On The Eve of the 4th: The Nationals, the ballpark, and development

It appears that the stadium building lobby is taking time off for now, but there is always time for introspection. As talk radio hosts rail against stimulus funding and government waste, the Washington Nationals, a beneficiary of a pre-stimulus package in the form of almost $700 million of taxpayer money to build a new ballpark, sit in last place in their division. What are taxpayers getting for their money? Well, stimulus hasnâ??t occurred, though it was presumed to be a product of construction as plans were being drawn up and pushed through the political process. Nationals president Stan Kasten was on C-SPAN recently, telling a National Press Club audience to be patient because a bright future lies ahead, despite a dismal on-field performance this season. If you would like to see Stan explaining the Nationals bright future, see: http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&cPath=6_14&products_id=287290-1 For a less upbeat overview o...