WASHINGTON -- Not long ago Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams and the city's political elite held a triumphant press conference announcing the return of baseball. League officials began counting nearly a half billion dollars in public subsidies.
But city council Chairman Linda Cropp has halted the bandwagon. She proposed that the city shift the stadium to a less expensive site and find private financing.
The screams of journalists and politicians who feared losing their subsidized box seats could be heard across the city. After all, sports stadiums are among the most common form of corporate welfare. Around the country wealthy sports moguls routinely mulct local taxpayers.