The Uptake will have live coverage of the Vikings stadium debate and vote on Monday (video below.) On Sunday evening, Representative Ryan Winkler announced that he was switching his vote and would now vote in favor of the stadium deal, citing the need to create jobs in Minnesota and the legislature’s utter failure to pass any other job-creating legislation. His press release concluded:
“It has become clear, however, that the current political environment of the state capitol is not capable of producing any other job or economic growth initiative besides the Vikings stadium bill. We face a choice, at the end of the legislative session, between doing nothing or spending our limited resources on a project with a limited return on investment.
“Yet, as voters experience in every election, politics often comes down to a choice between two imperfect options. I have decided that a flawed plan for creating jobs in Minnesota is better than no plan at all. In future years I hope that we will go on to do big things that will pay dividends for generations. But in 2012 we will have to be satisfied to do the best we can and hope for better years to come.
“For the sake of making what little progress on jobs that we can this year, I have decided to vote ‘yes’ on the Vikings stadium. In the years ahead, I hope Minnesotans will demand more from their government, and I hope that their elected officials will start to deliver.”
Watch the debate and vote below:
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