Sometimes the taxpayers do approve the offers. And even if they don’t they elect the guys that made the offer. They are our duly elected representatives spending money on our behalf. Not stolen, not extortion, they are BEGGED to take the money, and it’s a sound business decision. And remember, it’s not just sports teams, it’s EVERY major corporation in this country. How did Toyota get that Tennessee plant? How did WalMart get their location closest to you? How did MS give away support to India? All through the same thing, BEGGED to take it. Focus on the problem, bad government; stop whining about the symptom, sports teams making sound business decisions.
We are a republic, not a democracy. The majority does not have unlimited authority to spend the taxpayers’ money, or take theei lakd by eminient domain, which is how some stadiums, including ours, got the land for their playpens.
Taking money from some people to give to others, for the political benefit of the takers, and the economic benefit of the recipients, is theft, morally, if not legally, wrong.
The voters may approve the offers. That is not always the same as the taxpayers.