It is the most absolute asinine form of economic development imaginable. Gov. Mike Pence and Mayor Greg Ballard are proudly announcing the state will give the nonprofit FFA organization $4.5 million in incentives simply to host its annual convention at the Indiana Convention Center. Attendees of the convention, high school-aged students, generate very little economic impact. The only beneficiaries are the hotels and retail establishments, most of which are owned by out-of-state companies, which benefit from what dollars are spent during the annual convention. Those are employers I might add that historically pay poor wages to most of their employees and offer few, if any benefits.
True to form, the local Indianapolis media will hail the deal because anything that benefits Indianapolis' convention or sports-related industry naturally trickles down to the taxpayers who are stuck with the bill for subsidizing these businesses by the hundreds of millions of dollars to the detriment of funding basic city services. City convention officials claim the FFA has a $36 million impact locally, which is a total lie, but there is nobody from the media who ever bothers to challenge the numbers Visit Indy pulls out of its ass whenever one of these announcements are made. Watch top officials at Visit Indy see their annual bonuses boosted because of this deal on top of the outrageous six-figure salaries they already earn when it's the use of your taxpayer dollars to pay bribes, not their sales pitch, that allows Indianapolis to land these conventions.
The Indianapolis Star and the rest of our useless local media have run story after story questioning the expenditure of a few hundred thousand dollars for a consulting agreement with a New York PR firm to help restore the state's image the media deliberately tanked through false reporting over the state's RFRA law. But watch them laud the payment of bribes to organizations like the FFA to host their conventions here. On that subject, who is paying for the large rainbow-colored flag out on I-70 near the airport on the City's west side to promote the message that "Indiana Welcomes All?" Or has anyone tallied up the total bribes paid to the NCAA over the years to base its operations here--the same organization that threatened to pull out of the City because of RFRA after shaking the City down for those millions of dollars in "incentives"?
9 comments:
Yes, Gary, this is "the most absolute asinine form of economic development imaginable" and it is promulgated by dumb and dumber (you decided which is which). I've stood in the presence of Greggie Ballard and Mikey Pence at the GOP meetings and events and I knew fairly quickly I was standing in the presence of some very shallow persons. With a state GOP now influenced by Mikey's BFF and long time companion Jeff Cardwell it will only get worse IMHO.
And of course you are right again with all the facts you expose that teenagers have no wherewithal to truly impact local businesses and that it is the crony hotels and restaurants [recently decried by the always grandstanding local hypocrite liberal Democrats] who will be the financial beneficiaries.
Last year the Future Farmers convention was in Louisville. But the Louisville paper reported that the FFA was unhappy with the hotel situation and decided not to go back. They began putting out feelers for a good location to hold the convention thru 2024. Indianapolis was not high on the list because of Mike Pence. Only thru extraordinary negotiations and payment of the “incentive”, among other promises made, did Indianapolis land the 2015 FFA. The Louisville paper reported that FFA spent $40 million in Louisville in 2014 and lamented the loss.
And this post by Anon 8:07 is infantile swill and that's a fact, regurgitating your talking points and throwing in some name calling and puffing up like he has anything to say. Your base is dumbing down.
The McMega-Media in Indianapolis has long been on board the USS Corporate Welfare Ship. The old down towns of the early and mid 20th century were for various economic and social reasons collapsing through out the 1960's onward. Corporate Welfare was the only answer to keep down towns afloat. Corporate Welfare and Crony-Capitalism had to be disguised, with words like public-private partnerships, urban renewal and various tax incentives, or out right subsidies.
Downtown is truly a Black Hole which must suck in more and more tax dollars to keep it's Hollywood facade looking prosperous. As you mention some profit - the 1% of course - but the worker bees are minimum wage. Try Unionizing these workers and the wrath of Corporate AmeriKa and their Democrat and Republican Puppets will do what they can to prevent unionization.
I'd be willing to pay the FFA $4.5 million to plow over the convention center and the two sports stadia that seem to get first dibs on my money.
I want to see a Confederate flag on I70 because, i mean, Indy welcomes all, right?
I also want to see a Confederate Flag on I-70.
Anon. 8:47, That Louisville newspaper is owned by Gannett, which also publishes the Indianapolis Star. Gannett provides no objective reporting on these matters. It pushes the meme that ordinary taxpayers are expected to finance 100% of the costs of promoting the convention business in a city despite the fact only a handful of businesses benefit from that convention business.
Moo! Oink Oink! Moo!
The Indy hotels are owned/managed by Dean White who makes the real $$$.
Anon 8:47, anyone who thinks the FFA was dissuaded from strongly considering Indianapolis because of Governor Pence, let me know their names because I have some swampland I'd like to sell. In fact, what is not well reported is that the FFA had already agreed to come back to Indy for 6 of those 9 years BEFORE the incentive was offered. But, hey, let's try to find some way to blame it on RFRA and let's not let facts get in the way.
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