Paying to auction
The New York Yankees already fleeced taxpayers in that city for more than $400 million in tax subsidies, plus the transfer of public park space in the Bronx into private hands and the planned demolition of one of the city's most historic, publicly-owned landmarks. Now they've done it again.Yesterday, city leaders agreed to give the Yankees the right to gut the old stadium, built originally by taxpayers in the 1920s, of everything from its seats to the foul poles to portions of the outfield fence to clumps of freeze-dried sod. In return, the Yankees gave the city $11.5 million.
Why in the world would the city willingly cap its profit potential with this type of sell-off? The Yankees wouldn't have paid the $11.5 million if they didn't think they could top it at auction, and no appraisal was done before the deal was struck. As just one example of the outrageous money to be had in auction, the old stadium's blue cylinder trash cans with "NY" printed on the sides are being offered for a minimum of $200 a piece.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the deal, "The city's agreement with the Yankees will generate much-needed revenue for the city and offer fans a chance to own some of the famed Yankee Stadium history." Sigh.
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We had an unusual request in the last comment thread for me to explain to my brother the EFCA. That's the Employee Free Choice Act, pending legislation in the Congress. Here goes: Aaron, we're for it.
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The Des Moines Register went straight into the toilet when Washington columnist Donald Kaul left the paper. He's writing these days at Minutemanmedia.org
posted by CM @ 10:27 AM
1 Comments:
I'm sure I don't have the same pull as your brother - especially in this space. But, as an individual with a Masters degree in finance and several years of experience tracking the economy and the investment world, let me try to explain the EFCA to you Aaron. We're against it.
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