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"Whatever Minnesota's spending constraints, the state can apparently afford 
to spend hundreds of millions for corporate welfare to Carl Pohlad, the 
owner of the Minnesota Twins, for a new baseball stadium. Hennepin County, 
where the bridge is located, recently passed a new .15 percent sales tax 
solely to pay for Pohlad's new stadium.

Pohlad basically blackmailed Minnesota. Unless they bilked taxpayers for his 
personal benefit, Pohlad threatened to take his baseball team elsewhere. 
When voters in North Carolina rejected an attempt to fund a baseball park 
for Pohlad there, he shuffled back to Minneapolis, where he was rewarded 
with the corporate handout.

In addition to the baseball franchise, Pohlad owns Marquette Financial 
Companies and United Properties. Next to PepsiCo Inc., his family is the 
largest shareholder in PepsiAmericas. Pohlad is a billionaire, several times 
over. Yet the state of Minnesota, which apparently is too poor to properly 
maintain its bridges, was willing to hand him a few hundred million more. 
And Pohlad's subsidy was just one part of a massive $1 billion package the 
legislature put together, which also included funding for a new stadium for 
the University of Minnesota football team.

The bridge didn't collapse because Minnesota couldn't afford to maintain it. 
The bridge collapsed because the state had other priorities"

http://idiotgrrl.livejournal.com/

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