their usual kickbacks. As for tourists footing the bill….. I stay 10 miles outside of Atlanta and avoid the absurd motel tax.
oops
December 12th, 2012
10:08 am
Obama is doing a stellar job on national security and defense
North Korea just launched a missile that can hit the US
Good job Obama
What a retard he is
Jay
December 12th, 2012
10:08 am
so they can find the money to build this luxury house, but they can’t find any money to keep the schools open. High school sports teams have to fund raise cash so they can feed their teams at road games, but they can find taxpayer money to build this stadium? What is wrong with you people? And that $300 million taxpayer money is misleading. Do they math. It will be closer to $550 million as I heard on WSB radio two nights ago. Sounds about right to me. Misleading the public. No, no, no, this is a horrible idea. Put that money into our schools and infrastructure. We don’t need a new stadium.
Corbin Sharpe. Baby Boomer...and got the scars to priove it!
December 12th, 2012
10:08 am
Jay, let’s move on from this one…
Bottom line, it doesn’t matter to the work for wages man. he can’t afford to go to the stadium, new or old, on what he makes. All he has is his TV and is only if the game comes on Sunday at 1PM, otherwise he can’t watch the Thursday or Sunday night games because he has to get up early to go to work. Professional football caters to the rich man and the West Coast Set. Why else show two eastern teams playing at 830 at night? And don’t get me started about kids…they too are part of the “working class” with school. Nope…it’s not a working man’s game anymore. College bowl games are the same way, corporate games played too late for the kids and working class. Alabama and Notre dame being the worst. To the working class, night time games have become games of next day highlights.
UNCLE SAMANTHA
December 12th, 2012
10:09 am
An Important Distinction: Democracy versus Republic
It is important to keep in mind the difference between a Democracy and a Republic, as dissimilar forms of government. Understanding the difference is essential to comprehension of the fundamentals involved. It should be noted, in passing, that use of the word Democracy as meaning merely the popular type of government–that is, featuring genuinely free elections by the people periodically–is not helpful in discussing, as here, the difference between alternative and dissimilar forms of a popular government: a Democracy versus a Republic. This double meaning of Democracy–a popular-type government in general, as well as a specific form of popular government–needs to be made clear in any discussion, or writing, regarding this subject, for the sake of sound understanding.
These two forms of government: Democracy and Republic, are not only dissimilar but antithetical, reflecting the sharp contrast between (a) The Majority Unlimited, in a Democracy, lacking any legal safeguard of the rights of The Individual and The Minority, and (b) The Majority Limited, in a Republic under a written Constitution safeguarding the rights of The Individual and The Minority; as we shall now see.
oops
December 12th, 2012
10:09 am
wonder what they’ll do with the GA dome?
dynamite?
Corbin Sharpe. Baby Boomer...and got the scars to priove it!
December 12th, 2012
10:09 am
oops
December 12th, 2012
10:08 am
Please explain to me how this is the Presidents fault.
WrteStufLA
December 12th, 2012
10:10 am
Just put the proposed $300M public “investment” in Arthur Blank’s ego and greed to a public vote. That our politicians refuse to let that happen tells us everything that we need to know.
Erwin's cat
December 12th, 2012
10:11 am
I just booked an outrageous $600/night room for Dragon*Con this year.
Yeah, I’m the hotel tax is responsible for that rate
Doggone/GA
December 12th, 2012
10:11 am
We’re still a domocratic republic. It’s not my fault that writer of that post can’t tell the difference between a philosophy of governing (democracy) and a FORM that governing takes (republic)
TaxPayer
December 12th, 2012
10:13 am
Bring back the gladiators. Republicans are gonna need all the distractions they can get in order to take their minds off their higher income tax bills.
Wutehvah
December 12th, 2012
10:13 am
Say NOPE to the DOPES running this city. Public funds + PSLs = disaster. ATL can’t support PSLs for the Falcons.
How about this.. Instead of cities being held hostage by the NFL to “win” the right to host a Super Bowl, how about rewarding the highest seed team/city to host the game. Or, alternate between leagues each year. Works in ALL other pro sports.
Joe Hussein Mama
December 12th, 2012
10:13 am
Oops — “North Korea just launched a missile that can hit the US
Good job Obama
What a retard he is”
Guess that makes W even more of a retard, since the Norks developed and tested the A-Bomb while he was sitting in the White House.
History is fun-DUH-mental.
The Thin Guy
December 12th, 2012
10:14 am
Minuses: It isn’t needed. Atlanta Fulton County Stadium is perfectly adequate for the Braves and the Falcons. The Omni is adequate for the Hawks. Why have MARTA when the rails for the old streetcar system are buried under the asphalt. We can’t outdo Jerry Jones in Dallas when it comes to absolute extravagant spending of moola for no reason.
Pluses: It will provide shovel ready jobs. It will enable Atlanta to land future Super Bowls which generate revenue. But the biggest plus of all it will irritate Jay Bookman and his Midtown Moonbats.
UNCLE SAMANTHA
December 12th, 2012
10:15 am
Benjamin Franklin defined democracy as two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.