Lessons Learned From Panthers Subsidy Loss
Carolina Panthers
As a conservative grassroots political activist, defeat is something that just goes with the territory. That, along with a certain amount of beating one’s head against the wall wondering where in the world all the people with any common sense at all have hidden themselves.
As a majority volunteer driven movement, we often find ourselves at a time and financial disadvantage to politicians, staff, and lobbyists. There simply is not enough time or resources to mobilize against every new bright idea thought up by those in the ivory towers of city hall.
With that said, we fight because we must. We fight because silence is acceptance. We fight because it is the right thing to do.
It is so easy to get frustrated and want to give up. So many people who agree with us already have. I for one refuse to do so, and instead seek to learn from defeat in hopes of learning from mistakes or finding a silver lining.
Last Monday, the Charlotte City Council unanimously voted to provide $87.5 million in corporate welfare to the Carolina Panthers while abundantly clear that a majority of citizens were opposed to the move.
This is what I draw from the results of the vote.
Political Party Affiliation Matters Less and Less These Days.
The makeup of the city council is nine Democrats to two Republicans. It is expected that the side supportive of smaller, limited government will frequently lose. What’s disturbing is that so many of the losses do not come via 9-2 votes, but rather 10-1 or even unanimous, as was the case on Monday. (Patrick Cannon recused himself from the vote over a possible conflict of interest, thus the unanimous 10-0 vote.)
As a grassroots guy I’m looking for something to latch on to. I would hope that in cases like this we could count on our members of the GOP to stand firm against the excessive expenditure of public dollars to directly benefit a private, for profit, business. Sure, the loss will likely still come, but I would argue standing on principle helps build a stronger conservative movement.
The advantage of a 10-1 vote or a 9-2 vote is multi-fold. You deny the other side the ability to claim “it was a unanimous, bi-partisan vote”! This empowers them and emboldens their supporters. It makes them look good and minimizes the opposition opinion. It also conversely continues to distance conservatives from wanting to get involved.
I can’t tell you how many people told me they’d just stay home because they didn’t feel it was worth their time to bother fighting. They didn’t believe government was even going to listen to them. A unanimous decision only reinforces that opinion.
Yes, 9-1 or 8-2 still loses, but at least it lets the grassroots know they weren’t totally ineffective and pointless. It gives people a reason to show up again and fight.
When even our “own team” votes against us, it is 100% debilitating from a moral standpoint.
Great movements are built around the people with the guts to stand up for what is right, regardless of political pressure. Bowing to the powers that be is a disservice.
I continue to support the Republican Party over the Democrat Party, but votes like this teach us that not all Republicans are created equal and we still have a lot of work to do to revive the GOP’s credibility as a truly limited government Party.
(On a personal note, I’d like to point out that I consider both of our GOP councilmen personal friends, but friends are allowed to disagree.)
Government Money Can Be Used For Any Purpose Desired.
This is the major silver lining of this fight.
Tell me, have you been in a debate with someone over government expenditures and been faced with the argument that “this money can’t be used for roads and schools, it has to be used for project X”?
This happens all the time and it is one of the great myths that supporters of big government use.
So called “revenue streams”, taxes levied on a particular use (like the hotel motel tax, the food and beverage tax, the half cent transit tax, etc), are earmarked to be used for specific purposes and are sold to the public this way. In my opinion, these are designed to obfuscate the true cost of government and make people feel like they are getting a value on a government expenditure.
“Why yes, for just a couple of pennies, I will be able to ride the heavily subsidized light rail. This is a good tax because my benefit seems larger than my expenditure.”
So on and so forth.
The problem here is that as these “revenue streams” are added to each other, the cost becomes much more than “a cup of coffee a day”. It becomes 50 cups of coffee a day!
The great disservice is that while one project may be under budget and another valid use of government money may be in need of additional resources, the politicians love to claim, “Oh well, good project X must suffer because the money we have in the not-so-good project Y is earmarked”.
It’s infuriating and it leads to very poor fiscal management.
Here is the Panthers subsidy bonus though.
As I have been screaming for years, “revenue streams” are man made, not universal truths. Public money, once collected, can be used for any purpose desired by politicians.
House Bill 193 is what authorized the City Council to use existing convention center money to benefit the Panthers. This bill changed the allowed use of an already existing “revenue stream”!
The bill could have just as easily said that hotel/motel tax money could be used to widen Interstate 77 in North Mecklenburg.
Folks this is big. We now have absolute proof that where there is political will, there is political way. Money can ultimately be used for any purpose government desires.
Conservative Grassroots Need Better Organization
This was an issue that I know we were in the majority of public opinion on. I don’t know what it will take to wake the public up again and let them know they do wield power.
I hope that when I speak out publicly, or any of my fellow conservatives, it creates a little spark of hope that we can kindle into a movement of people who will do more than just complain on Facebook about how crappy things are.
It’s easy to give up. I really understand. My point is, we have no power because we don’t wield our power. Our organization is lacking, our communication is limited, and we lack people willing to dive into leadership.
I know they care. I know they agree with us. They just need to be activated. That doesn’t mean coming to a meeting every week, just that if we can know how to reach them, they can talk to a dozen neighbors or hand out 50 fliers when a big issue comes up. Many hands makes light work. We need to build our infrastructure.
To that end, if you are at all interested in taking a step towards getting involved, or at least learning how you can contribute, please visit proceedwithcaution.us and sign up for our mailing list. I send out one email a week that includes meeting agendas and action items. I also include a list of upcoming events where you can attend and learn about what is going on in your local government.
I also encourage you to join two Facebook groups.
facebook.com/groups/charlotteteaparty is an open group where all of our members can post articles, opinion, meetings, etc.
facebook.com/groups/cautioncharlotte is the organizational arm of the tea party and is limited to posts directly involving the organization. Join here to learn about meetings and ways to get involved.
In my opinion it is unacceptable that we lose on issues where the majority of public opinion is on our side. The more folks we can have tied into participating, the more feedback we can generate to the decision makers, the better off we will be.
I invite you to join a solid group of conservatives who care about this community. Join us and help make a difference for the future of Charlotte.
Christian, thanks for taking the time to write this one. For me personally, the most disappointing thing about the past few months since the supposed conservative revolution here in NC during the last election is the tremendous ammount of energy the grassroots has had to expend to get our leaders to do the right thing (pun intended) when they have majorities – not to mention standing on principle while in the minority when it is simply the correct thing to do.
Thank you, CAUTION, for leading the effort on this. Two things I learned while watching the proceedings; 1) the consultants and staff involved were almost giddy with delight at the ability to spend public money for a private enterprise. Not only were they thrilled to be able to do so, but they lamented that the number was not greater. They fervently hope to be able to add to the amount as soon as possible. Yes, I realize they were following orders, but what if we had city leadership, consultants and staff who were equally motivated to save taxpayer dollars? and 2) I believe Jerry Richardson did get the message that this has hurt his reputation and could ultimately impact the success of the Panthers. Notice soon after he “won” word started leaking out that Mayor Foxx is actually the one who initiated the talks. Are we starting to see a blame game?
The bonds are coming!…. The bonds are coming!…..
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Speaking of organization, we immediately need to begin defeating the CMS/CPCC bond referendum proposed for this year.
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CMS hasn’t spent all of the 2007 bonds and now wants $1 billion over the next 10 years ($300 million this year) to build more schools.
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Like every other government project, aim high, haggle, huff and puff and take what you can get, which is what you expected to begin with…..
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STOP CMS BONDS NOW!
You state the following: “Last Monday, the Charlotte City Council unanimously voted to provide $87.5 million in corporate welfare to the Carolina Panthers while abundantly clear that a majority of citizens were opposed to the move.” Setting aside the fact that this sentence is grammatically flawed, what is your support for the notion that “a majority of citizens were opposed” to the spending? I’m not aware of any polls on this issue, and you do not cite any. And anecdotal evidence (e.g., “Everybody I talked to said they did not support it…”) does not cut it.
In any event, I am actually aware of a research study performed by the University of South Carolina (which I’m certain you cannot stand, since they receive financial support from taxpayers) in which it was concluded that the Panthers are responsible for $600M annually in local revenue. So, $87.5M once every decade is actually money well spent, since it is then kicked back into the community. Small business owners (you know, those people that conservatives love to support as the cornerstone of our economic system) benefit tremendously from the Panthers. Take NoDa Brewery, for example, which now sells its beer in the Panthers stadium. This company is locally — and family — owned and operated, and benefits tremendously from the opportunity to sell in the stadium. Same goes for Old Mecklenburg Brewery. Same with all the bars and restaurants around the stadium. So the expenditure by the City is repaid over and over again, every year. Frankly, it’s one of the few expenditures by the City that actually results in significant local profit on a macro scale, where the profit is actually made by the taxpayers whose taxes went to support the stadium. In this sense, it’s one of the few shining examples of efficient and well-reasoned government spending.
The knee-jerk objection to government spending is tiresome. I actually agree that most government spending is wasteful and ill-conceived. This is not one of those examples, however. Nor is light rail, which has resulted in an explosion of private sector growth along the South Blvd. corridor. The fact is that there are some government expenditures that actually do benefit the constituents (individuals and business alike, although I appreciate that you probably believe that corporations are people so the line is probably a little blurry for you). When the people lament every instance of government spending as “handouts” and “socialism,” the people you would hope to reach (such as the coveted undecided voters) tune out. It simply makes you look like curmudgeons.
RRB- not sure about your grammer corrections- and I hate to go off Rick Barton style- but pull your head out of your ass and Google (you have heard of that?) the Elon College poll/survey in which 88% of the folks polled were against tax money for the Panthers. I would give you a link to the Elon study, but if you had not heard of the Elon poll b4, now would be a good opp for you to sharpen your lacking internet search skills and become a more informed citizen
Rick — I am 100% confident that you are “not sure about your grammer corrections,” since you are apparently unable to spell the word “grammar” correctly. Seems a bit much to ask you to understand proper sentence structure when basic spelling seems to elude you. Your comment is pure comedy gold!
With respect to the Elon poll — and I hate to go off RRB style (did you really reference yourself? That is hilarious.) — it absolutely does not support his conclusion. If you look at the poll, which I did, the sample size was ALL OF NORTH CAROLINA. And the question was whether the STATE should spend $62M on the Panthers stadium. The Charlotte City Council does not represent ALL of North Carolina, and Christian’s complaint was about the CITY spending $87.5M on the stadium. So, no Rick, the poll does not support the conclusion that the Charlotte City Council ignored 88% of their constituents, nor does it say ANYTHING about whether North Carolinians — as a whole — approve or disapprove of the CITY of Charlotte spending money on the Stadium. I suspect you did not link to the Elon study because you never actually read it and instead read other people’s summaries of it, for if you had read it, you would know that your comments make you look like a fool. But here you go, Ricky (caution: contains big numbers and lots of “grammer”): https://www.elon.edu/docs/e-web/elonpoll/030513_ElonPoll_panthersstadium.pdf
RRB- my bad for the spelling errors. read the last sentence in the first paragraph “I am not aware…” So you lied- If you knew about the Elon poll, or you thought that it did not count- as it did not meet you sample criteria. You may be smarter or more informed then me, which I doubt- but I have the balls to post under my own name. Maybe one day you will do the same.
Hey, it’s me again. Changed my name. Did that blow your mind, Ricky?
You really should provide a decoder ring or something similar for people who read your posts. I have no earthly idea what this sentence is supposed to mean: “So you lied- If you knew about the Elon poll, or you thought that it did not count- as it did not meet you sample criteria.” Not even remotely inteligible. But, to the extent you are suggesting that I “lied,” get over yourself. The point is that the poll is wholly irrelevant to the City Council’s calculus, and thus is irrelevant to the question of whether their decision was counter to the will of the people whom they are charged to represent.
I’m comfortable with your assertion that I’m “smarter or more informed” than you. You appear to set the bar very, very low. Want proof? The website of your airport shuttle company lists the following under the “Riders Bill Off Rights”: “A courteous driver who knows the layout of Nashville, and all the major destinations therein.” It’s “Rider’s” or “Riders’,” but certainly not “Riders,” and I’m pretty confident that there is no such thing as a Bill “Off” Rights. Either way, I’m not sure why your riders are entitled to a driver who knows the layout of “Nashville,” since you’re running a shuttle service in North Carolina. The remainder of your list is then repeated, as though you’ve been unable to master the subtle art of “cut and paste.” That’s your business website! That’s ridiculous!! You might want to post anonymously. It would increase your credibility.
Setting all of that aside, you live in another city. Got any views on how the Oklahoma City Council should budget for the 2014 fiscal year? How about your perspective on what the city of Butte, Montana, should do with the Berkley Pits cleanup effort? Would LOVE to hear them. Bet they would be incredibly insightful, or at least as insightful as your views on what the City of Charlotte should do. To the extent that anybody could understand what you are saying…
Well RBIA OKC is a blinded by the World Class City thingy same as Charlotte now that you mention it. They are thankful the Sonics moved otherwise they’d have to try to steal the Bobcats. They’re angling for the DNC in 2016 right now. “75% fewer bedbugs percapita and than Charlotte” is the Pitch.
You really are dense. From the Elon poll:
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A recent survey conducted by the Elon University Poll found that less than 12 percent of those surveyed in North Carolina supported the idea of the state providing $62 million to help renovate Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., home of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.
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“Surveyed North Carolinians”.
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Spending tax dollars for private enterprise, for 8 games that most Charlotteans and North Carolinians will never see, is as stupid as spending $119 million dollars on a streetcar to nowhere.
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We’ve all seen the validation of “stupid is as stupid does” in the appointment of Mayor Fixxit, streetcar engineer extraordinaire, by Obama to be Transportation Secretary.
But the question is that a $600 million dollar net gain to the local economy or just rearranging spending that was going to be there nontheless? How do these businesses survive in the off season? Do these dollars rob other Mom and Pop recreational venues of revenues? Unrestrained Goverment taxing and spending eventually leads to a negative economic multiplier and stagnation.
These are valid questions, and ones that should be explored. But these questions did not form the basis for Christian’s gripe. In any event, I suspect that it’s a combination of rearranging existing spending and bringing in new spending. My office parking lot uptown is shared with a hotel, and I do know that whenever there is a home game, the lot is filled with out of state cars. So, that’s anecdotal evidence that there is at least some revenue originated by the stadium that would otherwise not exist. But, as I said, these are good issues that intelligent conversation. Unfortunately, I don’t think Ricky is capable of that type of conversation…
I do take issue with the notion that this is “unrestrained Government taxing and spending.” In fact, they asked for more, were not able to get support for it, and ultimately received far less than what they originally sought. So it seems to me that this is not “unrestrained” spending, and is in fact quite restrained.
RRB -WTF? are you one of the big cat’s kids trying to get back into Daddy’s will. You can call me Ricky or what ever- Again I post under my name and live in Cornelius. Gutless cowards like you are a dime a dozen- RRB
RRB- thanks for the heads up re my website- I’ll have the web guy look into that- I have gotten a lot of biz out of that site over the last few years. It will get even better after we make the needed corrections that you have called to my attention. Thanks again.
Why you continue to fellate Jerry Richardson with your defense of the taxation of our food for the the benefit of JR is hard to understand. And the food tax boost you and Jerry wanted was to be for all of Meck.
county. So it would effect people that live in Cornelius.
Did I spell fellate correctly? You would be the expert on that type of spelling
Panthers largess is just one prop in the unrestrained taxing and spending we see for goodies for the connected class uptown. We’ve had convention centers, Nascar Museums, High Rise Condos, Choo Choo Trains, Cityfairs, Street Cars, Arenas, Hyenas, firebirds, Cookies, and tons of other largess thats sposed to make tons of money back but never do.
The Plans always seem to bring in goodies for the Connected Class who get to party but never tip the poor middle class smucks working a second wait staff job to pay their property taxes.
or start an airport shuttle business so you can keep you home after your house has been overvalued for tax purposes by $200,000.
The idea that republicans favor a smaller, more limited government is the biggest lie in modern politics, as evidenced by the actions of the 2013 NC General Assembly.
First of all, I don’t care how right you are about the street car. If you call it a “choo choo train” so you can belittle those in favor of the street car, then you cast yourselves as crackpots and won’t be taken seriously. Deservingly so.
But then, that’s pretty much been the mantra of the Republican party over the past 20 years: Act like juvenile brats, offer no solutions of your own, cater to the far right base, rinse and repeat. Is it any wonder the GOP is the stupid party?
Finally, don’t quote me the Elon poll–not when 90 percent of Americans said there should be stricter background checks on guns and YOUR spineless senators and representatives cowed to the NRA.
i’m with you Terrence- kind of like when libtards call tea party people tea baggers. same thing on same sex marriage- California voters passed Prop 8 by a wide margin saying dick smokers could not get married. But Jerry Brown is trying to overturn the will of the people via SCOTUS. Hard to figure that out
Notice how Tim Tebow is openly Christian and is mocked and Derided, Jason Collins is now openly Gay and is celebrated.
two references to dudes blowin’ dudes in two days, Rick. both totally out of the blue. it must be getting harder and harder to keep those thoughts from coming to the front of your mind, huh?
is that what’s so appealing about model airplanes? bunch of lonely, single dudes who share the same “interests” as you? “fellowship,” and such? you’re in a safe space, Rick. it’s ok to let it all out.
thats a giggle
Party Affiliation Matters Not At All: What you need to understand is there is no opposition party any longer. The DNC and the RNC have become the PRC (Political Ruling Class). The Republicans fall for the PRC’s hand picked candidates everytime.