They might as well be filming a new Cap 1 commercial with the Vikings (This time the Minnesota variety) in LA because that is the only way they will get a new Stadium.

The perhaps largest public radio network in the country other than NPR is *Minnesota* Public Radio.

Other than that silly quibble, nice summary. Opposition/indifference to the deal runs pretty deep among the general population in Ramsey County. There are of course those who support it, but really the support is coming almost entirely from politicians (some of whom are personal friends of mine) who have been relentlessly lobbied for over a decade.

For me personally it would mean at least $50/year in extra costs for my family to help subsidize a business I do not use. And I am a huge NFL fan! Just one who follows online and doesn't find going to games worth the cost.

There are plenty of better businesses to hand out $300-800 million to if you want to subsidize some business on the taxpayer dime.

The perhaps largest public radio network in the country other than NPR is *Minnesota* Public Radio.

Other than that silly quibble, nice summary. Opposition/indifference to the deal runs pretty deep among the general population in Ramsey County. There are of course those who support it, but really the support is coming almost entirely from politicians (some of whom are personal friends of mine) who have been relentlessly lobbied for over a decade.

For me personally it would mean at least $50/year in extra costs for my family to help subsidize a business I do not use. And I am a huge NFL fan! Just one who follows online and doesn't find going to games worth the cost.

There are plenty of better businesses to hand out $300-800 million to if you want to subsidize some business on the taxpayer dime.

I think this forum was an excellent idea. Were County elected officials allowed to speak? They shouldn't have been allowed to speak, but they should have been forced to listen.

Who organized this event?

When Think Big, Sacramento announced its schedule, they stated that the public would be invited to attend. After that first meeting, though, they changed their minds, and all meetings after that point were closed to the public.

After the first meeting, I think they decided that, yeah, listening to public input wasn't such a good idea after all.

I don't think there's any way our City Council would go along with a forum like this.

they are all weirdos

I am getting really sick and tired of teachers / teacher folk complaining about money. It's just never enough with them. And spare me "it's for the children" rhetoric. Make with what you have. With today's technological advantages, there is no reason why test scores should be lower than in the past.

Apologies to MPR for getting their name wrong - I've been on their shows like a dozen times, too...

Downtown Saint Paul would be a great stadium location.

Mark-
You do realize "test scores" are higher than ever before? Our children are much much better educated than they were in the past, and we educate more of them too. They are also better behaved (despite what you hear). People just love to be all doom and gloom about the children.

But read some social commentary from the Roman Republic and you will find that in 100bc everyone was decrying the failure of the educational system and the ill nature, poor taste, and bad behavior on the next generation. Oh how things were better back in 200bc! Of course in 200bc they were saying the same thing!

As far as teacher pay...some other countries do have better systems than we do, but they also invest more resources in education. Particularly in the US a teacher is a relatively low paying job for someone with a college degree. In Scandinavia and the Asian tigers it is a relatively high paying job for someone with a college degree. Of course overall incomes are somewhat lower in those countries, so the actual pay in absolute terms is roughly the same.

Really the US education system "struggles" because we have a lot of poor people. Poor people from crappy backgrounds are hard to educate. Sweden doesn't have a couple thousand Hmong and Somali kids to educate like a the school district in Minneapolis does.

If you don't count the inner city minorities and immigrants the US educational system compares very well to the best ones in the world. And our colleges are absolutely the best in the world.

@MikeM, none of the elected county officials trying to push this tax increase through showed up to the public hearing. Not even Tony Bennett, who is the champion of this proposal at the county level. Apparently, be doesn't value the opinions of his constituents enough to listen, and actually best what they are saying, which is "no to a stadium tax".

Wow the parallels are striking.
There were 2 town hall meetings held on the north side of Santa Clara to discuss the proposed 49ers stadium and its environmental effects. All city council members were invited. None of the 5 pro-stadium city council members showed up to speak/listen at either of the town hall meetings. They do not want to hear any voices of opposition.

We did have a ballot measure for our proposed, and it was manipulated to not disclose the stadium costs other than $40 million in redevelopment money. Essentially the ballot measure was nothing more than an advertisement for the stadium, written by the pro-stadium campaign, paid for by $5 million of the team owner's money.

Good luck to Ramsey County.

Off-topic contribution to the "Bizarre Coincidences" department: Read this post yesterday, then last night stumbled upon an episode of "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" wherein Mr. Donatelle's restaurant was featured.

Just weird, that's all.

Question for any who have a problem putting more funds to education: So the money should be "thrown away" on stadium expenditures instead?

Yes SCT, the pro-stadium council members were completely gutless no absent themselves from the two town meetings preceding the election in the stadium's zip code 95054.

Later the stadium "debate" at the Muslim Community center between pro and con council members a few weeks prior to the election the then mayor Mahon didn't even display the courtesy to to listen to citizen comments afterward...pretending to type into her laptop while they spoke into the microphone...Just unbelievable.

I am getting really sick and tired of football owner/player folk complaining about money. It's just never enough with them. And spare me "it's for the community that we need a football team" rhetoric. Make with what you have. With today's technological advantages and increased exposure, you're making much more than in the past.

I really love your blog, it is very informative. Keep up the good work!!