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Build a stadium and Chargers will stay? Nope.
Sorry for an off-topic post, but I would like to extend my condolences, thoughts and prayers to the Seau family. RIP Junior.— May 2, 2012 2:31 p.m.
Build a stadium and Chargers will stay? Nope.
I don't think this is a case of all different groups selectively choosing numbers. There is a clear consensus amongst the academic economists studying stadia subsidies: The economic benefits of taxpayer-subsidized stadia are almost always vastly exagerated. You can look on fieldofschemes.com for many examples. Maybe no group is truly unbiassed but the academic economists would be the closest thing to objective analysists. The sports teams have a clear incentive to tilt the analyses in favor of the subsidies. The political leaders receive large campaign donations from the team owners and their networks of supporters. The consultant groups hired to produce analyses clearly have a strong incentive to produce reports which favor those who are paying their fees. But fundamentally this all comes down to common sense. YOU CAN'T GET SOMETHING FOR NOTHING. Tax money spent for the stadium goes to the owners, players, and sports leagues. This money doesn't magically come back to the taxpayers. Tax money spent for the stadium either comes from higher taxes or by taking money from city services like police, fire, parks, road repair.— May 2, 2012 11:10 a.m.
Timothy Alan Simon: Commissioner with a Past
Not that it would ever happen - but It would be amusing if intelligence tests of political leaders and senior execs of fortune 500 companies were somehow released. Even NFL football players have to (well sort of) take the Wonderlic intelligence test.— April 28, 2012 9:07 a.m.
U-T Saw Ryan Leaf as a Savior
Yes, I agree that Matt Bush was chosen because Moores didn't want to pay a big enough signing bonus (apparently a distaste for agent Scott Boras was a factor as well). In my opinion this decision broke promises made by the Padres to put a competitive team on the field if a new stadium was built. Maybe explicit promises weren't made per se to maintain a competitive team but I think it was strongy implied during the Prop C campaign.— April 24, 2012 5:58 p.m.
U-T Saw Ryan Leaf as a Savior
I like the Chargers and I hope they stay in San Diego. I just think it's grossly inappropriate to spend any taxpayer dollars to build a statium for the Chargers - or any other sports team. Municipal government spending should be for things that benefit many people - schools, police, fire - or things that benefit the needy.— April 23, 2012 10:26 a.m.
U-T Saw Ryan Leaf as a Savior
In another slightly off-topic post: So apparently the MN legislature caved in to Goodell's threats/bribes/schoomzing/who knows what else. Vikings will get their taxpayer subsidy. I wonder what effect this has on the Chargers - most likely AEG will sweeten their offer for the Chargers move to L.A. Or maybe AEG will delay building the L.A. stadium?— April 21, 2012 4:05 p.m.
U-T Saw Ryan Leaf as a Savior
This post might not be a direct response to the column but it's something I want to express. Sadly, I don't think Ryan Leaf is the worst recent draft bust by a San Diego team. I think Matt Bush was a bigger bust. The Padres #1 pick Matt Bush has turned out to be a big disappointment as a baseball player and an even bigger disappointment as a human being. I think Bush's crimes and string of DUI's show a callous disregard for human life, whereas Leaf seems to be more an irresponsible drug addict who cannot control his addictions. At the time of the draft, Ryan Leaf was considered a good pick by many - there was even some debate in the media regarding whether Leaf or Peyton Manning would be a better choice for the Colts #1 pick. In contrast, at the time of Bush's draft, Bush was not considered the best prospect - but was considered to be more affordable than some of the other top choices. So my view is that with Leaf, the Chargers made a big mistake - but at least they were TRYING TO WIN. With Bush, despite the claims of Prop. C propoganda the Padres were not willing (and/or able) to spend money to be competitive. The Padres were NOT EVEN TRYING TO WIN. Per wikipedia's analysis, " The Padres' selection of Bush in 2004 was controversial from the start. Justin Verlander, Jeff Niemann, Stephen Drew, and Jered Weaver were considered the top talents in the draft, but San Diego did not want to pay the premium bonus any of them would command as the top overall choice.[citation needed] Instead, they decided to take Bush, who was a talented high school senior from the San Diego area, but in no way near the prospect as the other candidates. The Padres' decision to bypass the top several prospects was widely criticized by baseball experts and fans in San Diego and nationwide"— April 19, 2012 10:01 a.m.
Disabilities Act Lawyer Suspended Temporarily
BTW Senator Feinstein has formally requested that the CA legislature put an end to this ADA lawsuit scam. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/… However, I think the trial lawyers have a lot more say in gov't than small business owners - so doesn't seem likely.— April 5, 2012 9:35 p.m.
Why San Diegans like Ron Paul
OK, so I personally wouldn't go as far as Paul in terms of removing regulatory agencies and social programs. We do need some things regulated and I do think a lot of people need some assistance from the government at some point. But Paul is the only major candidate who is serious about responsible spending, respecting individual liberty, and compliance with the U.S. Constitution. With any of the other candidates from either major party I can be sure to see a continued erosion in personal liberties (more invasive TSA, etc), unjustified and unnecessary wars, continued transfer of wealth from main street to wealthy Wall Street firms, escalation of debt and series of financial bubbles.— April 5, 2012 9:29 p.m.
San Diego's redevelopment pigs want back at the trough
Here's some wild speculation I was thinking about yesterday: Does Magic Johnson know something everyone else doesn't? As was reported, Magic's group offered about 2.1B for the Dodgers - far more than was expected. Could it be that the Dodgers' value is set to increase with some sort of taxpayer-funded redevelopment? Total speculation on my part, but given how much taxpayer money can increase the value of the sports franchise I wonder if this was part of that decision process.— March 29, 2012 10:49 a.m.