Cato Daily Dispatch for October 27, 2004
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D.C. Mayor Reacts to Cato Baseball Stadium StudySome Military Experts Believe Draft Is Possible
Bush Considers Civil Unions a State Issue
D.C. Mayor Reacts to Cato Baseball Stadium Study
"'I can't imagine why, with all the things happening in the world, the Cato Institute would take the time to analyze the impact of baseball in Washington, D.C.,' Washington Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) said yesterday during a luncheon speech at the University Club," the Washington Post reports.
The mayor was referring to a new Cato study, "Caught Stealing: Debunking the Economic Case for D.C. Baseball," which shows that professional sports teams are not engines of economic development and the government-subsidized stadiums teams demand generally have little, if any, positive effect on a city's economy.
Professors Dennis Coates and Brad R. Humphreys of, respectively, the University of Maryland and the University of Illinois, write: "Rooting for the team might provide satisfaction to many local baseball fans. That is hardly a reason for the city government to subsidize the team. D.C. policymakers should not be mesmerized by faulty impact studies that claim that a baseball team and a new stadium can be an engine of economic growth."
Some Military Experts Believe Draft Is Possible
"Many military experts believe that reviving some sort of military draft is extremely unlikely, even impossible -- but not all of them," the Washington Post reports.
"The issue has taken on urgency because of the dynamics of the presidential campaign, with Democratic operatives using the prospect of a draft to drive the youth vote, and the Democratic nominee himself raising the possibility on the campaign trail."
In "Fixing What Ain't Broke: The Renewed Call for Conscription," Cato senior fellow Doug Bandow argues that a renewed draft would not only be bad for the military, but would sacrifice "the very constitutional liberties that the military is charged to defend."
"The purpose of America's armed forces is to defend a free society built on respect for and protection of individual liberty. Ultimately, the preservation of liberty is the most important reason to reject conscription," he writes. "A draft would be costly, especially to the military. More basic, however, conscription would be incompatible with the government's duty to protect the individual liberty of the American people."
Bush Considers Civil Unions a State Issue
"President Bush said in an interview this past weekend that he disagreed with the Republican Party platform opposing civil unions of same-sex couples and that the matter should be left up to the states," the New York Times reports.
"Bush has sought to walk a careful line between pleasing conservatives who oppose same-sex marriage and not alienating more moderate voters who might see bigotry in his views. Bush's support for civil unions and his opposition to his party on the issue is in part an effort to reach out to swing voters, whom he needs to win on Nov. 2."
In "Live and Let Live," Cato adjunct scholar Richard A. Epstein writes: "When President Bush, for example, talks about the need to 'protect' the sanctity of marriage, his plea is a giant non sequitur because he does not explain what, precisely, he is protecting marriage against. No proponent of gay marriage wants to ban traditional marriage, or to burden couples who want to marry with endless tests, taxes and delays. All gay-marriage advocates want to do is to enjoy the same rights of association that are held by other people."
Jonathan Block, editor, jblock@cato.org
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