That screeching sound you hear is the brakes grinding on Mayor Bow Tie's attempt to use revenue left over from the debt service on the stadium to pay for cost overruns. In "D.C.'s Mayor Draws Fire on Stadium Plan," from Thursday's Post, city council members express, shall we say, displeasure over the idea. I think Tony has it right: "People feel betrayed on both sides," Williams said of the council and MLB. "There's bad faith on both sides. And I think the only thing everybody agrees on is they don't like me." Someone wake me up on Tuesday, when we see how this turns out; having to go through this uncertainty for a fourth time is just absurd.

Thursday's Post has "Williams Digs Up More Stadium Cash", about a plan by Mayor Bow Tie to use "$20 million in excess revenue from a gross-receipts tax on businesses, a utility tax on businesses and federal buildings and taxes from concessions at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium [to pay for cost overruns on the new baseball stadium]. Those taxes were implemented last year to pay off debt service on the construction bonds. Williams aides have told baseball officials that revenue leftover after debt service can be used for overruns, if necessary." But MLB said it was unaware of the plan, council members either wouldn't comment or complained that it would violate the cap legislation. The doom and gloom portion of the article: "The latest negotiations appear to be the final chance to resolve the standoff before Monday, the deadline set by the council for MLB to endorse the spending cap. If baseball officials reject the cap, the stadium dispute could enter binding arbitration. That would cause a delay of as much as six months and open the possibility that the Washington Nationals could be moved elsewhere.Baseball officials have made it clear that they do not want the Nationals' owner to have to pay for cost overruns for the stadium along the Anacostia River in Southeast. Over the past two weeks, the Williams administration has sought to assure MLB that another source of revenue is available." Whee! Time to start up the rollercoaster again.

More posts: Nationals Park