“Thanks to Congressman Russell’s No Tax Subsidies for Stadiums Act (H.R. 811), which was included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a plug was jammed in the proverbial ‘tax loophole’ so ardently hawked by NFL bigwigs.”
Gotta love it when the US House of Representatives pass laws to serve the constituency while spanking the hands of self-entitled poachers otherwise known as the NFL. Also admirable to know karma doesn’t blink and responds to nonsense with the right punctuation at the most appropriate time. Despite the cry-baby ways of excessively-paid football players and the billionaire-owned teams they “work” for, the buck stops with the House of Representatives’ tax bill —Tax Cuts and Jobs Act— which passed November 16, 2017.
The US House cut the NFL completely out of the stadium-subsidizing pie. The honey-hole which ordinarily built football stadiums via municipal bonds and tax subsidies is essentially no more.
My loophole-closing tax reform bill is included in the @HouseGOP Tax Cuts and Jobs Act introduced today. #TaxReform https://t.co/6wkkGu7VOv
— Rep. Steve Russell (@RepRussell) November 2, 2017
Rest-assured, Congressman Steve Russell (R-OK) placed a big bold exclamation point behind the words “In my own view, they can take the football and shove it!” Hear that, NFL?
Thanks to Congressman Russell’s No Tax Subsidies for Stadiums Act (H.R. 811), which was included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a plug was jammed in the proverbial “tax loophole” so ardently hawked by NFL bigwigs. Rep. Russell slammed the front and rear doors with his stadium-specific Act , saying it “prohibit the use of tax-exempt municipal bonds for the construction of stadiums, closing a decades old loophole in the tax code. Municipal bonds are intended to provide capital for infrastructure such as roads or schools, yet for more than 30 years stadium financiers have exploited a tax code loophole to build for-profit stadiums on the backs of American taxpayers.” And with that, the NFL players’ field advantage is upended like a boardgame.
And with that, the NFL players’ field advantage is upended like a boardgame.
Notice the part attesting the “decades-old loophole in the tax code”? How quaint. For a thoroughly long tme, tax payers ponied-up funds for football stadiums under the premise of it’ll be great for the community while NFL franchisees pocketed millions for themselves. I bet that buys a lot of kneepads for players airing out political-statement laundry on land deeded by American tax dole. Indeed, only in America.
The Brookings Institution reported that, “In fact, after twenty years of academic research on the topic, ‘peer reviewed economics journals contain almost no evidence,’ that sports stadiums or franchises measurably improve local economies,” calling them “losing bets.” Nevertheless, thanks to the No Tax Subsidies for Stadiums Act, the buck stops here.
Credit: Facebook/Robin Hood Tax USA
The Patriotic Viral News wrote, “While NFL ratings are plummeting to the sewers, GOP lawmakers are working to close tax loopholes that have been exploited by team owners for years.”
“While NFL ratings are plummeting to the sewers, GOP lawmakers are working to close tax loopholes that have been exploited by team owners for years.”
The Ways and Means Committee published a section-by-section accounting of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and the portion written by Rep. Russell can be found on page 54, Section 3604. With Rep. Russell’s bill, provisions “would increase [federal] revenues by $0.2 billion over 2017-2027.”
As the Brookings Institution published in May 2015, “Even if one buys the argument that local taxpayers win from subsidizing a team to locate in their area, there’s no reason that federal taxpayers should be part of this bidding war.” Roger that!
Military Man
A retired US Army officer whose soldiers perished in Iraq, Rep. Russell makes no bones about fighting for freedoms Americans enjoy while attesting he has,
“zero sympathy for suffering millionaires who somehow feel slighted and feel they need to protest because they’ve somehow have had their privileges violated. It’s a free country. I fought for that right, but I have absolutely no sympathy for it [NFL players’ rebellion]. In my own view, they can take that football and shove it!”
No mincing words. No, not from a man who served and watched military soldiers die under the American flag…not from a man who admits the human tug of filling body bags with dead soldiers.
This is what Cindy & I looked like the last time America had tax reform- in 1986. With the FY18 budget resolution passed on October 26, and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act introduced on November 2, we're now on our way toward historic tax reform. Read more here: https://t.co/Tv2ZBGsFCW pic.twitter.com/DrAF4WL7GH
— Rep. Steve Russell (@RepRussell) November 8, 2017
As Rep. Russell describes the honor of serving Americans both in the military and the US House, near-death experiences as a soldier were “sobering” while emphasizing the importance of the US Constitution. Rep. Russell’s combat experiences while commanding the task force which aided the capture of despot Saddam Hussein echoed American patriotism. As such, Congressman Russell holds to task those weakened weekend kneelers while representing citizens’ as their “watchdog of government waste” with a sharp focus on taxation issues.
Jonesing
What do you do when something blows up in your face and you know you are wholly responsible? You become even more irresponsible and try to take the onus off of you. You blame someone or something else.
According to Sports Illustrated, the NFL sent a letter to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, accusing him of ”conduct detrimental to the league’s best interests.” That bravo-slap was reportedly influenced by Jones’ publicized objection to league Commissioner Roger Goodell’s contract extension.
All’s not well in NFL paradise. League Commissioner Roger Goodell and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones have been bumping heads lately over the league’s future and questionable leadership. (Credit: Facebook/NFL for Life)
According to a November 17, 2017 ESPN report, Jones allegedly fired the latest shot across Commissioner Goodell’s bow, saying “I’m gonna come after you with everything I have. If you think Bob Kraft came after you hard, Bob Kraft is a p—y compared to what I’m going to do.” Jonesing? Infighting? Family laundry being aired while “fans” are further repulsed by the NFL tempo? Yes, yes, and yes. As a former NFL fan, it was all so very taxing.
Sports Illustrated commentators discussed Jones as the NFL’s “de facto commissioner.”
Cutting the NFL from the tax teet while also preventing Colin cancer is an overdue write-off.
Many have held Mr. Goodell to account for the leagues woes and continuing downward spiral. Clearly, Jones is fanning those particular flames and the smoke signals are clouding what is left of a fan-base.
It is delightful to stick it to the man whose reach has been pilfering American wallets and purses for far too long. Cutting the NFL from the tax teet while also preventing Colin cancer is an overdue write-off.
Rep. Steve Russell pitched a zinger in a One America News Network video when he asked, “Who out there in America thinks that professional sports leagues do not have access to capital?”
How do you think the US Senate will weigh in?
