Other Issues

Commenting on a report that several House members are introducing a resolution opposing the college bowl system, Michael D of Balloon Juice explodes:

Having solved Social Security, poverty, the War in Iraq, SCHIP, tax reform, Medicare, illegal wiretapping, and other such trivial issues, some lawmakers have latched onto an issue that will, no doubt, positively affect the lives and living conditions of millions of Americans.

Can we declare a moratorium on these sorts of posts? As hard as it is to believe sometimes, nobody in Congress has forgotten the war in Iraq. And introducing this resolution is not what's blocking Congress from reforming health care. If the Representatives had not introduced this bill and instead devoted themselves 100% full time to debating Iraq, the net effect in terms of practical movement on that issue would be nil.

Look, I can understand one thinking that this resolution is wrong, or even that it is not the sort of issue Congress should get involved in. In other words, attacks on the merits. But there is no time of year where one couldn't wax indignant about the amount of serious issues Congress isn't dealing with to satisfaction; and that really can't be a bar to Congress spending time deliberating over the many smaller issues that still potentially should be debated in the public arena. Indeed, so long as it isn't actively interfering with the big stuff (and again, the College Bowl Resolution is not what's stopping Congress from passing S-CHIP), I actually kind of like it when lawmakers buckle down to solve some lower-profile problems that won't necessarily give them prime-time billing on the talk show circuit.