A friend of ours came back from a business trip and told us that Omaha rocks. It's got a lively downtown, a developed waterfront and a refreshing sense of community.
All this despite the fact that the city has no major league sports teams.
I'm going to vote no on this referendum to raise taxes to spend half a billion on stadium improvements, and I'm going to cross my fingers and hope that the cheifs and the Royals pack up and leave. KC will be a much better place.
Here's some more righteous grassroots propaganda.
For once in our lives we've got to tell these corrupt, clubby Democrats to stop raising our taxes every freakin' April for their "Big Visions" that don't fit in with what Kansas City obviously wants to be.
Sure, folks want to go to Chiefs games. And they're willing to pay out the nose to do it. Seems like a viable business to me. How 'bout these business owners bo what business folks do: Make an investment to earn some more.
Yeah, we've got this downtown arena coming. Not much we can do about that. Stiill, the fact is that Kansas Citians don't want to go downtown. We want the sidewalks around our houses to be smooth, the roads pothole free. We want our backyards to not flood and our sewers to not leak stench into the summer air.
Sure, let's give incentives to economic development. But lets put them in distressed areas that the market is actually interested in embracing. Not sure-bet places like Zona Rosa up north of the river, but areas that are a little riskier, like the St. John corridor, Troost from 31st to Cleaver II, yet still potentially viable. I'm talkin' micro loans for mom and pops that want to offer good products and services near the places where we live. Not major condo developments. Just a little fertilizer to enhance what'll grow organically.
Our so-called leaders are so freakin' stupid and arrogant.
Half a billion would make a pretty good dent in our $1.5 billion worth of unfinished infrastructure chores.
But our Democratic leaders want to give us bread and circuses. And give boatloads of unearned cash to people who are already filthy rich.
VOTE NO!
A Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year
A Publisher's Weekly Best Book of the Year
One of Kansas City Star's 100 Noteworthy Books of the Year
Winner of the William Rockhill Nelson Award for Nonfiction
Winner of the Harry Chapin Media Award
. . .
Forget the nerdy reputation that debate has. Instead think of a scenario as exciting as a sports game with high stakes like triumphing over racism. bad politics and abject poverty... An important, thoughtful and provocative look at race and class in America.
- The Boston Globe
Joe Miller's enthusiasm is infectious and the plot creates the suspense of a good courtroom thriller.
- Entertainment Weekly
The minute I finished Joe Miller's Cross-X, I held the book out in front of me -- amazed, rapturous, and hopeful... Miller's mesmerizing, vivid accounts of the debates will leave you crouched in your seat, holding your breath... An incredibly powerful, daringly hopeful book.
- Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Irresistible... Miller begins breezily but is soon deeply invested in the Central squad's mission to not only master the debate game on its own terms but revolutionize it with flashes of poetry and hip-hop wordplay... If all these kids could run things, Miller implies, imagine what could get done.
- Elle
1 comment:
Joe, the proposed leases call for more than $1 billion to be spent on the stadiums over 25 years. All but $100 million are from public funds.
--New sales tax for construction, interest on bonds and ongoing future renovations: $850,000,000 (at 1 percent annual sales growth)
--New use tax for roof: $170,000,000
--New state tax credits: $50,000,000
Teams' construction expense (non tax): $100,000,000
--Team rents (non tax, but public money): $67,500,000
--Jackson County maintenance subsidy (from property tax at $3.5 million per year): $87,500,000 (although the first $50 million goes toward paying off old bonds).
--Kansas City maintenance subsidy (from city collections at $2 million per year): $50,000,000
--State maintenance subsidy (from state taxes continues at $3 million per year): $75,000,000
--Total take: $1.45 billion.
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