Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Close to Home — What it’s like on the street where you live
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
You will get hoodwinked on San Diego stadium costs
A couple of thoughts. First, while in theory, hotel/motel tax money could go towards other "worthy projects", that doesn't change the fact that it is not a new tax, as the commenter I was replying to stated. Second, as for spending that money on other worthy projects instead, actually it can't be spent on other projects. Atlanta has a 15 percent tax for a night's stay at Atlanta hotels. The first 7 percent currently goes to the city toward retiring debt on the Georgia Dome; and to the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Georgia World Congress Center to try to attract more conventions and visitors. The remaining 8 percent is a sales tax. That's the way is set up and the money actually can't be used for any other purposes.— December 11, 2012 12:46 p.m.
You will get hoodwinked on San Diego stadium costs
But can't you take advantage of something's popularity while at the same time not screw the public?? As for a corporations responsibility to the community, I disagree slightly. I think a corporation should, and I emphasize should, have a symbiotic relationship with their employees, vendors, customers. As for their responsibility to the community, I think they have certain, for lack of a better term, legal responsibilities, Safety, environmental, paying their taxes, that kind of stuff. However, I don't believe that corporations are or should be required to have what I will refer to as "moral" obligations to their community. That said, it doesn't mean that I don't wish more corporations were morally responsible, I just don't think that the government should be in the business of legislating morality, on any level. In regard to stadium/ballpark scams, you left out one critical opponent, the voting public. My own personal opinion is that anyone who falls for it, and votes to give huge, outrageous sums of money for a stadium to be built deserves what they get.— December 11, 2012 12:16 p.m.
You will get hoodwinked on San Diego stadium costs
And if you were they owner of something that was the nation's favorite, say the favorite newspaper, wouldn't you take advantage also?— December 11, 2012 9:35 a.m.
You will get hoodwinked on San Diego stadium costs
Don Bauder, Let me ask you a question. You quote Fabio as saying " “The average [public] subsidy in the [National Football League] is about 65 percent of the cost of a stadium,”. You then go on to declare him wrong, citing a book,"Public/Private Partnerships for Major League Sports Facilities", that says for the 121 venues in use during 2010, the public picked up 78 percent of the tab. Isn't that apples and oranges? Obviously, the NFL didn't play in 121 stadiums. I read it to be referring to ALL of the venues used for major league sports, which, in addition to football, would be baseball, basketball and hockey. So the question is, from that book, what is the percentage over that period for strictly NFL stadiums? Putting whether Fabio was correct or not aside, isn't it just a tad bit disingenuous to calling him wrong when your using a completely different data set? Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I agree with Fabio. The fact is I don't know. But comparing only NFL stadiums vs ALL major league sports venues doesn't really seem to be a valid comparison. Just my opinion. Opinions vary.— December 11, 2012 9:32 a.m.
You will get hoodwinked on San Diego stadium costs
"The Trend is downward in terms of percent being financed by the Public. The vikings and colts got much more public money that the Giants/Jets or 49ers by percent" ??????????????????? Where do you get this stuff from. MetLife Stadium was privately financed. The Jets and Giants basically split the $1.6 billion cost, excluding the loan from the NFL. The 49'ers got $850 million from Santa Clara for their stadium. That is MOST of the projected construction cost, although the 49'ers have a $200 million dollar loan from the NFL, should they need it. That's at least 85%+ public financing. Lucas Oil Stadium didn't even cost that much to build, only $720 million and the Colts put in $125 million, so that's about 83% public financing. And the Vikings new stadium is projected to cost $975 million and the Vikings are only paying about $475 million towards it, less than 50%. The rest, expected to be AT LEAST $500 million, will come from the public. However, since the design hasn't even been finalized,construction is nor expected to start until October 2013 at the earliest. So tell me again, how is it that the Vikings and Colts got "much more public money" by percentage?— December 11, 2012 9:04 a.m.
Foreclosure ends
Do you mean that he was renting the house, or that he was renting out the house?— December 11, 2012 8:19 a.m.
You will get hoodwinked on San Diego stadium costs
Don Bauder, I think you are wrong. In a 2008 Harris poll, 30% of respondents said that pro football is their favorite sport That was more double the amount of the number 2 sport, baseball. Harris has been conducting this poll since 1985 and pro football has been number one every year. I don't think the public wants to "believe the game is clean". I believe, and have for a very long time, that the public really just doesn't care one way or another. Just my opinion. Opinions vary.— December 11, 2012 8:07 a.m.
You will get hoodwinked on San Diego stadium costs
??????? I don't know and I don't care whether or not Atlanta gets a new Stadium. I was pointing out 2 things. 1. It's not even close to a done deal, in literal terms, thought a new stadium may be a fait accompli long before the legislative process is completed, and 2. the $300 million figure being used will come from bonds paid for by an existing hotel-motel tax. The new stadium is projected to cost about a billion dollars with about $300 million of it from hotel-motel taxes. If those projections prove accurate, the Falcons would be committed to cover about $700 million, minus whatever is generated from PSLs. The team would be eligible for up to $200 million in loans and grants from the NFL and also could raise money by selling naming rights.— December 11, 2012 8:01 a.m.
You will get hoodwinked on San Diego stadium costs
"Who is saying no to the NFL- no one. Same with MLB." Baseball has essentially had an anti-trust exemption since the National League joined with the American League in 1903. The first challenge was around 1915 I believe. SCOTUS had a chance to make a change in 1972, but they took the easy way out by saying that it was up to Congress to make that change. BTW, if you want to read something interesting, look up American Needle, Inc. v. National Football League.— December 11, 2012 12:05 a.m.
You will get hoodwinked on San Diego stadium costs
The NFL has had an anti-trust exemption for over 50 yrs. There have been a few attempts to pass legislation to repeal the exemption, but they have gone nowhere. The most recent was last year, but the House Judiciary Committee wouldn't even take up the proposal— December 10, 2012 10:32 p.m.