As you have probably read, New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has admitted to using steroids.  His use of performance enhancing drugs occurred during the 2001 to 2003 season, which also happened to be his most productive seasons.  He's just the latest Major League Baseball player to admit using steroids.

     If you're a sports fan, you probably think this is an interesting story, but you might be wondering why I'm discussing it on a political blog.  After all, what does Alex Rodriguez's drug use have to do with politics and government?  If you said nothing, you're correct, but some of our elected officials obviously aren't as sharp.  Here's some proof:

Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat who sits on the House committee that brought Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and other baseball players to Capitol Hill in recent years, favored a congressional hearing with Rodriguez.

“It would be good perhaps for us to sit down and talk to him,” Cummings said in a telephone interview. “I would think that he would want to cooperate with us so that the Congress would have the information it may need.”


     Here are some questions I have.  First, what kind of information does Congress "need" that it didn't obtain during the first baseball hearing?  Second, why aren't Congressmen bringing up the possibility of hearings with lesser known players?  Finally, is this anything more than a publicity stunt?

     Most Americans would agree that we are experiencing the most difficult economic times since the Great Depression.  Credit markets aren't functioning properly, foreclosures are rising, and jobs are being lost.  With all this happening, Elijah Cummings is distracted by baseball.  For the country's sake, I hope Mr. Cummings and his colleagues aren't too distracted once Opening Day rolls around.


http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-rodriguez-steroids&prov=ap&type=lgns