Gary Hoover wrote:
1. Raising a new tax for a new stadium is immoral when we do not first
address basic needs.
There it is. Scarcity. We can do BOTH.
3. Raising a new and regressive tax to pay for a new stadium is like...
a large and dysfunctional family with lots of money sloshing
around refusing to meet the needs of children, elders, and vulnerable
family members.
When are regressive taxes ok? Is a sales tax for public transportation
ok? How about the gas tax for roads?
Corporate CEOs wreck companies but bail out with golden parachutes while
workers lose pensions.
Politicians use one office to catapult themselves into higher office or
cushy private sector jobs while hiding the truth that local, state, and
national governments borrow us into bankruptcy.
Are you willing to work with corporate CEOs and politicians to get
things done?
can do great things if we want to. Doing great things would mean using
tax dollars for renewable energy, sustainable transportation, and local
farm-to-market projects. This would do far more for our economy and
environment than a new stadium.
I want to see our revenues go to renewable energy. I also don't mind
if they go to a stadium. I don't see a dichotomy in this. In fact they
can be complementary. The Metrodome has introduced a whole host of
suburban families to great public transportation.
I believe we can and must raise taxes progressively.
Again, which taxes are ok? Is it ok to tax clothing?
Until we are willing to use _our_ form of government, to shape
things according to _our_ values and vision by using the political
structures that already exist, we will lose. <<<<<
Gary H. replies:
The institutions of our culture are far too resistant to change to make
meaningful political conversation possible.
That is downright false. I know it is false because of what I
experienced this session. People _want_ change once they really get
it in their gut what they are angry about. A lot of people are upset
with politics. They just don't know why.
However, who can see the outcomes of various forms of
political and cultural activism?
I can. I raised $1.8 billion for public transportation in the House
and Senate this year.
David Greene
The Wedge
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