Wednesday, 15 December 2004

Baseball and the separation of powers

The Mad Hibernian, Off Wing Opinion and James Joyner react to reports that the D.C. Council has approved a financing plan for the relocation of the Montréal Expos to Washington that doesn’t comport with MLB’s wishes. The Hibernian writes:

I’m sympathetic to the argument that D.C. taxpayers shouldn’t get stuck with the whole tab for a new stadium, but the City Council should honor the city’s original agreement with MLB.

It seems to me, on the other hand, that the city council as a whole is under no obligation to honor an agreement made with MLB by the mayor and a couple of city councilmen. If Mayor Williams wanted an agreement that would stick, he should have secured the backing of the council in the first place, rather than striking a deal independently and hoping a lame duck city council would treat it as a fait accompli.

1 comment:

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[Permalink] 1. John Bigenwald wrote @ Thu, 16 Dec 2004, 4:48 pm CST:

Absolutely correct. MLB and DC announced a deal as complete that had only reached the agreement in principle stage. This is like me telling my friends that I’m getting a 60” Plasma HDTV because the Best Buy guy and I think it would look great in my den. My wife on the other hand, may have a different opinion….

 
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