[Mpls] Carl Pohlad's "Contribution"

[Tim Bonham]

>I'm somewhat of an agnostic on the stadium deal, but the more I read about
>it the more I'm annoyed with how it's being spun in the media.  My biggest
>annoyance?  Carl Pohlad's "contribution" of $125m.
         Another question on this: will Carl's "contribution" be a 
donation, and thus deductible on his taxes?  (Like business contributions 
to Olympics, etc. have been.)  In that case, it isn't really much of a 
"contribution" at all -- just payment of money that he would otherwise pay 
in taxes.

So if Carl deducts that from his taxes, it means the rest of us pay more 
taxes to make that up.  Or suffer a loss in services, due to the government 
'revenue shortfall'.

So Carl gets to claim he is making a contribution, but actually deducts 
that on the back end.  And he gets the naming rights, so he makes a profit 
of about $50-60 million on the deal.  Plus the increase ini value of his 
team from the new stadium, and the increased revenue from it.
         No wonder a guy this cunning is the richest man in Minnesota!

Tim Bonham, Ward 12, Standish-Ericsson