Wisconsin governor, Republican presidential candidate, and extraordinary moron Scott Walker unveiled plans to build a new stadium for the Milwaukee Bucks yesterday and, as some people immediately noticed, Walker has already accounted for the cost of the stadium with a massive spending cut.
via ThinkProgress
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN — On Thursday, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker unveiled the latest plan for building a new $500 million basketball stadium for the Milwaukee Bucks, half of which would be paid for with taxpayer money, and half by the team’s current and former owners. Because stadium projects — including Milwaukee’s own Miller Park — have been known to run significantly over budget, the public contribution would be capped at $250 million.
This is exactly the amount that Governor Walker and his allies in the legislature plan to cut from the University of Wisconsin system.
It's fairly common for taxpayers to get stuck with the bill for the construction of new stadiums that never fully return on the investment, but if there has been another instance in which a city or state's education system is simultaneously cut for the same amount, I am unaware of it.
Scott Walker is blazing a trail toward unprecedented malfeasance, lying his stupid ass off along the way.
Walker reportedly claimed that the state will see "three dollars in return" for every one dollar spent on the Bucks stadium. He also made the fantastical claim that it will benefit lawmakers "anywhere in the state."
I have my doubts that lawmakers in literally any other location outside Milwaukee will benefit greatly from this and if I were a state lawmaker I would be insulted by the insinuation and the insult to my intelligence.
The idea that the invasion stadium will pay for itself is also complete nonsense.
But many Wisconsinites, including economics professor Michael Rosen at Milwaukee Area Technical College, vehemently disagree.
“You could do more for the local economy by taking a plane over the city of Milwaukee and dropping $500 million dollars down. That would generate more economic activity than building a stadium,” he told ThinkProgress.