by Gracie Cleaver

Created on: January 25, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

April 15th the day that sends every Americans stomach sinking down to their toes. While stuffing our faces full of hotdogs and garlic-fries in an overcrowded stadium might be one way to dull the blow of watching the American government suck our money into the cesspool of national debt; I find the idea nothing short of repulsive.

While elementary school teachers, road workers and physical therapists average a yearly mean income between thirty-five and forty thousand dollars,* pro-athletes are making six figures. Why not just throw our tax paying dollars at Hollywood and let Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts float away to paradise? Meanwhile, back in reality, our public service agents (such as septic pipe cleaners and public sewer operators) rake in no more than thirty-two thousand dollars on a yearly average*. Welcome to American democracy.

How preposterous it seems to even consider using taxpayers' valuable, hard-earned dollars to support public stadiums when budget cutbacks in our very communities are already negatively affecting us! Take our public schools for example. Several states are in the process of removing music programs from their school activities. While the statistics repeatedly show that children actively involved in music tend to excel academically, socially and emotionally in both high school and college, budget cuts are far more important. The education of your children isn't enough for you? What about solemn truth that our healthcare system is increasingly desperate for research funding? People are dying right and left from curable disease while solutions lie untested due to lack of government funding

The idea that a stadium might increase community revenue is absolute propaganda. Sure, increased tourism will up the income to our hometowns but who cares? Before buying into this idea it would be crucial to see an actual breakdown of what happens to the money we spend on a ticket to a game what about the money spent on the parking ticket? But what stadium in their right mind would ever break that down for public inspection? Ah well, this must fall on deaf ears anyway. The average consumer isn't even aware that the nations debt has reached an all-time high of over nine TRILLION dollars*. So, put that in your beer bong and drink it!

* Statistics received from the United States Bureau of Labor
* Check the National debt for yourself at the National Treasury Website

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