Who has the money in the U.S.A...

[Heracles 417]

Professional sports is the biggest rip-off in America. The only way they can pay these players millions of dollars and rake in huge profits for the team's owners is by making the taxpayers of whatever community they choose exploit next build and maintain their stadiums. If the sport was as successful as everyone claims, if it was making the kind of money that justifies the payouts to players and owners, then why do all these teams hang on the taxpayer's teat?

What do athletes do for a country anyway? How do they advance the country? They don't and it's probbaly one of the least productive industries in the world. In fact, what justifies the million dollar salaries these dropkicks get for doing nothing?

There are various cities throughout America that are disgraceful and look like a third-world country, yet have nice stadiums. What are they thinking? That it's going to bring them into the 21st century and out of being some run-down dump.

The country and the people in it need to get their priorities straight. However, this can never happen when you have idiots like Turtle who assume the US still leads in Q.O.L and so forth. It doesn't and it's infrastructure, towns and cities are 20 years behind most other modern cities. But hey, they at least have nice large stadiums right.

[evli1966 88]

Wow

I didn't realize I was a poor man and the rich owed me so much.

OMG gimme gimme I can not raise a family on that amount I should be makeing $200k +

I earn roughly 1/2 that a year total with a personal debt of about 20% of my earnings at this time; 6 weeks vacation a year, paid health/dental and vision ins.

I put 3 children through school (paid) on less, saved for retirement which will happen before 55 for me because of the decisions I have made, increased my personal net worth and could if I wanted stop working (albiet I would live poorly), vacation where I want and not go into debt doing it.

$250k you are well above middle class but as everyone knows spending above your means will put you in debt and make you poor.

You guys are either tripping on values or think and live way beyond the means what any average person would think reasonable.

I am not saying there are not poor people and there are not extremely rich exploiting poor workers and tax payers (John Kerry)

Everyone has the same starting point except a rich person who has wealth to start with, a poor person who has no wealth can work as hard as any middle calss person and make it happen; it comes down to choices and decisions.

My starting point was a single mother who worked 3 jobs at a time most of my life supporting her 4 children after dad bailed, no child support, no alimony, no maintence, no money for college, no big vacations unless an aunt or uncle took us, no house to call or own (renters) but there was encouragement and support from my siblings and my mother.

If you want your family to accumalate wealth then you must decide to make those choices and most likely it will not happen in you lifetime; these choices need to be followed up by the next generation and continue to build the wealth of the family. Unless you have a simple idea such as leasing a software product instead of seling it; somepeople will be able to make it happen quicker than others but it rests on your shoulders.

Remember once you take enough from the wealthy so they are middle class that is who they will get it from next as the poor or less fortunate will always be there.

I beleieve In social economics there will always be poor and rich the middle class does not have to exist; someone more edumcated please correct me.

Edited August 7, 2010 by evli1966

[Darnell 8,478]

You guys will hate on the poor and section 8 folks, call them lazy leaching bums, but turn a blind eye to how little the wealthy actually do to earn billions.

Not so many 'in that demographic' are members of this portal, BooYah!, so you prolly won't see many folk railing on you, with this supposed tirade, that fit either demographic.

Hey - where's the charts n graphs?

Edited August 7, 2010 by Darnell

[Texanadian 10]

Professional sports is the biggest rip-off in America. The only way they can pay these players millions of dollars and rake in huge profits for the team's owners is by making the taxpayers of whatever community they choose exploit next build and maintain their stadiums. If the sport was as successful as everyone claims, if it was making the kind of money that justifies the payouts to players and owners, then why do all these teams hang on the taxpayer's teat?

Total agreement. This is simple bailout and subsidization of rich team owners. In Houston, the Astrodome was built in the 1960's. First stadium in the world with air conditioning. In the 1980's, the city of Houston was told by the Houston Oilers owner that the stadium needed to be renovated or else he would pull the team out of the city......The city complied with it. Here we are nearly 25 years later and we're STILL paying for the 1980's renovations on the Astrodome.......Yet the Astrodome sits empty. City still has to pay for electricity, maintainance etc on it. What sits right next door to the Astrodome? The Houston Reliant Stadium. Built by *you guessed it* Houston taxpayers. (The Houston Oilers ended up leaving town and going to Tennessee)

The odd thing is that even in this red as can be Republican city, it was put up to a vote in a referendum about should the city pay to build the new Reliant Stadium. The city taxpayers voted yes. Why? Because that's where the Houston Texans play football.

Now the Houston Dynamo (soccer team) are asking the city to go halfers to build them a soccer stadium. They're saying that it would be cheaper to build a new stadium than to renovate the old Astrodome. The Astrodome could be made into a hotel and science center. (very expensive) Or it simply could be bulldozed and turned into a parking lot.

I personally don't care what sports franchise plays in a building. It shouldn't be payed for by taxpayers.

On a side note, the Pontiac Michigan Silverdome was sold last year for $550,000.... It cost 55 million dollars to build in 1975 (the 55 million being in 1975 dollars). The city of Pontiac couldn't afford to keep up the maintenance on the place. The new owners have talked about either renovating it. Or tearing it down and building a new stadium.