Bill Clinton: “Well, let me put it in more positive terms with regard to the Nets. I think that taxpayers finance these things because…”

“Well, let me put it in more positive terms with regard to the Nets. I think that taxpayers finance these things because they enjoy having professional teams in their communities, because they believe it brings their communities some prestige, and because they think it generates a lot of other economic activity. But I think that the opportunity for a professional sports team to give something back to the community on a scale far greater than anything that's happened so far is embodied by what the Nets are doing. I mean, this is a stunning thing that Lew Katz and Ray Chambers are doing with the Nets. And now, you know, they're partners with the Yankees, and so they've got a smaller percentage of the overall joint operations are going into community operations not only in Newark, New Jersey, but also in the Bronx, where the Yankees are. I just think it's amazing. Here are these two guys that have made a lot of money, and they're going to dedicate almost 40 percent of the profits of this sports franchise to redeveloping the economy and developing the lives of the children of Newark. I think that is an amazing thing. Mr. Patrick. I think it's great. I think it's great, but I'm worried. We finance these stadiums. Should taxpayers finance the stadiums if we don't have any say on when those teams can leave?”