Some Indiana residents aren't thrilled about paying for new Bears stadium

Indiana wants to build a new stadium for the Bears with taxpayer money. Some Indiana taxpayers aren't happy with that.

Via Robert McCoppin of the Chicago Tribune, folks don't like the prospect of the public pocket being picked for this kind of project — especially at a time when utility bills in the Hammond, Indiana area are spiraling out of control.

"A lot of blue-collar people in the area are struggling to get by,” WJOB-AM radio host Chuck Pullen said. "They’re asking, where’s our local and state government to help us? And why do the Bears get this special treatment?"

The 10-figure package will be funded by a one-percent food and beverage tax in Lake and Porter counties, a five-percent tax increase on hotel rooms in Lake County, and a 12-percent admissions tax. The law enacted last week also will include toll roads and a new special taxing district.

Americans for Prosperity in Indiana, a libertarian organization, shifted its stance from neutral to opposed once the tax burden became known.

"It exposes taxpayers to massive financial risk while delivering little public benefit,” the group wrote, per McCoppin. “Decades of economic research show stadium subsidies fail to generate net growth, and this proposal repeats the same mistakes — granting broad powers, open-ended liabilities, and special treatment for a private sports franchise at taxpayer expense. We welcome the Bears and private investment coming to Indiana, but it should not be on the back of state and local taxpayers."

But that's the stadium politics game. Public votes on taxpayer-funded stadium initiatives will fail more than 99 times out of 100. Somehow, those who periodically run for office have no qualms about supporting strategies that bypass the ballot box.

Usually, the explanation is that politicians view the potential fallout from losing the team as being worse than the criticism of committing public money to the effort to keep them from leaving. In Indiana, the legislators apparently perceive a boost from luring the Bears across the Illinois border that outweighs the possible fallout.

The Indiana taxpayers may ultimately get their wish; the Bears haven't signed a deal, and Illinois has yet to surrender the team.

However it plays out, the Bears will get their new stadium without having to pay for all of it.