This morning’s headline (page C2 - sports) reads, "Ballard, other mayors urge end to NBA lockout." They’re sending a letter to the NBA owners and players asking for an end to the lockout "...to avoid economic problems in the cities."
Mr. Mayor, you apparently have not noticed that the NBA itself is an economic problem for cities where the political leadership is prone to accept all forms of professional sports extortion. Like Indianapolis, for instance.
And the paper says, "...the NBA lockout is also affecting the livelihood of restaurant owners, wait staff, parking attendants...and we believe their voices should be heard as well."
Well, we have a question for you Mr. Mayor - you and your fellow Santa Clauses. When are you going to start thinking about your taxpaying citizens? These are the people who, by their direct subsidy of the millionaires of the NBA - owners and players alike - are also indirectly subsidizing the "others in our cities" who are hurt by the lockout.
We feel for those folks who actually work for their meager pay, as opposed to the guys who get paid millions for playing a few games a year. But it is the deals made by greedy politicians who put them in the position of having to depend on those millionaire whims. And if those high rollers don’t give a damn about the other folks mayor, it certainly is your job to do so.
We’re still going to give the local bandits another ten million tax dollars, even if they never lace up their shoes for a single game this season. This is most certainly NOT what we mean by doing your job!
Meanwhile, on page A12 of the same morning paper, the editorial is headed,"Libraries, buses get a little help. " The "help" will leave IndyGo having to appeal to the state legislature for another $1.8 million in property tax revenues. And we’re told the libraries will get an additional $150,000 out of a pot of $250,000,000. Boy! Talk about an early Christmas!! Sure hope they don’t spend it all in one place!!!
A recent headline in the paper referred to the mayoral candidates facing a "tight budget" year. Has anyone asked the candidates how they view this NBA fiasco of logic and economics? Our hope would have been to see a headline in this morning’s paper reading, "Ballard, other mayors urge end to NBA."
Occupy Georgia Street folks, where are you?
Was watching the national news tonight, which included a brief report on the "war chests" of the potential candidates in the presidential race for 2012, and I couldn't help but wonder in how many ways those millions upon millions of dollars could be better spent. The reigning money man, of course, is the incumbent, who has an obscene amount of money already and is expected to raise - and SPEND - several times that.
I can only hope that come this year's elections, well before 2012, the taxpayers choose to throw out everyone who has been using our money as if it were his or her own. If, as you put it, they want to play Santa Claus, let them do it with money from their own pockets and not mine.
Posted by: Leslie Baker | October 15, 2011 at 08:06 PM