Here’s Monday’s open line. W  had Internet troubles all afternoon and so the daily news/comment video was late.. I took refuge at home where AT&T wireless continued to function. ALSO

* TAXPAYER LAWSUIT IN BENTON: An ad hoc group has sued the city of Benton for diverting sales tax revenue to subsidize a private shopping center, specifically by providing infrastructure. Good for them. Voters didn’t specifiy  corporate welfare as a purpose of the sales tax when they approved it. They could ask for an election on this, but it would be a hard one to win. Why should city taxpayers pay to reduce the capital costs of one set of retailers over another, especially those already in the city paying their own way? There is no good answer, but it has become the next thing to Gospel in Arkansas, promulgated by suits at chambers of commerce all over the state. See Little Rock. Nobody at the LR C of C thinks anybody would start a tech business in Little Rockwithout a government handout first, thus the taxpayer-financed tech park, still waiting for its first dollar of private equity investment.

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