Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?Congressional Edition

From Politico reprinted in its entirety for non-subscribers:

Rep. cries foul over Nets naming rights

"Maybe they should just call it TARP Arena.

Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-N.J.), wary of taxpayer anger over the AIG bonuses, wants the New Jersey Nets to reconsider selling naming rights to the British bank Barclays for an NBA arena being built in Brooklyn.

Barclays received $8.5 billion in bailout funds from the Treasury Department, and Pascrell believes the $400 million it cost to have the naming rights for the soon-to-be Brooklyn Nets arena should be used, say, for lending to consumers instead. Pascrell was quick to make an exception for the new Citi ballpark the New York Mets are building, because that ball yard was already well under construction under the Citi name before the bailout money was approved.

“I believe that any further payments of taxpayer money, whether through TARP or the Federal Reserve System, be conditioned on the cancellation of any stadium or arena naming-rights agreements that may be in place,” Pascrell said.

It’s worth noting, of course, that Pascrell represents a lot of New Jersey Nets fans quite unhappy about losing their NBA team to Brooklyn."


Actually, Congressman, Barclays did NOT receive any "bailout" funds from the Treasury Department. Nor have they accepted any bailout money from the government of the UK, where they happen to be domiciled. To their credit, they have steadfastly resisted taking money that comes with governmental strings attached; and with each passing day and every congressional comment like yours, the wisdom of their strategy becomes more clear.

True, Barclays received $8.5 billion from AIG, presumably as collateral against or settlement of AIG's contractual obligations under trading arrangements. But to suggest that this is the same as a bailout is just wrong. To further imply that any organization that does business with a recipient of bailout funds is thereby subject to mindless Congressional meddling is either stupid or frightening, depending on how serious you are.

Oh, and Congressman, pretty much all "payments of taxpayer money" are made "through the Federal Reserve System." In fact, when you give a one-dollar tip to the guy who shines your shoes in the Congressional cloak-room, you're using what we in this country call a "Federal Reserve Note". It's actually printed on the top of the dollar bill in capital letters to help you remember.

Perhaps you'd like to regulate what he does with that too?