Prepare for a full spit-spewing denial from the left.


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http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67Q5BW20100827

Ground Zero Muslim center may get public financing

(Reuters) - The Muslim center planned near the site of the World Trade 
Center attack could qualify for tax-free financing, a spokesman for City 
Comptroller John Liu said on Friday, and Liu is willing to consider 
approving the public subsidy.

The Democratic comptroller's spokesman, Scott Sieber, said Liu supported 
the project. The center has sparked an intense debate over U.S. 
religious freedoms and the sanctity of the Trade Center site, where 
nearly 3,000 perished in the September 11, 2001 attack.

"If it turns out to be financially feasible and if they can demonstrate 
an ability to pay off the bonds and comply with the laws concerning tax-
exempt financing, we'd certainly consider it," Sieber told Reuters.

Spokesmen for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Governor David Paterson and the 
Islamic center and were not immediately available.

The proposed center, two blocks from the Trade Center site in lower 
Manhattan, has caused a split between people who lost relatives and 
friends in the attack, as well as conservative politicians, and those 
who support the project. Among those who support it are the mayor, civic 
and religious groups, and some families of victims.

The mosque's backers hope to raise a total of $70 million in tax-exempt 
debt to build the center, according to the New York Times. Tax laws 
allow such funding for religiously affiliated non-profits if they can 
prove the facility will benefit the general public and their religious 
activities are funded separately.

The bonds could be issued through a local development corporation 
created for this purpose, experts said.

The Islamic center would have to repay the bonds, which likely would be 
less expensive than taxable debt.

New York City's Industrial Development Authority could not issue debt 
for the center because the state civic facilities law, which governed 
this type of financing for non-profits, was allowed to expire about two 
years ago.

(Reporting by Joan Gralla; Editing by Dan Grebler)

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