I’ve heard a lot of people complaining about the congressional hearings held last month regarding the use of steroids in Major League Baseball, and I’m very disappointed with the views being expressed by many of the people I’ve spoken to.
There is a widely held sentiment that the hearings were a waste of valuable time and resources which Congress could have diverted to more worthy causes, such as the war in Iraq and the faltering economy at home. To propose that Congress should focus only on the major campaign issues such as war and the economy is simply irresponsible.
I understand the desire to focus on big-picture issues. There are certainly millions of average Americans wondering whether or not they will be employed next month and how many more troops are going to die today. But Congress can only do so much to affect either of these issues on a given day. Members of Congress can’t physically bring peace to Iraq — they can’t just pack their bags and ship off to strengthen the surge. Maybe John McCain can turn back the clock to his Vietnam days and wreak a little bit of Arizona havoc on Osama bin Laden, otherwise the thought of a less-than-sober Ted Kennedy wielding an assault rifle doesn’t exactly strike fear into the hearts of our enemies. Congress — and the rest of the world — must exercise patience as we all eagerly watch how the surge will play out over the next few months. For now, there really is nothing further they can do.
Similarly, Congress does not have a magic wand they can wave to immediately jolt our economy out of its collision course with a recession. Any economist knows that the most prosperous booms and disastrous recessions are just temporary bumps in the business cycle road. Congress moved swiftly to pass its stimulus plan and there isn’t much more our elected leaders can do at this point, except wait until the tax rebates reach America’s mailboxes and the interest rate cuts reach the economy.
So are members of Congress supposed to just sit on their hands, doing nothing but watch CNN all day to see how each of these issues play out? I think not. Congress is absolutely justified in taking the time to make sure that professional sports are being played fairly. American consumers spend billions of dollars a year for game tickets, team apparel and memorabilia. I’m glad that my elected officials have taken the time to step in and protect the athletic integrity of our professional sport leagues.
If we allow only the issues being discussed on the campaign trail to occupy our elected officials’ time, we will soon find our country riddled with even more serious problems than the ones we face today. The majority of the population isn’t at home waiting for the economy to recover and Iraq to be stabilized. Kids are still going to school and parents are still going to work. Why should Congress be any different?