Posted on 12/11/2009 8:03:55 AM PST by mnehring
There are few things more aggravating than witnessing a conservative who praises free markets, small government and individual liberty be elected to office only to have him transform into a sanctimonious busybody who knows no restraint in interfering with the private affairs of free citizens. A spectacular example of this took place this week in Washington D.C.
“What can we say — it’s December and the BCS is in chaos again,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He said the BCS system is unfair and won’t change unless prompted by Congress.
The astonishing ignorance required to make this statement must take years to cultivate.
Unfortunately, certain characteristics which draw people to public service also contain the impulse to be destructive once in the seat of power. The admirable ambition to create a better nation, state or district can become a justification for mayhem and mischief in the absence of the constraint of wisdom in a politician.
The first question an officeholder, confronted with some unresolved issue, should always ask themselves: Is this problem the business of government and do we have the authority to insert ourselves into it ? Anticipating the response to this, I acknowledge the door was left wide open long ago and most of the horses are already out of the barn, but do indulge my glimmer of optimism here. The sphere of private activity in America is enormous and there remain areas we as citizens can still hope to protect. One of them is college football and how a national champion is determined.
I maintain the worst and possibly unfair system we can devise is superior to any solution coerced from the public by incessantly nosy and hyperactive politicians who see no common sense boundaries and recognize no restraints on the responsibilities of governance. This violation of freedom is both inane and preposterous:
WASHINGTON – Dismissing complaints from some members that Congress had more pressing matters, a House subcommittee approved legislation Wednesday aimed at forcing college football to switch to a playoff system to determine its national champion.
“We can walk across the street and chew gum at the same time,” said the subcommittee chairman, Illinois Democrat Bobby Rush, one of the bill’s co-sponsors. “We can do a number of things at the same time.”
Really now, Congressman Rush. After making this ridiculous claim, any pretensions you may have to be an expert on gum, walking or college sports have vaporized.
The legislation, which still faces steep odds, would ban the promotion of a postseason NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision game as a national championship unless it results from a playoff. The measure passed by voice vote in the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s commerce, trade and consumer protection subcommittee, with one audible “no,” from Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga.
“With all due respect, I really think we have more important things to spend our time on,” Barrow said before the vote, although he stressed he didn’t like the current Bowl Championship Series, either.
But, wait, while it is not my habit to praise Democrats in these pages, I have to give credit where credit is due:
In a statement before the vote, BCS executive director Bill Hancock said, “With all the serious matters facing our country, surely Congress has more important issues than spending taxpayer money to dictate how college football is played.”
Yet Barrow wasn’t alone in criticizing his colleagues’ priorities; Reps. Zach Space, D-Ohio, and Bart Stupak, D-Mich., made similar arguments. Space said that with people facing facing tough times the decision to focus on college football sends the “wrong message.”
Even though their reasoning is seriously flawed, veering into concerns for public sentiments rather than appropriate behavior for a legislative body, the three Democrats in the House are correct to object.
Not to be outdone, one man in the Senate who has yet to acknowledge there is any human concern too small, too trivial or too private to reside outside the limits of Senate business has once again mounted the grandstand to save the day:
There is no Senate version, although Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has pressed for a Justice Department antitrust investigation into the BCS.
God save the Republic, please.
As Dr. Don Boudreaux so eloquently put it when he noted this event on his blog, Cafe Hayek….Words Fail Me.
There is nothing that our esteemed Congress feels is beyond their purview. And there is nothing they cannot screw up.
Why do I have a feeling that someone up on the Hill didn’t get the bowl tickets they wanted or their favorite team lost.
LOL.
Hell hath no fury like a congressman scorned.
The BCS is about as unfair as it gets. What needs to happen is they need to have the top 16 teams compete in a playoff, regardless of what conference they are in. There’s nothing fair about a team going undefeated and not standing a chance to play in the National Chamionship due to the conference they are in.
This is coming from a Texas Longhorns fan.
...and that is excuse for government involvement?
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