15 November 2006

Welfare for the Wealthy

Government sponsored and financed athletic complexes are welfare for the wealthy. Virtually anyone can be a success in business if they have someone else paying their start-up costs and rent. Stadiums are simply a modern day method for local governments and their wealthy friends to loot the citizens. Through taxation we are forced to pay the start-up costs of a private business. We pay for the land, the building and the maintenance while the owners profit and only a small group gets to enjoy the activity benefits. In other words, government will force us to support someone else's business or hobby without regard for what we might otherwise have used our hard-earned money for: to pay our bills, save for our retirement or our children's college, start our own business, or just engage in a hobby of our own choice.

Mayor Oscar Goodman has recently revived an initiative to bring a professional sports franchise to Las Vegas, NV. One possible candidate is the Sacramento Kings. What if the Kings' owner, the Maloof brothers who own the Palms casino, wanted us to pay for their new stadium? To see if this would be a good deal for the us, we would have to know what the benefits and costs would be. Will it be a fair trade or will it favor a small group? Is it even a proper function of government?

The benefits would be extremely lopsided in the favor of the owners. They would have a new sports facility to use and luxury sky-boxes to give to friends and politicians at no cost to them. They would not even have much incentive to stay in Las Vegas due to their lack of capital investment. It doesn't cost much to move a franchise if one doesn't have to pay for the facilities. All they have to do is change their name to the next city that hires them. It will favor the politicians due to all the graft and favors they will be able to garner from it. A few people will get some seasonal minimum wage work, and the rest of us will have the satisfaction of knowing there is a professional sports franchise in Las Vegas whether we like it or not. And a few fans will get to indulge in their favorite hobby, never mind that others - you and I - are paying dearly for their pleasure.

The costs are also socially and financially devastating. Oscar Goodman - our government cheerleader - will use eminent domain to obtain the land necessary to build the sports arena. He will buy the land using our tax dollars to benefit a private entity. To pay for the land, building and maintenance of the project, the government will have to use tax dollars raised by higher government fees and higher property, sales and corporate taxes. Both individuals and corporations will have less in their pockets than before. Those who are taxed will not be able to use the money they earned in a way that benefits themselves or their families. Government stadiums will destroy neighborhoods by uprooting families and forcing them to move. This creates unnecessary hardships on innocent people who must go through the burden of moving, finding a new home and the aggravation of getting financing. There will be a loss of jobs in local community businesses that served the homes and families who were unjustly evicted. And when the team moves, they will take the franchise to a new city, leaving us with a useless, tax-sucking albatross around our necks. All of this will lead to ill-will and deep divisions within our community.

I've weighed the benefits against the costs of a taxpayer financed sport arena upon the community and have concluded that building one would be a crime against the people. The financial and social costs are plainly too high, and the benefits are obviously too lopsided. When I exchange my money for something, I want to benefit from the exchange. In this case, not only do I get no benefit, but I get all of the responsibility of paying. The owners, the politicians and a few fans get all of the benefits without any real responsibility because they dump the costs on me. So, is this a "Deal or No Deal"? I vote No Deal!

Carville Lives?

Has anyone seen James Carville recently? I saw him on CNN the other day, and he is not aging well. I would swear he looks like a demon. James Carville is a top strategist for the Democratic party and was one of the master-minds behind Clinton's presidential campaingn.

Interest Rate Oddity

Anyone shocked by interest rates? You should be because the 2yr. treasury note is higher @ 4.82% than the 30yr @ 4.71%. Since when is there more risk going out 2 years than 30 years. When the risk at the shorter end of the interest rates is greater than the longer end; it's called an inversion. When an inversion occurs, it's an omen for economic problems to come.

National Debt

The National debt has never fallen, even under Clinton. Proof can be found at the US Treasury website. Currently the debt stands at 8.6 trillion dollars. The US government would not be able to run such an excessive debt if it were not for the Federal Reserve. The "Fed" alone is responsible for printing worthless paper (fiat) currency. The result of this excessive creation of money is inflation. Inflation leads to higher prices, and higher prices lead to a reduction in our standard of living. That's right, the government is the source of inflation - not business, not me, and not you or anyone else. Please read my "Common Sense" article on Inflation on my Writings page for more details.

Democracy versus Republic

One hears it in the media and from our elected representatives that the United States is a Democracy. I am here to inform you that we are not a Democracy. We are a Republic. The founding fathers of our great Republic abhored democracy. Thomas Jefferson sums up their feeling with his quote, "a democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where 51% of the people may take away the rights of the other 49%." There is more proof. They despised democracy so much the word can not be found anywhere in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution. A republic is a form of government based on the rule of law and the sanctity of private property, which ensures the rights of everyone. A democracy is a free-for-all where the majority rules and there is no law to protect anyone. In essence democracy is jungle law, which will lead to chaos. I don't know about you but I will not vote for someone who says we have a democratic form of government.

Featured Quote

"Government doesn't work. It doesn't keep the cities safe, it doesn't educate our children properly, it doesn't deliver the mail on time. Why should we think this incompetent institution is the solution for the next social problem that will be raised?" - Harry Browne

(other articles are archived on my Writings page.)

Rebecca Iocca

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