Stupid Solutions for a Simple Problem

Ladies and gentlemen, Mayor Bart Peterson looks like a fool, the House Republicans are trying to make him look like a bigger fool, and will try to take the citizens of this state as fools as well. All of this fooling around is due to the failure to secure funding for a new stadium to house the Indianapolis Colts. Late last year, Mayor Peterson and Colts owner Jim Irsay announced they had a deal to keep the Colts in town for 30 years. Money for this would come from a downtown casino, which has to go through the legislature. Looks like Peterson forgot to talk with the General Assembly about it.

New House Speaker Brian Bosma said that there would be no new downtown casino on his watch, because of the moral reprecussions, more or less. That led two prominent Republican lawmakers Reps. Mike Murphy of Indianapolis, and Luke Messer, to offer alternatives. They looked to expand the gaming at the state's two horse tracks in Anderson and Shelbyville. Those proposals failed to get out of committee or generate any support.

Upon the failures to get any type of gaming going, now it looks like Murphy wants to penalize those that commute to Indianapolis for work. People like myself, would be facing double taxation and taxation without representation. The money would be removed from my paycheck, like my county taxes (double taxation), and then be used in Marion County, where I don't live (taxation without representation).

Irsay should be taking a page from his neighbors to the north, the Green Bay Packers. In 1997, they sold shares of non-voting stock for $200 apiece in an effort to raise funds for renovations to Lambeau Field. The team raised $80 million in a month. Imagine the possibilities, Irsay sells say, 1 million shares, similar price, BAM!! $200 million for a new stadium's construction! No tax increases, no gambling, no welfare for a multimillionaire, all privately financed! Scary proposition, the free market working!! It's not fair for the gun to be put to taxpayers' heads to finance a private entity. That's a simple libertarian solution that won't affect the lives of people that don't want to pay for a new stadium. For more ideas like this, click some of the links on the right.