Just when government in Illinois couldn't get more corrupt, there's talk of Wrigley Field being sold to the State of Illinois.

The state already owns one baseball park further south in Chicago, where the White Sox play.

Illinois has a long history of political patronage. The Democrats own Chicago, with its various opportunities for political appointments. Republicans retire to run the tollway authority--perhaps a tribute to that party's reputation as the party of money. What the state doesn't need is yet another political owner. Wrigley Field is a valuable asset in its own right that could be sold in the market to a private bidder.

Alderman Thomas Tunney, whose district includes the field, uses the cliche that is for once appropriate: "The key is why [government would] get involved in Wrigley if there are private people willing to step up to the plate."

Mayor Richard Daley (not that one, this one) has had the right response, saying that there are more pressing issues that need the financial resources of government, though he apparently has backed away from that.

Still, I would go back to a more fundamental question: why should government get involved in something that can--and in the case of Wrigley Field, has been for years--handled quite well by the private sector?