Roldo,

You are so right. When are these guys gonna "give back"? Uh... I suspect as you do, never. They seem like reverse Robinhoods - take from the poor and give to the rich. I also heard Zack Reed suggest throwing tea into the harbor from the 9th Street Pier two years ago when we strove to "put it on the ballot". 

But the American Dream has got everyone kowtowed and nose to the grindstone - don't look up, don't speak up because you'll lose your shitty job. It is fearmongering and they're experts. But soon when there is no bread and when there are no jobs, the people, with time on their hands, will revolt; they will have nothing to lose, there can be no blood from a stone and we're turing to stone as I write. 

In a conversation last night, someone (I was telling him about the debacle of the medcon cause he's had his nose to the grindstone) said, they are not talking about the opportunity cost. In other words, what could we do with 40 million dollars a year besides build another mistake - this time on the river. Well, we, here at realneo, have talked about this opportunity cost, but I suggest we expand this discussion. Let's lay out some things we might do with that money that are not to use it to fill the bank accounts of MMPI and Forest City. Number one - give it back. Number two - give it to the least fortunate among us. Number three - give it to something that will move the county toward equity (like servicable public transit or water or home insulation, or your good idea here: ____ ). You get the picture. 

A friend of mine, choreographer, Liz Lerman made a dance back in the 1980s where she stated the price for a bomber in hamburgers. Could we translate 40 million into miles ridden per person on the RTA, meals served to the hungry, homes provided for the homeless, square feet of insulation in drafty homes and the energy saved, reduction of home heating cost by investing in cogeneration at CPP... I don't know. What do you think?

Here's one other thing I thought of as we were collecting signatures two summers ago: The buying craze is going to slow waaaay down. What then? What will their solution be if the quarter cent sales tax does not meet the medcon's need? Yep, I thought that, too. They'll just throw on another quarter cent increase, because now that we allowed them the crack, there is no Hans Brinker to hold his finger in the dike. As you note, this has been their modus operandi. I do feel for you Roldo as you have been saying for years "Help! There is a fire in the kitchen and I need help to extinguish it!" How difficult it is for you and for all of us to see the entire house burn down because no one heard you, listened to you or heeded that call.

So shall we try to define the opportunity cost? Shall we propose a "take back the tax" movement?

I'm for taking the tax back.

That means no new nonessential building will be built and as I've said before, at least two more buildings (a parking garage facility and a luxury hotel - both subsidized) will be unnecessary, and it will eliminate the subsidies needed to make up the losses of the convention center, new and old.

So you win three or four ways.