The RNC also rented the Forum run by the Tampa Bay Lightning to hold the nominating event, although the Lightning is being very tight-lipped about the business deals they have made with the Republican Party, in stark contrast to the city itself which smells windfall, or something like it. The $160,000.00 a week rental fee being paid by the Republicans for the convention center in Tampa will dwarf last summers financial performance of the convention center, although during the summer of 2011 the convention center still produced a profit of about three million, which gets applied to the citys operating expenses and other costs. Tampa is happy, and there are dollar signs in the eyes of those who worship that kind of thing, which is nearly everyone in this starving little place.
