[Mpls] A false economic base for Mpls

[rhalfhill at juno.com]

David: 
   I've noticed that the Progressive Calendar has not only notices of specific events but also articles of more general interest.  Do the articles have to be from national publications?  If not, my reply to Mark Snyder on stadium financing and an article I wrote on medicinal marijuana might be appropriate?
   Please notify me if these submissions are not suitable for the Calendar so I can avoid wasting both your and my time by submitting them.
   Robert Halfhill


   In reply to Mark Snyder, the Twins, as well as the Vikings, are private businesses.  What is the justification for Minneapolis continually showing money at private businesses?
   I once said that if Minneapolis is going to be giving money to private individuals, the could giveit to me and I would be happy to build a stadium, hire a management team to make it profitable and live off the profits.  The person I was talking to said, "Do you deserve it?"  But he totally missed my point.  Why should the City be handing out money to support the private businesses of an individuals?  People aautomatically assume that Karl Pohlad deserves it because he has made a lot of money.  If he has made a lot of money, why is the City taking public tax monies to give him more money?  My point was that not just I but everybody in Minneapolis deserves the money as least as much as Karl Pohlad if the City is going to besprinkling largesse onto private individuals.  In fact, nearly everybody in Minneapolis deserves it MORE than Karl Pohlad because he already has more money than most of us and we NEED it more.  And taking this logic further, homeless people in Minneapolis NEED and therefore DESERVE it more than most of us.
   The City's taking public tax monies levied from all of us to build stadiums for billionaire team owners and their millionaire employees is Robin Hood in reverse, taking from the poor to give to the rich.  It is also welfare for the rich and socialism for the rich.
   The same criticism applies to the City using public tax money to subsidize luxury housing developments for the rich, exclusive shopping centers and high rent office buildings.
   There is a legitimate place for tax increment financing if the City REALLY used the profits from the high end developments to finance affordable housing.  And by affordable I mean AFFORDABLE.  There are people who have only the minimum social security grant plus supplementation from Minnesota Supplemental Aid and food stamps, around $700.00 to $800.00 a month to live on and these people need housing too.  If the City used the extra tax money brought in by a tax increment district to compleatly subsidize the construction cost, te City could build housing that these people could afford.  An extra revenue from tax increment can even be used to build housing for people who are now homeless by subsidizing not only the construction cost but the operating expenses of the building that can house these people.
   And by the way, mix the housing for different income levels together so we don't have ghettos for the formerly homeless and welfare recipients.
     Robert Halfhill   Loring Park
http://halfhillviews.greatnow.com

http://www.thepen.us/e-fraud.html