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Spadafora Spadafora

Eden Prairie, MN
Commenter for
5 years 25 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 01/15/09 at 02:39 pm in response to Coleman-Franken recount: Musings on the lawyering of an election that doesn't end

Jay wrote: "So, let's get to the trial. Let's let three impartial judges kick it around. Let's win with humility. Let's lose with grace."

Three impartial judges should make the decision that serves our democracy best... have a runoff election.

Posted on 01/09/09 at 04:56 pm in response to 1,200 celebrate the long, abundant, controversial life of Carl Pohlad

I'm a little concerned here...

Jay, you said: "Bob(Pohlad), the most eloquent and emotional, talked of four words to describe his father: successful, complicated, simple and heart."

When I asked Jim Pohlad in 2005 why the Twins weren't working in partnership with the Vikings to build a joint stadia project, Jim said Red McCombs was too "complicated" for them to work with.

The next day I asked Ralph Strangis, the Twins legal council, the same question and he said Red was...

Posted on 01/06/09 at 08:02 pm in response to Canvassing Board recount wrap-up: Almost-Sen. Al Franken declares victory; almost-former Sen. Norm Coleman talks tough, weighs options

I still think a runoff election is the answer.

We'll forever question the outcome of this election until we do.

Democrats will never agree because they know Dean Barkley was the choice of more Democrats that couldn't vote for Franken than Republicans that couldn't vote for Coleman.

Posted on 01/06/09 at 08:16 am in response to Franken-Coleman recount: Secretary of State Ritchie to take elections reform initiative on the road soon

Eric, if the runoff vote totals were within 1/2% there would be an automatic recount.

1/2% of 3 million votes would have been 15,000 votes.

1/2% is probably a good estimate of the margin of error involved in our election system.

I'm not sure what the margin of error for our recount system is, but I am sure it's higher than 0.0075%.

Franken's absurdly slim margin of victory at this point in time should result in a runoff election if common sense prevails.

...

Posted on 01/05/09 at 01:08 pm in response to Franken-Coleman recount: Secretary of State Ritchie to take elections reform initiative on the road soon

Currently, Al Franken's margin of victory is 225 votes of nearly 3 million votes cast.

225 is 0.0075% of 3 million. That's one out of every 13,333 votes.

Does anyone not think the margin of error for MN's election system is far greater than one out of every 13,333 votes cast?

Isn't there an obvious need for a run-off election?

Posted on 12/05/08 at 03:54 pm in response to Connecting the purple dots of stadium politics and the Viking suspensions

good... then we agree.

We need a deal that's good for the Vikings and good for MN. NOT a "sweetheart" deal that great for the Vikings and bad for MN.

Posted on 12/05/08 at 10:44 am in response to Connecting the purple dots of stadium politics and the Viking suspensions

LA doesn't have one or two NFL franchises because there isn't a revenue generating pro-style football stadium there yet.

...and yes. Zygi's got up by the short hairs. He wins if he gets his "sweetheart" deal or not.

You realize he'll be able to sell the franchise in a couple years for at least $1 billion without a new stadium, don't you?

Zygi's on-track for matching Red's $500 million total profit "windfall" in six years. It took Red seven years.

Posted on 12/05/08 at 10:01 am in response to Connecting the purple dots of stadium politics and the Viking suspensions

Returning to the topic at hand...

Ideally, the Vikings winning a Super Bowl and Vikings players being good role models should help their stadium cause, but such things should NOT justify a "sweetheart" deal that's great for the team and bad for MN.

Posted on 12/05/08 at 09:24 am in response to Connecting the purple dots of stadium politics and the Viking suspensions

Of course we want to keep the Vikings in MN, but at what price?

The "sweetheart" deal Zygi's seeking is beyond belief.

A stadium deal that's good for the Vikings and good for MN is possible, but we're nowhere near it yet.

Posted on 12/05/08 at 07:25 am in response to Connecting the purple dots of stadium politics and the Viking suspensions

Who's going to pay for the $1 billion+ Vikings stadium project which doesn't include the value of the 20-acre Metrodome site, infrastructure, and various forms of tax relief.

What is the value of the publicly owned Metrodome site? You realize the 8-acre Twins stadium site, which is next to a garbage burner, cost over $30 million.

How much will the proposed Winter Garden LRT station, which will be funded with federal tax dollars, cost and how much will it add to value of the...