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CONVENTIONAL WISDOM?
July 9, 2006 -
July 16, 2006
The proposed new convention center for downtown Nashville hasn’t received a lot of media attention lately, but that does not mean the proposal has died. Advocates have simply gone underground to line up stealth support for the half billion dollar boondoggle.
The plan for a new convention facility, to be placed south of Broadway, was announced with great fanfare in February. But devilish details threatened to derail it before the public relations campaign was fully underway. The announced price tag for the project was a “mere” $455 million. But it immediately became clear that half a billion dollars was more in the ballpark. After all, when was the last time a project purchased with taxpayer dollars came in at the budgeted amount?
We also learned that the plan did not include a connected hotel, and that another $250 million or so in taxpayer money might be necessary to add that crucial component. That brings the actual cost to about three quarters of a billion dollars. And what happens to the existing convention center, which taxpayers have nearly completed paying for and which we have been operating at a loss of millions of dollars a year for a couple of decades? Will it suddenly become profitable when a gleaming new half billion dollar facility is just up the street? Or will it become another white elephant like the Municipal Auditorium?
Advocates of the new convention center promise that it will create jobs. Jobs? Oh, they must mean the construction labor to build the facility and the hotel and restaurant jobs that will be created to handle the influx of tourists coming to conventions once it opens. But aren’t those the same jobs we are told that “Americans won’t do”, and which millions of illegal aliens have flooded here to perform? Nashville taxpayers, and our guests, are expected to spend three quarters of a billion dollars to create jobs for illegal aliens?!?! I am not sure what is more disturbing about this scheme: the fact that it is so absurd, or that so many so-called community leaders are embracing the idea without putting any thought into what they are actually supporting.
Proponents have also promised “economic revitalization.” The vacant lots and empty buildings that sit north and west of the current convention center have apparently escaped their attention. Owners of the vacant lots and empty buildings in the proposed site of the new convention center will appreciate taxpayers paying a premium for their property. But shouldn’t taxpayers’ interests be more important than allowing a few well-connected land barons to profit in the name of “public interest”?
Nashville taxpayers have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build expensive showplaces like the LP Field and Gaylord Entertainment Center for multi-millionaires like Bud Adams and Craig Leipold to use as personal profit centers. If downtown businesses and land owners want more “revitalization”, it is time for them to put their own money into the game instead of always looking to taxpayers.
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THE TENNESSEE INCOME TAX ISSUE IS "DEAD?" -
June 6, 2006 -
June 12, 2006
A Tennessee income tax is not on the ballot this year, but the prime proponent of a state income tax IS back on the ballot. Former State Senator Bob Rochelle, who lead the fight for the income tax and later (after he decided he couldn’t get re-elected carrying that baggage) as a member of the pro-income tax stacked Tax Study Commission is running for the state senate again. As he kicked off his campaign last week he pronounced the state income tax a “dead issue.” Riiiiight. There are only two t... |
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THE MORE YOU LOOK AT THE AMNESTY BILL, THE WORSE IT LOOKS. -
May 29, 2006 -
June 5, 2006
Last week the U.S. Senate passed an immigration reform bill that supporters insist is not “amnesty,” even though those who have illegally entered our country, illegally worked in our country, and in most cases committed criminal acts to cover up their illegal activity, are completely forgiven. By any logical definition of the term “amnesty”, that is exactly what the Senate has passed.
But the immigration reform bill does much more damage to our national interests than merely granting am... |
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A GLARING OMISSION. -
May 15, 2006 -
May 22, 2006
During President Bush’s prime time speech on immigration Monday night he threw out a lot of numbers. A 1,200 mile border with Mexico. 6,000 National Guardsmen who will patrol that border under his plan. 6,000 new Border Patrol agents who will be added over the next couple of years. Those are all very interesting numbers. But the most important number was ignored by the President: how many immigrants will be allowed into this country if we follow his lead?
A study conducted by the Herita... |
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GUMBEL'S GAFFE GETS HIM A PASS. -
February 18, 2006 -
February 25, 2006
Despite the nearly hysterical hype by NBC and the sporting world, most Americans have been tuning out of the Winter Olympics. Most television networks chose to air re-runs rather than challenging the expected viewing domination of the Olympics. But those who chose to go head to head with the Olympics have fared very well. “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Desperate Housewives,” and “American Idol” are among the shows that won the battle for viewers by huge margins.
Maybe it is because curling is th... |
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BIGGER POLITICAL SHIFT MAY LOOM. -
February 6, 2006 -
February 13, 2006
Last Friday Democrat State Senator Don McLeary announced he was switching to the Republican Party. Although Republicans already enjoyed a numerical majority in the State Senate, the move by McLeary gives the Republicans an even larger margin of 18-15 over the Democrats. That margin is, however, much more significant than the numbers themselves indicate.
First, despite Republicans gaining a 17-16 numerical majority following the 2004 elections (the first Republican majority in the State... |
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