Coyote Blog

23 Comments

1. Bloke in North Dorset:

   Off topic but here's a Kiwi economist who has the same dislike of city funded spots stadiums as you: http://antidismal.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/stadiums

   "It is often said that economists don't agree on anything, well that's not quite true. One thing they do agree on is that building sports stadiums is just not worth it.

   As Adam M. Zaretsky has put it,
   When studying this issue, almost all economists and development specialists (at least those who work independently and not for a chamber of commerce or similar organization) conclude that the rate of return a city or metropolitan area receives for its investment [in stadiums] is generally below that of alternative projects. In addition, evidence suggests that cities and metro areas that have invested heavily in sports stadiums and arenas have, on average, experienced slower income growth than those that have not."

   October 24, 2016, 1:23 pm

2. NeoWayland:

   About bloody time.

   October 24, 2016, 1:31 pm

3. Dave Boz:

   Huh. Lots of undecideds. Not me, though: I only cared about 2 races this year, and voted for Whoever's Opposing Arpaio, and Whoever's Opposing Montgomery.

   The rest of the offices are up to you guys.

   October 24, 2016, 1:46 pm

4. Jens Fiederer:

   Sadly that is just one poll.

   October 24, 2016, 4:15 pm

5. Thane_Eichenauer:

   Joe Downs for Maricopa county Treasurer is worth looking at.
   https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQpK1OQZGTs4Kv1ZePhzxpg

   October 24, 2016, 4:40 pm

6. johnmoore:

   Dang. I'm gonna miss the entertainment. And, he actually has done a lot of good. He's sort of like Nixon, flawed but pretty good otherwise.

   I'll vote for him again.

   October 24, 2016, 5:18 pm

7. herdgadfly:

   He is 84 so the GOP was stupid to run him again. The glee may be short-lived in Mudville, however, when property values decline and crime increases after the Donk Sheriff loosens the noose from around the necks of coyotes involved in smuggling illegals into Maricopa county.

   October 24, 2016, 7:45 pm

8. marque2:

   Too bad your kids are grown. It would be a great time to get an illegal nanny, with the illegal gardener, butler and maid.

   October 24, 2016, 8:04 pm

9. marque2:

   Exactly.

   October 24, 2016, 8:05 pm

10. Thane_Eichenauer:

    People choose to run. Arpaio wanted to run. Parties are groups that advocate for their candidates. In Arizona any person can run as any party they want.

    October 25, 2016, 2:38 am

11. Thane_Eichenauer:

    Arpaio is a gardener of incompetence. Research El Mirage sex crimes Arpaio if you dare.

    October 25, 2016, 2:40 am

12. Thane_Eichenauer:

    The real poll is underway.

    October 25, 2016, 2:40 am

13. johnmoore:

    Research tent city, or his very successful volunteer posses.

    Any large governmental organization will have areas of incompetence.

    October 25, 2016, 10:05 am

14. David in Michigan:

    "Sheriff Joe Arpaio is way behind in (a tiny) poll (singular)"

    It's meaningless and I for one am tired of everyone spinning every tiny thing to support their personnel beliefs. Don't like Arpaio? Tough shit. Many others do.

    October 25, 2016, 6:31 pm

15. Thane_Eichenauer:

    I had a friend stay in work release tent city if I were to grade based on one person it would get an F. I am willing to give the MSCO volunteer posse an A. The complete lack of followup in El Mirage of dozens of sex crimes after initial investigation is too much incompetence for me to balance against your examples. If you actually are interested in reading about El Mirage I am willing to read an article of your choosing on the value of tent city.
    I listened in person to former Phoenix cop Bill Louis tell the El Mirage story.
    http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/ex-police-chiefs-book-details-arpaios-negligence-in-el-mirage-cases-6454675

    October 25, 2016, 11:05 pm

16. Agammamon:

    Why would they 'smuggle illegals into Maricopa county'? Why not just drop them off in Pima or Yuma county and let them find their own way? Seems there would be less risk.

    October 26, 2016, 9:17 am

17. Agammamon:

    He hasn't done *any* good. He's gotten a lot of press about the shit he's done. Even if you support his actions, none of its actually been *effective*. And that's before taking into consideration the massive levels of misconduct the PCSD engages in and his own *personal* abuses of power and conspiracies.

    October 26, 2016, 9:19 am

18. marque2:

    It is sad, but par for the course for a large police department. I am not sure, say, LAPD, is any more responsive to rape allegations, or various other crimes.

    October 26, 2016, 5:52 pm

19. Thane_Eichenauer:

    I might agree with you if the cases involved were a small percentage. These were dozens of cases that had no followup. Read that article and tell me if this is a case of minor mistakes. I heard the account directly from Bill Louis. For sake of those victimized I wish it were only a case here and there.

    October 26, 2016, 10:44 pm

20. mlhouse:

    How could it be anything else?

    In my home state of Minnesota they just finished a $1.1 billion football stadium. It is pretty spectacular, but when you consider that the incremental value/purpose of the stadium is to host 10 sporting events per year it is absolutely not even close to being cost effective. Some people counter that "it does other events", but those events were hosted by the previous facility or other facilities built with public money (other stadiums and the convention center) using the same, but now overlapping, rationale.

    One thing that needs to be changed is the tax treatment of municipal bonds. The tax-free bonds allow cities and states to borrow more cheaply, and it is this subsidized ability to borrow that leads most of these cities into very poor decisions on capital spending.

    October 28, 2016, 5:29 am

21. TruthisaPeskyThing:

    Centuries ago, the Supreme Court ruled that municipal bonds would be tax exempt -- one level of government cannot tax another level. I cannot see that rule changing. There has been some needed reform a couple of decades ago: there is a limit on how much a debt a municipality can issue.

    October 30, 2016, 6:59 pm

22. mlhouse:

    Yeah, well the old Fuller Court decision, Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co., probably isn't really relevant anymore particularly since it was rendered before the passage of the 16th Amendment. The problem with the Pollock logic is that it it isn't a state or another level of government being taxed, but rather an individual (South Carolina v Baker).

    October 30, 2016, 8:05 pm

23. Mike:

    Maybe not such a silver lining after all...Arpaio's name is being floated for Homeland Security Secretary.

    November 14, 2016, 5:26 pm