Bush's Texas Rangers File for Bankruptcy

Breaking news that the Texas Rangers baseball team -- the entity that put George W. Bush on the path to the presidency -- has filed for bankruptcy.

According to Bloomberg News,

The Texas Rangers, the Major League Baseball team controlled by billionaire Thomas Hicks, filed for bankruptcy after the planned sale of the team fell through. The Arlington, Texas-based company listed assets and debt of between $100 million and $500 million in Chapter 11 documents filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Fort Worth. Alex Rodriguez was listed as the Rangers' top unsecured creditor.

Actually, the team was long bankrupt -- morally bankrupt. As I describe in Chapter 13 of my investigative book, Family of Secrets, the back story of George Bush's involvement with the team, and its antics in making money at the public's expense, is part of the larger tale of the corruption of America itself.

Baseball is touted as the great game for the masses, but it is a business, about connections, making money, getting other people to pay for it. And it is about obtaining public goodwill. Bush used his very small personal investment in the firm, and a hyped-up title of Managing Partner, to create the momentum that led shortly to his being elected governor of Texas and then president of the United States. He also rewarded Hicks, who made Bush rich through purchase of Bush's shares, by putting Hicks in charge of the vast investment funds of the University of Texas.

If we'd looked more carefully, when Bush was running for president, at how he made his money on the team, and how the larger ownership group made its money on public subsidies, we would have been forewarned about a presidential administration that would stop at nothing to enable their own circle to raid the public cookie jar.

Too late, you might say. But it never hurts, at times like this, to go back and study what exactly happened--to the Rangers, to the Texas public, and to America. We might learn something useful for the future.

 

Follow Russ Baker on Twitter: www.twitter.com/familyofsecrets

Comments

[SamEllison]

03:34 AM on 05/27/2010

Bush is batting a thousand,
everything he touches has been bankrupted.

[Dokemion]

03:22 AM on 05/27/2010

Great post! he should be in that position he has no real achievements.

http://www.bankruptcydistrictcourt.com/

[blueken]

09:19 AM on 05/26/2010

So GW goes down as the worst president ever? He gets my vote.

[ReaderTeacherCitizen]

12:21 AM on 05/26/2010

We can just cut to the chase and stop electing people named Bush.

[Devon Padgett]

03:13 PM on 05/25/2010

Great stuff Russ. What a shame no one figured out Bush had very little actual investment in the Rangers before they elected him Governor based largely on that title (since he had no other real successes). FYI-I've probably sold 20 books for ya so far....telling everyone I know in the oil industry about "Family"...the response has been unreal, even among my conservative "right of Limbaugh" associates and co-workers. Knowledge is power. Keep up the amazing work!

[oldstuff]

03:58 AM on 05/25/2010

Maybe if the bought A-rod back for say 500 million it would make everything alright.

[chillypalmer]

07:53 PM on 05/24/2010

First he ruined the USA & now he managed to do the same to his baseball club. Looks to me this "decider" is not up to the task in any field.

[pinkibus]

07:21 PM on 05/24/2010

What has W. Bush ever been involved in that has not gone bankrupt. Well the States isn't bankrupt yet but it sure took on a lot of debt while he was pres.

[Jeronimo Dan]

04:08 PM on 05/24/2010

Good old 'W" is what lead is to flying, anything he comes into contact with, it's going down...may take awhile, but it's going to hit bottom.

[PRONESE]

12:15 PM on 05/24/2010

The horror of acute BDS is very evident.
Posish!
R/ PRONESE

[Russ Baker]

12:27 PM on 05/24/2010

Better to address the particulars of the matter, methinks

[kingofscotts]

12:08 PM on 05/24/2010

Hey Russ,

Let's compare these two items briefly and see if something seems out of whack.

You post a headline stating "Bush's Texas Rangers"

Then in the story admit the following: "Bush used his very small personal investment in the firm"

So almost two decades ago Bush had a "very small personal imvestment" in this team. Yet you feel it honest to post a headline that intends to mislead readers into thinking this is his team.

Trying to take a shot at Bush for this team being in bankruptcy almost two decades after Bush had anything to do with it (very little according to you) is silly.

You claim it's worth looking at. Of course you do. You have books to sell. Since no one else has bothered to comment on this non-story I assume you will have plenty of time to come back and explain how your not a cheap book monger.

Or you could just censor this comment and protect your ego.

[Russ Baker]

05:23 PM on 05/24/2010

King, you either understand nothing of how these things work, or don't care. You certainly don't know the particulars, or would not make these statements. Simply put, Bush assembled a group of people to take over the team. He made a much smaller investment than the others (who had every incentive to placate the son of the vice president), yet was given a disproportionate amount of stock, which he sold for a great deal to a fellow who wanted a favor, and thereby was able to take a huge amount out the back end. The "value" of the team was largely based on real estate paid for by the local populace in local tax levies, and through the "eminent domain" seizure of land against people's wishes, contrary to his stated political views against such takings. The people who paid for enriching him thusly were other investors, taxpayers, and, ultimately, the team itself. Now its bankrupt. Got it? If not, you need to read books, rather than criticize researchers.

[oldstuff]

04:04 AM on 05/25/2010

I'm not sure this is really a causation of the Bush legacy though. The current mgmnt clearly had a bigger stake in running this into the ground than ole GW did. I'm not clear on the "succession" after GW but this does seem a little thin. I get your points but, it's not how I would have framed it. You're not saying GW caused this, are you? It doesn't look like it but your headline suggests it.

This is pretty funny though. "Alex Rodriguez was listed as the Rangers' top unsecured creditor. "