Sports events can be a great way to connect with local culture when you travel.

And now, they can be a great way to learn about recession politics, too.

In New York City, two council members are proposing that the Mets’ new stadium, CitiField, be re-named Citi/Taxpayer Field – in reference to CitiGroup’s latest federal bailout.

Said one of the councilmen:

Perhaps a name change is in order, since it will be the taxpayers of the country who will foot the bill for not only part of stadium, but for the company itself,” Mr. Ignizio said. “The taxpayers are spending billions for this company to maintain its operations and deserve the recognition for their largess.

Seems fair to me. While we’re at it, why not change a few other names, too?

CitiGroup itself could become Citi-TaxpayerGroup. Bear Stearns could become Bear “Taxpayer” Stearns. Heck, Wall Street could become Taxpayer-Milking Street.

But then again, if every major financial corporation to get a piece of the bailout changed their named to Taxpayer, that’d get really confusing, wouldn’t it?

Photo by Bob Jagendorf (Creative Commons)