Free Market
Jun 27th, 2005 at 11:40 am by Susie
Do you believe these assholes? Of course you do:
Earlier this month, Soros joined an ownership bid being led by entrepreneur Jonathan Ledecky. Their group is one of more than a half-dozen angling to take over the Nats, who are currently owned by Major League Baseball.
In addition to being a well-known currency speculator and philanthropist, Soros is also known in political circles for having pumped more than $20 million in the last cycle into groups seeking to unseat President Bush and elect Democrats.
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.
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.
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.”
“We’re not going to interfere with [the sale], but from a fan’s perspective, who needs the politics?” Sweeney said.
Another senior Republican lawmaker who requested anonymity said that the league should be aware of the perception problem that might be associated with selling the Nats to Soros.
“Why would Major League Baseball want to get involved with George Soros?” said the lawmaker. “It’s about more than just the sale price.”
So you see, they’re more than happy to interfere in the sacred “free market” when it’s convenient.
Thats interesting. Perhaps they might want to look at Alex Spanos, the owner of the San Diego Chargers football team. Oh, it’s ok for him to give scads of political contributions because he’s a republican. I suppose if the Democrats ever get control again they should maybe take a look at the exemptions MLB gets.
I think there was a team in Texas that once had a politcally connected guy among its owners. Maybe he was such a screwup that no one paid attention.
I think that about 85% of MLB teams are owned by Repugnican fat cats. God forbid that a Democrat should be allowed to join that club.
(The exceptions are probably the Orioles, Brewers, Padres, and Red Sox.)
There’s a link at the bottom of the article Susie links to, which gives more detail about the “Redness” of baseball owners. Included on the list are Rupert Murdock (owner of Fox News), George Steinbrenner (convicted of illegal contributions to Nixon), as well as 13 current owners who are big-time Bush contributors.
IOKIYAR
A certain moron once owned part of a Texas baseball team…
http://www.mollyivins.com/showMisc.asp?FileName=970509_f1.htm