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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