Maybe it is time for the legislature to consider something besides a hotel tax to help local governments maintain their lush lifestyles. Tourism should be down with all these people losing discretionary spending capacity (speaking in the Synergese vernacular). More importantly, taxation without representation was never a good idea. With all the woes about insufficient funding and having to pick and choose who gets part of a finite sum, the lobby of the US Cellular Center will be getting a new look. I must say, of all the concert venues I’ve attended, I never once checked on the décor of the entry before deciding whether or not I ought to go. In fact, I have ENJOYED waiting in blustery cold for hours, sweltering in a thundershower, and even running knee-deep through water in tornadic conditions to get to concerts. Regardless, $1.4 million from hotel taxes will go toward satisfying that segment of the population that needs the right artistic ambience as their tickets are scanned, or if things continue in their current direction, as they get frisked and have their personal effects confiscated. Exactly which three people give a rip about the floor in the lobby, and for what purpose? Perhaps the heightened beer sales will make people more fascinated by the walls – or we could get a grant from somebody to make the walls so interesting everybody will be late for the show for want of more staring.