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An open letter to the White Elephant Committee

By Don Heavrin

          In Louisville, Kentucky, my hometown, there’s a movement under way to build a new basketball arena.  The political powers love to spend taxpayer money, and this is their latest boondoggle.  I have written several letters regarding the proposed arena.  Set out below is my most recent contribution.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

          The morning newspaper carried the astonishing news that the state may fall short of meeting its budget.  To combat this unfortunate circumstance, I have a suggestion.  Let’s build a basketball arena in downtown Louisville.  The arena, which will cost about a hundred million dollars, will be over budget and behind schedule from the first day.

It will disrupt existing businesses in downtown Louisville, e.g., blocked

streets, traffic jams, large trucks and detours.

          Once it is finally completed, it will somehow magically take care of

itself, OR it will need a crew to maintain and manage the facility.  You

decide?

          After the cost of maintenance and management is deducted, the first hundred million dollars the White Elephant makes will be used to retire the bond issue that is going to be floated to finance the Elephant.  Of course, it

will never make a net profit of a hundred million dollars, and, therefore,

the taxpayers will be shackled in another nightmare that is politically

popular at the present moment.

          The stated reason for building the eighth wonder of the world is that it

will stimulate the economy.  Sorry, there is no stimulation here, and the

results will be negative.  The committees and politicians who thought of

this astonishing waste will be long gone before the public realizes this was

a screw-up of cosmic proportions, and the shortfall in the state budget will increase exponentially unless taxes are drastically increased.  Thank God we have a Republican governor whose party puts fiscal responsibility first.

Respectfully submitted,

Donald M. Heavrin

A cautious observer of

the human experience

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