Why does baseball hate America? The
DCCC has posted a story in today's Roll Call that Republicans are threatening Major League Baseball with "consequences" if MLB allows George Soros to become part owner of the Washington Nationals.
While the Soros-Ledecky group is not seen as the frontrunner to win the bidding for the Nationals, who should be awarded to their new owner at the end of the 2005 season, the very prospect that Soros could have a stake in the team is enough to irritate Congressional Republicans.
"I think Major League Baseball understands the stakes," said Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis (R), the Northern Virginia lawmaker who recently convened high-profile steroid hearings. "I don't think they want to get involved in a political fight."
Davis, whose panel also oversees District of Columbia issues, said that if a Soros sale went through, "I don't think it's the Nats that get hurt. I think it's Major League Baseball that gets hurt. They enjoy all sorts of exemptions" from anti-trust laws.
So, what can happen?
Indeed, Hill Republicans could potentially make life difficult for MLB in a variety of ways. In addition to being exempt from anti-trust rules, baseball is still under scrutiny over the steroid issue. The Nats, meanwhile, hope to have a publicly-funded stadium built soon, though money for that venture is expected to come through the sale of bonds rather than a federal outlay.
"Why would Major League Baseball want to get involved with George Soros?" said the lawmaker. "It's about more than just the sale price."
What happened to the free market? Does it only apply to Republican Presidents' sons (hint: Texas Rangers). But what gets me is their talk about whether to fund the stadium.
Still, Rep. John Sweeney (R-N.Y.), vice chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee that covers the District of Columbia budget, said if Soros buys the team and seeks public funding for the new stadium or anything else, the GOP attitude would be, "Let him pay for it."
Great. Now why didn't they say that when W and his cronies made the people or Arlington, TX. pay for their stadium? If baseball is still the national pastime, I guess the question should be "Why do the Republicans hate America?"