Merritt Paulson Takes $$$ and Screw-the-Taxpayer Lessons from Dad

Former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson lent his son $50 million so that he could buy the the Portland Beavers, a minor league baseball affiliate of the San Diego Padres, and the Portland Timbers, a minor league soccer team.

The problem is that to secure the Timbers, he has to get a soccer-only stadium built.

True to family form, Merritt decided to use taxpayers as a piggy bank. NyPo has the details:

...he began to lobby Portland for a new baseball stadium downtown.

In a move that some civic leaders called a bit hasty, Mayor Sam Adams pushed through a deal that would raze Memorial Coliseum and replace it with the new minor league baseball park and retail shops.

The aging PGE Park would then be renovated into a soccer-only stadium. To get all this done by 2011, the financing has to be lined up by September.

Portland, like most cities these days, is strapped for money and financing a stadium for the son of a multimillionaire isn't exactly on the top of its to-do list.

A 3-2 city council vote allowed the issue to proceed but credit markets will have to thaw before the deal can be finalized.

Merritt remains optimistic...