Kucinich calls on Citigroup to drop Mets stadium naming rights

Congressmen Dennis Kucinich and Ted Poe sent a letter to new Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner last week asking that he demand that Citigroup (NYSE: C) withdraw from its 20-year, $400 million contract for the naming rights to the New York Mets stadium.

"At Citigroup, 50,000 people will lose their jobs. Yet in the boardroom of Citigroup, spending $400 million to put a name on stadium seems like a good idea," said Kucinich. "The Treasury Department, which forced Citigroup corporate executives to give up their private jet, should also demand that Citigroup cancel its $400 million advertisement at the Mets field and instead begin to repay their debt to the taxpayers."

If a $400 million naming rights contract from a company that's on government welfare doesn't seem ludicrous to you, it should. The notion that the $20 million per year will generate enough earnings for the company to offset the cost is a pretty silly one.

But maybe there's a compromise: Since all of us provided cash to Citigroup, maybe it should be given a name that's a tribute to grotesque mismanagement at the company: "Citigroup's Arrogance Arena" perhaps? Or how about "Failed Bank Field." The possibilities are endless, and definitely something that should be put in an online poll with one vote per taxpayer. If we're going to bail out the banks and still let them buy naming rights to baseball fields, we should at least have some fun with it.