Baseball, Steroids and Congress
When I first saw the news about the widespread report is Baseball on steroid use reaching the upper echelons of its stars, I felt different emotions.
One emotion was the sheer anti-climactic lack of surprise. It was so obvious regardless of what any "official investigation" had to say. We know. We've ALL known for so long now.
Another emotion was disappointment...but helpless disappointment...the kind you get from observing something unpleasant that you have no direct harm from and cannot change yet do not like it just the same. It's a same these players do this.
The last was a bit of disgust as I watched everyone with something to gain from the attention force some kind of official action on the matter. I was even more disgusted watching the media stumble over the themselves in an attempt to feign hysteria over the matter asking everyone and Santa Claus what "the government was going to do about it".
My take is this: If the substance is illegal, then it's illegal. The mechanisms to do something about should already be in place, no? I see no need for special hearing and hub bub.
Doug over at Liberty Papers has a similar yet more forceful view on the matter:
I know I’m being slightly naive in asking this question, but why does Congress need to get involved in this matter at all ? Let Major League Baseball decide how to deal with it, and let the fans decide how they are going to treat the players named in the report. Not every problem in the country demands a Congressional subcommittee’s attention, and this is certainly one of those times when Congress would be best advised to butt out.
yep.
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Comments :
I don't consider it a good argument, but...
...one of the standard arguments for why Congress should have hearings, etc. on baseball is that baseball has an antitrust exemption, and therefore to make up for that they need Congressional oversight.
I don't buy this argument. The exemption is real, but it is a carryover from a different era -- an era in which the Supreme Court actually enforced the limits of the Constitution on Congressional power. Specifically, the Supreme Court ruled that a baseball game is not an act of "interstate commerce", and therefore Congress has no power to regulate it. Well, duh!
At this point the exemption is on shaky legal ground given the obvious contradictions between this ruling and many other court rulings that have "established" that "interstate commerce" means whatever Congress wants it to mean -- even growing food for personal consumption (not sale) on your own private farm that doesn't cross state lines. This makes no sense -- it turns the Constitution from a document establishing a limited government with enumerated powers into one establishing an unlimited government with whatever powers it feels like -- but it's how the court has ruled in the last 70 years.
If Congress doesn't like the exemption, they should grow some balls and pass a law eliminating it, rather than holding show-trial hearings on baseball.
I was unaware of the little legal technicality, LZ
The latter half of your post leads to an idea of the I just brought up in my next blog entry on France and Italy.
I actually recall Friedman stating something vaguely similar to your complaint about the abuse of the interstate commerce clause. It truly has turned into something it was never designed to be....and much to all of our detriment in the bigger picture.
Mitchell made a good point regarding legality
The interviewer asked him if he expected the players named in his report to face legal consequences, since the substances are generally banned unless for legitimate medical purposes, and he noted that there have been numerous cases of players testing positive, written up in the newspaper and the whole bit, and charges are never pursued. He went on to say that this is a good thing, because the policy is to focus on the distributors rather than the users (which I agree with).
So... it's illegal, but nobody cares.
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
As far as Congressional hearings,
the only reason the report has *any* information is because Mitchell was able to interview people who were under oath due to separate governmental investigations. With no subpoena power he wasn't able to get players to testify. So baseball can only go so far investigating itself.
Which is fine, really, I certainly understand that Congress should have more important things to do. But if it's important to get to the bottom of the matter (which it probably isn't, in the big picture) then you probably need hearings.
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson