Unlike other developers who purchased land near the [Washington Nationals' city-owned] ballpark site, [Herbert S.] Miller came to the table with nothing but some rolled-up diagrams and his formidable personality. And he's on the verge of walking away with approval for a $300 million development on city-owned land just beyond the outfield wall. . . . City politicians are so friendly with Miller that competitors have been crying favoritism since [Marion] Barry, then mayor, awarded him the hotly contested Washington Harbor project. Miller is hardly apologetic. (Washington Post, Tuesday)
This is a lot of what passes for private enterprise.
FEE Timely Classic
An Aristocracy of Pull? by Thomas M. Wilson