Like what?
Brothels and bars? What business is there in DC that would have been there if the Federal Government were not?
ML/NJ
And if you do live there, but don't want your tax money to fund the stadium, you're screwed.
Easy to say when it's not your home that's being siezed for it. Sounds like a typical Washington Welfare attitude - "You got it, I want it, gimme."
"D.C. is one of the ten biggest cities of the U.S. ... If you don't live there, you're not paying for it.
Wrong on both counts. DC does not even make the llist of the 25 largest cities. It also takes a lot more in Federal taxes than it gives, so every US taxpayer is supporting it. Supporting the Federal government is one thing, but subsidizing "your" baseball stadium is quite another.
7/1/2004 population estimates
1. New York, N.Y. 8,104,079
2. Los Angeles, Calif. 3,845,541
3. Chicago, Ill. 2,862,244
4. Houston, Tex. 2,012,626
5. Philadelphia, Pa. 1,470,151
6. Phoenix, Ariz. 1,418,041
7. San Diego, Calif. 1,263,756
8. San Antonio, Tex. 1,236,249
9. Dallas, Tex. 1,210,393
10. San Jose, Calif. 904,522
11. Detroit, Mich. 900,198
12. Indianapolis, Ind. 784,242
13. Jacksonville, Fla. 777,704
14. San Francisco, Calif. 744,230
15. Columbus, Ohio 730,008
16. Austin, Tex. 681,804
17. Memphis, Tenn. 671,929
18. Baltimore, Md. 636,251
19. Fort Worth, Tex. 603,337
20. Charlotte, N.C. 594,359
21. El Paso, Tex. 592,099
22. Milwaukee, Wis. 583,624
23. Seattle, Wash. 571,480
24. Boston, Mass. 569,165
25. Denver, Colo. 556,835
26. Louisville-Jefferson County, Ky. 556,332
27. Washington, DC 553,523
That may or may not be true. Other cities have creatively forced visitors to pay for stadiums. Bank one in Phoenix is paid for, in part, by a tax on car rentals in Phoenix.
I hate paying that tax when I go there.
The only way Major League Baseball would agree to move the Expos to DC was if the city committed to building a publicly funded stadium. When the DC City council passed an ordinance requiring some private funding for the stadium, Selig threatened to pull the team and send them elsewhere.
Another poster has already shown that this is just not correct (unless, of course, you want to include the suburbs -- Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax County, Montgomery and Prince Georges Counties, and, I think, Charles County. If you do that, the the Washington, DC area is in the top 5 metro areas. But that means that DC itself is just one small portion of that Metro Area. More people live in Fairfax County than in the District of Columbia.)
"and has a lot of industries that aren't directly related to the Federal government."
Like what? Tourism? Wouldn't exist unless Washington were the Capital City. All those Law Offices over on K Street? Wouldn't be here if not for the need to petition the Government.
"The university concentration guarantees a lot of high-tech industries, for example."
OK, but just where are all of those high-tech industries? They are not in DC. They are in the 270 Corridor (Montgomery County, MD) or out in Fairfax County, VA.
"D.C. is one of the ten biggest cities of the U.S"
In what?
You must work for the DC Chamber.