“A lot of left-wing media and bloggers have reacted very negatively, writing a lot of false information. They only represent a minority of the people in this nation. The majority of people in this area and across the nation are supportive. The statistics show about 200 million people would want to come if the ark were rebuilt. Locally, the majority of people are really thrilled because it’s family-friendly and it would bring hundreds of jobs to the region,” said Ham.
“There is a growing anti-Christian element in this nation,” Ham added. “This has opened people’s eyes about how anti-Christian these people and some in the media have become.”
Yeah, 2/3rds of the entire country would come to see it. That's all contained in the park's feasibility study, commissioned by Ken Ham's business partner...and oh, Governor Steve Beshear's office has never seen it.
When Gov. Steve Beshear held a Capitol news conference to announce potential state tax incentives for an amusement park built around a life-size Noah's Ark earlier this month, he cited a feasibility study that predicted the park would attract 1.6 million visitors in its first year.
However, neither Beshear nor other state officials had seen or read the study, which was commissioned by Ark Encounter, LLC, the group building the theme park.
The state doesn't have a copy of the report, according to responses to requests under the Open Records Act sent by the Herald-Leader to the state tourism and economic development departments and to the governor's office.
Officials with Ark Encounter also declined to give the Herald-Leader a copy of the 10,000-page report, including its 200-page executive summary.
To recap:
Ken Ham and his Ark Encounter guys are putting dinosaurs on their little replica Ark in Grant County, they have a 10,000 page report saying 200 million people will come to see it, nobody's actually seen the report, and the state has just unanimously given the preliminary green light for the $37.5 million in tax breaks based on attendance from the feasibility report...a report nobody in the state government has actually read or even seen.
Do you see why as a Kentucky taxpayer I just might have a bit of a problem with this deal here?
If it turns out the feasibility report is complete bull, the Ark Encounter guys lose their tax break. The report hasn't been seen yet. The Arts Cabinet voted unanimously to give them the tax break anyway...and none of them saw the report.
Gov. Steve Beshear, you have a massive, massive problem here. And when the Yabba Dabba D'oh blows up in your face, don't act surprised.
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