I don't understand the difficulty with getting a Vikings stadium built. I am not a political man, so maybe I'm missing something here, but it just doesn't make sense to me. Here are my reasons why I think the stadium should get built.
I heard Lester Bagley on KFAN the other day claiming that the since the Metrodome has been built the state of Minnesota has received nearly 300 million dollars in income tax. So that alone is reason enough to build a stadium to keep the Vikings here.
What about the supplemental revenue streams. What happens to the revenue from parking, and an extra 60,000 people downtown 10 times a year. This money goes to the state, or private business owners that benefit from having a professional football team in town. Look at what the Twins stadium has done for the warehouse district. It's completely revitalized it. Let the Vikings stadium do that for the other side of downtown. You're not just building a stadium anymore you're building a community. These stadiums create jobs. Not just in the building of the stadium, but throughout the entire area.
The proposed plan was strictly "user fees" meaning it didn't affect the average person one bit. So how can you be opposed to that? What I've heard is that the republicans won't allow any law to pass that raises taxes or adds a user fee regardless of what it's for. Well they didn't have a problem taxing tobacco did they?
What I think is we have a bunch of hypocrites in office that can't get anything done. What happens when the Vikings leave? We don't want to build a stadium for billionaires? That is how our country works, we all benefit from the rich. It's a free market so this is nothing new. We can simply build a racino and solve a handful of problems, but we don't want the tribes to cut off they're spending through lobbying and donations. Well tell them to build the damn stadium then, because for some reason such a small percentage of our population has such a big say in what we can and can't do.
I am going to write a letter to my representatives voicing my displeasure. I'm going to tell them that if the Viking leave they better come up with something that is going to have my complete attention 20 Sunday's a year.
