Concealed Carry Explodes Thanks To Obama Administration

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

ConcealedCarry

After the horrific slaughter and maiming of Americans in San Bernardino by two Muslim terrorists last week, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said her greatest fear is that there might be retaliation. She worries that “anti-Muslim rhetoric might lead to violence.”

Did I miss something here? Didn’t the violence already happen, Ms. Lynch? Don’t you worry that maybe more Muslim bad-asses are going to shoot up a couple dozen or maybe a couple hundred more American infidels?

This is just one more – one of so many – insults to the American people by our current administration. Our attorney general is more worried about offending a few Muslims than she is about the lives and safety of the other 97.8% of us. Meanwhile, our president remains laser-focused on protecting us from global warming.

Have no doubt, there will be more violence involving radical Muslims. But it won’t be anti-Muslim rhetoric that causes it – Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and atheists don’t randomly kill people because of their religion. Only Muslims do that, and you can bet that any new religious violence will be perpetrated by Muslims, against non-Muslims. There will be more violence when the swat team sends the Muslim murderers to meet their maker, or their virgins, or whatever. Is that considered retaliation, Ms. Attorney General? Is that bullying?

I suspect that Ms. Lynch, as an official of the Obama administration and disciple of the liberal left, doesn’t approve of Americans carrying firearms in their purses, on their belts, and in their cars. Too bad.

This administration’s failure to face up to an existential, world-wide socio-political disaster has left us no choice. Rather than call out the bad guys, our president pushes an agenda to disarm the victims.

Firearms sales are going through the roof. Shooting ranges are slammed. Concealed carry permit applications are breaking records. Law enforcement agencies and officials are encouraging citizens to arm themselves. Americans have always supported the second amendment. We talked about carrying weapons to defend our families and others. Thanks to the Obama administration, we are now doing it. We are not going to wait for the swat team any more.

Despite the full-throated hysteria in the liberal media about moms with Glocks in their purses and the price of Smith and Wesson stock going through the roof (up 8.5% today), the arming of responsible American citizens is a good and natural thing.

Thanks, Barack – you have single-handedly done more to promote self-defense gun ownership than anyone dreamed possible.

I’m a big believer in the free market. Supply and demand has always worked, and it always will. When there is a demand for something, it will be supplied, one way or another. Right now, there is a demand for personal safety and security. Our current government is unwilling to supply it, but fortunately the writers of our constitution provided us an alternative – the Second Amendment.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Carry on my wayward son
There’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more

Carry On My Wayward Son – Kansas

Refugees Knockin’ At the Door – Don’t Let ‘Em In

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

(AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

Someone’s knockin’ at the door! Somebody’s ringing the bell!

President Obama sings, “Open the door, and let ’em in.”

Never mind that public opinion weighs heavily against allowing Syrian refugees to resettle in the United States. Or that one of the ISIS thugs who brutally murdered Parisians this week is thought to have used a fake Syrian passport, throwing question on whether refugees can be vetted. Or that thirty-one governors (at last count) are opposed to to importing Syrian refugees.

Other governors, like Republican Nikki Haley of South Carolina and Democrat Steve Bullock of Montana are doing the Kabuki dance on the refugee issue. They were for it before they were against it, and then for it again, kinda, but maybe against it. That kind of Charlie Brown leadership does not enhance political resumes.

Republican presidential candidates? Lock the door. Democrats? Let ’em in.

Refugee resettlement advocates would have us believe that this is not such a big deal – it’s only about a relatively small number of Syrians, most of whom are abused Christians, who are seeking refuge in the United States. If only that were true – any of it.

In the first six weeks of this year 98% of all Syrian refugees resettled in the U.S. were Sunni Muslim. At least 75% of the immigrants flooding into Europe every day through doors specifically swung open for Syrians are not Syrian, and are not refugees. They are opportunists from third-world countries all over Africa and the Middle East, seeking economic benefits. Why shouldn’t we expect the same in the U.S., especially since nearly all refugees here are on food stamps, cash welfare, and other government benefits, according to the Office of Refugee Resettlement?

Not mentioned by the refugee advocates are all the others who are arriving here – the unvetted non-Syrian refugees, the fake asylum seekers, or the illegals who overstayed visas or walked across our porous borders. The recent election of a refugee-happy prime minister to our north doesn’t brighten the situation.

Don’t fall for the crocodile tears. This is not a question of charity – those who clamor for more immigration and refugee resettlement are taking food from the mouths of our own hungry, jobs from our own unemployed, and the hope for a safe nation with traditional American values from our own children. There is no comparing today’s immigration and refugee situation with Ellis Island. This is nothing short of an invasion of our home by people who want to replace us, not join us.

If altruism demands that we help those truly in need, let’s help them in their home countries. Let’s help them defeat their oppressors, if that’s the cause of their misery. But if they won’t defend their own homes and families, and come knocking at our door demanding our food, shelter, and safety, we have no choice.

Close the door. Don’t let ’em in.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Someone’s knockin’ at the door,
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell,
Someone’s knockin’ at the door,
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell,
Do me a favor, open the door
And let ’em in!

Let ‘Em In – Paul McCartney

Liberal Comedy – You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

So there we were, my wife and I, patiently waiting for the York County (SC) council meeting to start. I was one of several constituents there to make a statement in support of our councilman’s resolution to prevent the Refugee Relocation program from dumping third-world citizens in our county. I wanted to point out that bringing in needy refugees does not benefit our nation or citizens in any way, so it can only be viewed as charity. And taking money from taxpayers to give to a foreign charity without our consent is unconstitutional and illegal.

Next to my wife sat a 40-something guy – longish hair with a balding spot, rimless glasses, Mister Rogers sweater, 20-year old Birkenstock sandals. A slight lisp. I’m pretty sure that was his Prius in the parking lot, the one with the “Bernie Sanders Works For Me” sticker next to the faded “Hope and Change” decal.

My wife is a chatty sort of person, and of course she had to strike up a conversation with her next-seat neighbor. “Are you here to talk about the Refugee problem?” she chirped. I thought Mr. Birkenstock’s eyes were going to pop out of their sockets.

“What do you have against those poor people?” he said, revving up. “We should be helping them! It’s our duty as a society! What about the CHILLdrennnn?”

Yep, I had heard that sound before, on PBS. “The CHILLdrennnn.” I’ve always wondered why the Hope and Change crowd doesn’t seem to have any problem dumping $20 trillion of debt on the CHILLdrennnn. But I digress.

My wife is chatty, all right. But get on her wrong side and she is chatty like a Rottweiler. She lit into Mr. Birkenstock with a scorched-earth monologue detailing the many reasons why moving throngs of hostile, unemployable, non-English-speaking, permanent welfare recipients to York County at a time when we can’t even take care of our own underachievers, is a bad idea. “Why don’t you donate YOUR money to the refugees, instead of trying to take mine?” she asked.

Mr. Birkenstock shook his head at us, his face dripping with a condescending mix of pity and disgust.

The meeting began, and we all sat through hours of the mostly boring and often icky sausage-making of low-level politics. Then the agenda turned to how the county will manage the rapid growth we are currently experiencing. It was Mr. Birkenstock’s time to take the microphone.

“I am opposed to all this growth!” he wailed. “We don’t want any more of these big apartment buildings going up in our nice, peaceful neighborhood! The traffic is getting terrible. And what about the CHILLdrennnnnn! They can’t play safely in the street any more!”

We laughed out loud.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Laugh, laugh, I thought I’d die
It seemed so funny to me
Laugh, laugh you met a guy who taught you how it feels to be
Lonely, oh so lonely

Laugh, Laugh – the Beau Brummels

Liberal Party Win In Canada Was A Bad Day for USA

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard 1

canadian border Yesterday the voters of Canada elected Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party to a sweeping majority control of the government. I am saddened for the Canadian people, who will now face the inevitable decline in their economy and quality of life that we battle every day.

Trudeau has promised to focus on global warming, with regulations and obstructions that will stifle the Canadian economy even after the price of oil stabilizes. The size, reach, and cost of government will accelerate while personal freedoms will be peeled away. And there will be an explosive increase in immigration and refugees.

That last item has implications for us, because we know that most of the immigrants and refugees will be Muslims — Trudeau says he wants to take 25,000 Syrians before December. How many of these immigrants will head across the entirely unprotected northern border to our United States, where the free benefit programs are much richer, no effort is made to find and reject illegals, and no assimilation is required or expected?

Yesterday was a very bad day for Canada. And a bad day for us too.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Cause you had a bad day
You’re taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don’t know
You tell me don’t lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day – You had a bad day.

Bad Day – Daniel Powter

Canada Has Elections Too, Eh?

Posted on October 19, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

canadian election day Most American citizens are acutely aware that we will be voting for a new president 13 months from now. Our ubiquitous news/entertainment complex won’t let us escape Hillary Clinton’s e-mail scandal or Donald Trump’s latest insult for even a moment. Many say 2016 will be the most important American election in a generation. Some say the biggest ever.

But almost nobody in the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave knows that Canada’s election took place today, and the stakes are every bit as high for them as ours will be next year.

Our neighbors to the north elected Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party in 2006, and rewarded them with re-election twice. But this election is predicted to be perhaps the closest ever, and voter turnout will be high. The latest polls showed Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau as a slim favorite.

Harper’s Canada enjoyed relative calm and prosperity during the oil boom years, but with the oil price dropping to $29 Canadian per barrel, economic worries are mounting. This time around, Harper’s administration is relying on its conservative positions on national security and curbs on immigration to win votes. Canadian liberals are all-in subscribers to the global warming hoax.

President Obama played a role in the Canadian election, sending his campaign operatives to assist the Canadian Liberal Party. Obama’s disdain for Harper and the conservatives is transparent, largely due to Harper’s ongoing support for Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu, who also found himself fending off Obama apparatchiks and funding in his own recent election. Should Harper fall in today’s election, Israel may have lost its last loyal friend in world politics.

We don’t get much news about our northern neighbors, and that’s a shame. A strong and prosperous Canada is certainly in the USA’s best interests, and we naturally wish them success and prosperity. Plus, the Canadian election may be a leading indicator of the political winds that could shape our own campaign season next year.

Here’s hoping Harper and the Canadian Conservative Party pull through.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

No, his mind is not for rent
To any God or government
Always hopeful yet discontent
He knows changes aren’t permanent

Tom Sawyer – Rush

Rush – Canada’s Best! And for the critics – tell me again that a three-piece band is just not “full” enough . . .

Hurry! Free Lunch! Right Over Here! It’s Free!

Posted on October 14, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard 2

free lunch Free! It’s all free! Vote for me, and I’ll give you a free college education, free health care, open borders with free everything for every poor person who walks in! Step right up, it’s free, free, free!

Last night’s Democrat presidential primary was my first good look at the Bernie Sanders Show, and it did not disappoint. I knew that Sanders is a socialist – a magna cum laude graduate of Robin Hood University. Still, I just couldn’t picture in my mind a grown man trying to convince people that there IS such a thing as a free lunch. With a straight face.

The throng of helpless college girls (plus Debbie Wasserman Schultz) screaming lustily for this tired old draft-dodger was bizarrely reminiscent of a Beatles gig at Shea Stadium. These poor kids apparently had no parents, or at least no adults, to guide them through adolescence.

When I was their age, my hard-working, truck-driving dad drilled his one-line lessons into me enough times that they stuck. “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” he would say. “If it looks too good to be true, it’s not true.” “Nothing that’s free is worth having.” “If somebody gives you something for free, they want something from you.”

And my everyday experiences have repeatedly proved him right. My dad made me work all summer to pay for the motorbike I wanted. I treasured that little Honda and never allowed so much as a speck of dust to tarnish a chrome spoke. When I outgrew the bike, my Dad bought it from me and gave it to my little brother, who destroyed it within a few weeks. It was free, so it just didn’t have much value to him.

Have you ever accepted a free weekend at a time-share? Or a free dinner from a financial planner? Or a free campaign contribution from General Electric? All come with “strings attached”.

For decades our public schools and liberal universities have taught us to never question an academic authority. Or a Democrat. Free stuff? Why not, you deserve it. If you are poor, you are a hero, and even more deserving! Don’t ask where all the free stuff will come from! Don’t look behind the curtain at the wizard making all the promises, or question his motives!

I expected it, but the Sanders Show still saddened me deeply. The $20 trillion national debt (over $100 trillion of unfunded liabilities) was never mentioned. Nobody wondered whether the rich would remain in the USA when faced with having their wealth stolen. Sanders didn’t even flinch when Hillary pointed out that producing goods and services actually does matter. Sanders apparently really believes that government handouts grow on trees, and the Freebie Forest will never run out of fruit.

That any adult American can swallow Sanders’ unfiltered Jonestown KoolAid is a terrifying indictment of our failure as parents, educators, and elected officials.

Please grab your kid. And his teacher. And make them repeat after you, “There is no such thing as a free lunch . . . There is no such thing as a free lunch . . . There is no such thing as a free lunch . . .”

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Yeah there was ham and there was turkey,
There was caviar
And long tall glasses, with wine up to “hyar”!
Then somebody grabbed me, threw me outta my chair
Said before you can eat,
You gotta dance like Fred Astaire!

Long Tall Glasses – Leo Sayer

Leo Sayer is still having fun after all these years. And he says there is no such thing as a free lunch!

Corruption – Time To Raise A Little Hell

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

75% of Americans think our government is corrupt. No kidding?

Everybody knows the game:

Taxpayers give money to government.

Corrupt politicians give some of that money (or favors) to organizations

Organizations kick back some of the money to the corrupt politicians as campaign contributions.

The politicians use the dirty money to get re-elected.

Return to number 1.

The corruption game is nothing new. Call it payola, quid pro quo, scratch my back – it has gone on ever since the first government came into being, and still occurs all over the world. In Mexico and similar “banana republics” nothing gets done by government without illegal payoffs.

No, the corruption game isn’t new, but the playbook has changed. Until recently, corrupt deals were made between public officials and private businesses. That arrangement was problematic – when the public found out about massive corruption (back then we had real journalism) the citizens would raise hell until the corruption was at least somewhat beat down. They didn’t like their tax dollars going to fat cat big business operators. But corrupt politicians didn’t appreciate these temporary interruptions in the game. So instead of using corporate cronies to fatten their wallets, they learned to cycle the dirty money through government employee unions, quasi-government organizations and NGO’s (non-governmental organizations) instead of private businesses.

This week’s scandal du jour is the uproar over Planned Parenthood’s use of taxpayer money for purposes that most citizens find repugnant. The dollars aren’t huge – only a half a billion or so – but what they do with the money sure has a lot of taxpayers’ underwear in a knot. Moreover, Planned Parenthood uses a good chunk of the money for campaign contributions and lobbying. They claim the government funds they get are applied only to honorable pursuits. But we all know that money is “fungible”.

Remember Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? These behemoth quasi-government organizations almost buried our economy in 2008 when the real-estate bubble of their creation popped and the government bailed out the big banks. Even President Obama, a master of quid pro quo, called the Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac business model “heads we win, tails you lose.” We really still haven’t recovered. But the Fannie and Freddy corruption machine keeps chugging along, making big contributions to campaigns, paying monster salaries to its officials, and playing fast and loose with taxpayer money with almost no oversight.

Government employee unions are now the largest group of contributors to political campaigns. What a concept: the unions contribute taxpayer money to the very politicians who promise to protect their jobs and raise their wages. Jefferson would have loved that one.

Another cool quasi-government corruption setup is the Export/Import Bank, which uses taxpayer money to make risk-free loans that benefit crony corporations like Boeing, General Electric, and Caterpillar, to foreign governments and companies, some of whom actually compete with other domestic companies. There are all kinds of opportunities for bank employees to profit personally from shady arrangements. Some honest legislators, prodded by conservative constituents, may have finally put an end to this game, although General Electric and their political partners in crime are trying hard to keep it going.

And it’s not just about dirty politicians seeking campaign funds any more; federal agencies are in on the act. They now extort funds from US companies by threatening huge fines for trumped-up regulatory violations. Agencies like the EPA, FCC, NLRB and others routinely set up schemes that trade a “consent decree” (an agreement to not destroy a business with a long, expensive legal action) for cash. The feds also use consent decrees to take control over local government operations, such as police departments and local utilities.

Some federal corruption is simple and creative. Conservatives in Congress were furious to learn that VA Administration bigshots received big bonuses by faking the real performance records of their agency while patients died waiting for care. When the congressmen found out these guys could not be fired (this belongs in Ripley’s Believe It or Not!) they passed a law that making it possible to fire VA officials. So how many were fired? You guessed it. Zero.

The exploding corruption culture in Washington, DC is not a partisan issue – both Democrats and Republicans say they oppose corruption, but only a few true Conservatives are making any effort to do something about it. Leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump admitted paying off politicians. One can only assume the practice would continue under his watch.

One thing hasn’t changed. The only way to kill corruption, or at least slow it down, is for citizens to raise hell about it.

Ask your public officials and candidates what they plan to do about corruption. Give them specific examples. Most of them don’t mention the issue and haven’t even thought about it. Let’s raise a little hell.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

If you want to see an angel
You got to find it where it fell
If you want to get to heaven
You got to raise a little hell

If You Want To Get To Heaven –
Ozark Mountain Daredevils

Another great seventies band, still on the road, gray hair and all, bangin’ on guitars!

Americans Agree More Than You Think

Posted on September 25, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

we agree If you listen to the network news, you probably think that most Americans favor abortion. You would be wrong. According to recent Gallup polling data, 70% of Americans think abortion should be always illegal or only allowed under certain circumstances, such as rape, incest, and life of the mother.

If you listen to the talking heads, you would think almost everybody opposes voter ID requirements to prevent election fraud. False. Rasmussen polls show 78 percent of voters are in favor of requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship.

You hear daily that you are out of the mainstream if you think illegal immigration is a big problem in this country. But that’s not true either – Rasmussen says 80% of voters consider it a very serious problem.

When it comes right down to it, Americans still share basic conservative values, despite the rapidly changing demographics. We pretty much all think it is wrong to harvest baby parts for profit. We support our policemen, firemen, and servicemen and women. We want to have a strong military, affordable health care, and safe roads and streets. We don’t like it when race-hustlers try to gin up conflicts among us. We want to raise our families and run our businesses without the government taking huge chunks of our paychecks and then trying to control every detail of our lives. We hate it when we find out the government is in bed with big business. We don’t want our country flooded with unvetted third-world foreigners who have no intention of becoming Americans. And we sure don’t think non-citizens are entitled to benefits at our expense.

These are not partisan issues. The vast majority of us agree.

So why won’t our elected officials do what we – the majority of Americans – elected them to do? And why won’t the media tell the truth about our shared American values?

Fortunately, it is not yet completely out of our control. We can make our elected officials represent us, and we can make them clean up the cesspool that our federal government has become. Elections have consequences, but so does good old-fashioned communication. If you want your congressman to know what your expectations are, you should be in frequent enough contact that he or she knows your name. If you are tired of manipulative media organizations, you can let them know your disapproval or turn them off. And if your neighbor, your father-in-law, your preacher or your teacher disagrees with the majority of us, you can persuade and invite them to join us in celebrating our shared American values.

For over a year I have been attending political and presidential campaign events. Whenever Speaker Boehner’s and Leader McConnell’s names are mentioned, there is a unanimous and resounding boo from the audience. The GOP candidates routinely advocate dumping the congressional leadership for a guaranteed ovation. Today’s news that Speaker Boehner will step down proves that Americans agree it is time for change, in such numbers that he had no choice.

Yes, these are dangerous times. Yes, there is corruption all around us. But please don’t believe that you are the one who is out of step. Americans agree much more than the idealogues want us to know. If we stand firm by our common values, our grandchildren still might have a nation worth living in.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Right, you’re bloody well right
You know you got a right to say
Right, you’re bloody well right
You know you got a right to say

Bloody Well Right – Supertramp

There’s no mistaking Supertramp’s Fender Rhodes signature electric piano sound. They are still rockin’, and here’s a great live take on one of their super hits.

“Most Govt. Spending Is Mandatory – That’s BS

Posted on September 13, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

Federal officials and elite media pundits ridicule conservatives who demand lower government spending levels. They say only 24% of the budget is discretionary, and most of that is military spending, so there is nothing anybody can do about increased spending and debt without taking a hatchet to social security benefits.

Horse Hockey. There is a heck of a lot of discretion in that “mandatory” spending.

The Heritage Foundation points out that in 1965 only 27% of federal spending was mandatory. By last year mandatory spending had grown to 63% of the total, and it’s not just a function of our aging population. Over time our government has pushed a ton of new spending into the mandatory category.

Our government has made the discretionary decision to give millions of legal and illegal immigrants and refugees social security benefits, medicaid, disability, earned income credits, and a host of other “mandatory” federal benefits and subsidies. The majority of foreign-born in our country are on one or more welfare programs. And this does not even begin to address the cost of education, health care, fraudulent tax returns, cost of police and prisons and other infrastructure that cost billions. Our government has made the discretionary decision to not enforce the borders, to not follow up on visa violations, and to not keep illegal alien criminals out of the country. There is nothing mandatory about inviting foreigners to dip into the American taxpayers’ soup.

Our government has also made the discretionary decision to not crack down on waste and fraud in the mandatory spending programs. A study by Senator Tom Coburn’s office indicated as many as 45% of disability claims were questionable. Social security and food stamp fraud is rampant.

When it comes to spending, our government doesn’t have a reputation for using good discretion. It has dropped billions of public dollars on corrupt and hopelessly inefficient green energy programs and other corporate cronies. It has stifled economic development with disingenuous environmental and social programs. By its fed policy to eliminate interest, it has destroyed the US currency and transferred much of the wealth saved by a generation of middle class families to the big banks and their benefactors.

Our government has made discretionary payroll decisions that have resulted in government workers earning far greater compensation than private sector workers do, and many of them are frightfully ineffective and inefficient. Five of the six wealthiest counties in the United States are Washington, DC suburbs. Much of the cost of these discretionary payroll decisions are embedded in mandatory spending.

Worst of all, our government has made the discretionary decision to pass on an insolvent nation to our future generations by refusing for decades to even write, much less balance, an honest zero-based budget. They didn’t have to do it, they chose to, pandering for the votes that bring them personal power and wealth.

I, for one, am tired of hearing that there is nothing anybody can do to reduce government spending because it is “mostly mandatory”. Elections have consequences, so we had better elect people who won’t use lame excuses to defend this unsustainable spending and debt.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

You made me love you,
I didn’t want to do it!
I didn’t want to do it!
You made me want you,
And all the time you knew it!
I guess you always knew it!

You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Want To Do It) – Judy Garland

Charlotte Taxpayers Get Fouled Again On Stadium Upgrades

Posted on August 18, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard 1

TIME WARNER ARENA – photo by LeighSells.com

Charlotte won its bid to host the 2017 NBA All-Star game, and already the calculators are overheating.

Last fall Charlotte’s city council committed local taxpayers to $27.5 million in upgrades to Time Warner Arena, enough to persuade NBA commissioner Adam Silver that the Queen City deserves the event. The city will spend at least an additional $6 million on All-Star Weekend, including a $600,000 hosting fee to the league and another $600,000 in incremental police, fire, and medical costs.

The city of Charlotte shares ownership of Time Warner Arena with the Charlotte Hornets, having paid $260 million of the original construction cost in 2005. The arena replaced the Charlotte Coliseum, which was built in 1988 and was the home of the Hornets for 17 years before it was demolished despite a public outcry.

About $1.5 million of the cost will be paid from hospitality taxes and the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority is forking over a similar amount. Mecklenburg County and the state of North Carolina will also be asked to chip in, but the rest of the cost will be borne by city taxpayers. Hornets owner Michael Jordan, who boasts a net worth of $1 billion thanks to the appreciation in the value of his team, has offered to pay $150,000 of the tab out of concession profits.

Charlotte Mayor pro tem Michael Barnes said, “We have to invest in assets the city owns.” The city’s somewhat vague contract requires it to maintain a facility that is “among the NBA’s most modern”. The city council approved the spending on a partisan 9-2 vote. One of the dissenters, Republican Ed Driggs, thinks the taxpayers are on the receiving end of a flagrant foul.

“Many don’t believe public money should be used to subsidize a for-profit business,” Driggs told the Charlotte News Observer. “How do we rationalize the terms of this? We pay all the capital costs and receive no proceeds. What kind of partnership is this?”

Charlotte taxpayers are still looking for an ‘unnecessary roughness’ penalty flag after the city council gave NFL owner Jerry Richardson $87.5 million for questionable improvements to Panther Stadium. And the fiscal finish line is nowhere in sight for the uptown money-pit Nascar Hall of Fame, which cost $194 million in public funds and is still losing over a million bucks a year.

The residents of Charlotte own some of the finest sports facilities that money can buy, but most can’t afford to enjoy them, thanks to ever-escalating ticket and concession prices. The players seem to have more success negotiating with team owners, as evidenced by Cam Newton’s new $104 million contract with the Panthers.

Maybe Charlotte taxpayers need a new agent.

• this article can be seen in its entirety at Watchdog Arena, a sponsor of “Rockin’ On the Right Side” •

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Sometimes building ivory towers, sometimes knocking castles down
Sometimes building you a stairway, lock you underground
It’s that old-time religion, it’s the kingdom they would rule
It’s the fool on television, getting paid to play the fool

The Big Money – Rush

I play in a three-piece band on weekends and am occasionally looked down upon by a prospective venue booker who thinks that it takes a bunch of musicians to make good music. Hmm. Here’s a pretty darn good little three-piece band: