GEORGE W. BUSH/TEXAS RANGERS TEMPLE OF COMMERCE/BASEBALL STADIUM, ARLINGTON,TX
I have posted a couple of comments on the various New London case threads. But I decided it was worth a diary, because these two cases in one Texas city are so illustrative of how eminent domain is abused. While these two cases (one of which involves the devil) don't prove the argument, I would submit that many if not most of the thousands of projects now using this eminent domain argument vastly overstate their public benefit and vastly understate their ability to enrich the developer. George W. Bush was added to the ownership package of the Texas Rangers to enable deals like this one.
George W. Bush Profited
One of the most famous eminent domain cases involved the Cowboys' future home of Arlington, where baseball's Texas Rangers play. At the time, future President George W. Bush was an owner.
MORE ON THE PREZNINT'S PROJECT BELOW
Bush cheers for the Texas Rangers Friday, Sept. 27, 1996, at The Ballpark in Arlington, Texas. Bush was the managing general partner for the Rangers before his 1994 gubernatorial win. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
In 1991, the team convinced local voters to approve a tax increase that helped build a new $191 million stadium. The city of Arlington used eminent domain to acquire the property from hundreds of private owners, claiming the stadium was a "public use" just like highways, schools, and government buildings.
Several property owners were lowballed, and court decisions increased their final take. The compensation for one 13-acre plot was increased from $877,000 to $5 million, for example. The city, not the team, was held responsible for making the larger payments.
The stadium clearly benefitted the Rangers' owners more than anyone else. Bush turned his initial $600,000 investment into $15 million when the team was sold in 1999. But it has produced little of the promised economic benefit to Arlington, and there has never been a real "public use" factor aside from baseball fans' paying their money to see games.
Here another outrageous example from THE SAME CITY, Arlington, Texas:
The stadium deal for Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys is weighted heavily on the side of the team.
The Cowboys emphasized during the tax initiative campaign that they were putting up half the money for the stadium--$325 million--but that isn't quite true. While the city will use the new taxes to retire its side of the debt, Jones will be able to slap his own 10 percent "tax" on tickets and a $3 tax on parking to retire his side. That will raise about $10 million a year, or $300 million over 30 years.
But that's hardly the limit to Jones' new revenue streams. He'll also get 95 percent of the corporate naming rights revenue for the new facility, which could be worth $250 to $350 million. That's extra money, since the team's current home, Texas Stadium, has no corporate naming contract. Jones also could earn more than $100 million by selling personal seat licenses (priority rights for buying season tickets), and the NFL is giving the Cowboys a $100 million loan they don't have to pay back.
So before he even sells a ticket or luxury box or hot dog or beer, Jones will be up about $800 million. Take away the $325 million the team will pay toward the stadium, and he is still ahead $475 million. Since studies have shown NFL teams usually double their profits in new digs, Jones' estimated annual take of $40 million could balloon into an additional $1.2 billion over the life of the 30-year deal.
The ability of local governments to see through the bullshit and at the same time avoid corruption is questionable at best. Arlington proves the case in that they had already been burned, yet went for another bs project, to the detriment of private property owners.
This is awful stuff. Take from the poor, the stupid, and the powerless, and give to the rich and corrupt. Eminent domain sounds like a nice liberal idea but you find me a case when it gets used against a rich person and I will buy you a beer.
A tall, cold Shiner Bock, from Shiner, Texas.