But this whole "capitalism needs to be fair" is beyond ridiculous... Capitalism is not a sport Seth.
Of course there should not be subsidies in this case UNLESS the city of SIlver SPring or whatever it is can demonstrate that the benefits to the city will outweigh the subsidy...They presumably have to do this to their citizens (voters) or they will be run out of office.
Again Seth, are you against the city of DC subsidizing the Lincoln Theatre? Why not express your outrage and refuse to book at the place? Oh, because they don't directly compete with you? Are you against subsidizing Ben's Chili Bown in spite of its historic nature? Why have their 50th party at the 930 then? WHat about the guy who is trying to compete with Ben's? Are you suing on his behalf? (Note: I am not saying I am for or against any subsidy) What about the Howard Theater?
My job is to advocate for competitive markets for a particular industry. It is not capitalism, or competition, if the playing field is not level. That is what Seth is suing over, and I believe he's right to do so. A full, open RFP to assess the true costs of each project is reasonable and should be required. Yes, of course competition is never in a pure state, but there are certain basic elements that should be assumed -- a fair, transparent bidding process, for instance.
It's a deflection to call Seth out for not opposing subsidies for other entities. It's not his job to try to make the entire world safe for competition, but it makes sense to do so for that part of the world in which he works every day and has invested 30 years of dedication. Sure it helps to keep LN in particular from building the Fillmore -- not only for the subsidies, but because they are a national monopoly -- both a vertical and horizontal monopoly -- that exert their market power at every turn. In this sitch, it's the subsidies that Seth can go after legally and, I believe, rightly.
That it is politicians who are voted in to office making these decisions is no excuse -- I would bet big that 99.5% of the voters in Silver Spring are not voting based on how the Fillmore is being handled, but a whole host of other issues that are important to their daily lives. Ditto that it is not the Fillmore that causes citizens to exclaim, "we have to throw these bums out!" Well, until the project runs $25 million over budget and the city is responsible, but then it will be too late and any action or vote would be ex post, and useless.
