Where were the protests? (Minneapolis, Viking: city hall, house, schools)

[GBCommenter]

So...whether you agree with the Vikings stadium deal or not (and I'll preface in saying I absolutely did not), question:

Those sympathetic to OWS should have been howling as this was money being absconded by rich crony capitalists (and I would argue this is crony capitalism, not true capitalism). Sadly and ironically, OWS'ers who wanted more government got it.

On the other side, however, where were the Tea Party sympathizers? This is exactly the opposite of less government and less taxes. We look the other way if it's a big government subsidy and government action on something fun?

Nary a peep out of either side? Any thoughts why both sides could organize massive protests in general but suddenly fall silent? Do professional sports have that much of a magic spell on the people? I realize they do on politicians, but everyone?

The vote in the Legislature pretty much continues to confirm my suspicion: there is no relevant difference between Democrats and Republicans - it's just power for powers sake...

[Globe199]

Probably because once dad got angry and came storming into town, everyone saw that there was no way to defeat it. It was going down in flames before that little dog-and-pony show arrived. As soon as he showed up, the tone of the entire debate changed in about three seconds. I was optimistic until that point that Minnesota would make a stand. But like every other state, we simply buckled under the pressure. (Plus, idiots at the capitol in purple jerseys make for neat pictures.)

That episode is an enormous and very important lesson in American politics. It demonstrates, in terms that have never been so clear, that voters are not in charge. Rather, corporations are in charge. The very powerful leader of a private and immensely profitable organization was able to force policy in a way that millions of voters never could.

It was proved that all Goodell has to do is get on a plane and he gets a stadium. Will the same scenarios play out in the other NFL cities which are currently being extorted? Who will have the gun in their face next? Rhetorically, imagine the reaction had we proposed half a billion dollars for schools via pull tabs.

Like I said, we have the best democracy money can buy.

[1stpontiac]

I'd say a few things contributed:

(a) Very few Tea Partiers are as libertarian as they'd like you to believe (or believe themselves)

(b) Opinions on this cut across party lines and demographics at somewhat odd angles. Die-hard sports fans from both sides want the stadium. Same with sport-apathetic people (particularly business-oriented folks) who believe its a necessary city investment. Against the stadium, like you say, there are both tea-party and OWS types who would oppose the stadium (as more big government, or as corporate welfare, respectively), but do you think those two groups would agree to work together long enough to accomplish anything?

(c) A sense of inevitability keeps the fence-sitters from getting up in arms. I have to admit I fall into this camp. While on principal I think these subsidies are silly, I also fully believe that if the Vikes left, we'd be trying to attract a new team within 5-10 years and it would cost more to do so then.

[northsub]

I never got the impression that Tea Party or OWS folks were much for protesting over particular legislation (they seem more interested in general themes).

I'm not sure that I agree that there isn't much difference between the parties on this. If you throw out Minneapolis (which has a different financial stake than the rest of the state), the Senate vote went:
DFL: 21-4
R: 16-20

House vote went:
DFL: 39-11
R: 33-48

Minneapolis (all DFL) went 1-4 in the Senate and 1-9 in the House.

[Globe199]

Another interesting thing was the astonishing leadership failure on the part of Kurt Zellers. Correct me if I'm wrong, but as the House leader, wasn't it his option to simply NOT bring the bill to a vote? He made clear his dislike of the project, yet he still brought it to the floor. Could he not have single-handedly killed the bill?

[Ghengis]

maybe we should all storm down to city hall to head this thing off at the pass....nyahhhhhhh, let someone else shoulder the load.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by 1stpontiac

I'd say a few things contributed:

(c) A sense of inevitability keeps the fence-sitters from getting up in arms.

I think you are right on this one. As a Minneapolis resident, I can tell you that I pretty much gave up arguing against this one once my council member threw his support behind it. If my elected representatives were not willing to defend our city charter, there really wasn't much I felt I could do.

Watch for modifications to this plan, though. The electronic pull tabs have been tried in Iowa and Illinois recently and both failed miserably. Modifications (alternative gambling expansion) had to be made on the fly.

It'll end up costing Minneapolis a lot more than the politicians will admit. The only thing that will save RT's job-- if he chooses to run again-- is that his opponents have historically been crazier than he is.