Who is George W. Bush? The Texas Rangers
Was it a love of the game or family connections that led George W. Bush to the Texas Rangers? Is there more evidence of using his position (or Dad's) for financial gain or are we just reading too much into it all?

"[Baseball commissioner] Ueberroth began looking for another buyer for the Rangers. And as luck would have it, Ueberroth, who was tightly connected to the GOP, knew George W. Bush. Ueberroth knew his dad, the Vice President, too."
Quoted from How the Son of the Vice President Bought a Team by GeorgeBush2000.com (not an officially sanctioned Bush site, no longer active)
Nothing wrong with talking to people you know.

It's what happened (and how it alledgedly went down) after Bush became an owner that leaves some folks skeptical about his integrity and honesty. Basically, skeptics contend that Bush and his fellow investors attempted to blackmail the city of Arlington (home of the Texas Rangers) into paying for a new stadium through a sales tax increase by threatening to take the team elsewhere.

"...whether the public interest issue is taxes, size of government, property rights, or public subsidies of private sports ventures, Bush's personal ownership interest in the Texas Rangers baseball team has been wildly at odds with his publicly declared positions on those issues. And ongoing litigation over the Ballpark deal has revealed documents showing that beginning in 1990, the Rangers management--which included Bush as managing general partner--conspired to use the government's power of eminent domain to further its private business interests."
Robert Bryce writing for The Texas Observer
A conspiracy? Or could it simply be that he made some good business and financial decisions. Was Bush an active participant or was he simply the name that opened doors for others? What do you think?


"Bush and his partners hit what can only be described as a towering home run by selling the Texas Rangers to Thomas Hicks for $250 million. Bush [for his $605,000 investment will get] between $10 million and $14 million.