The Real Reason for Congressional Steroid Hearings

As much as I detest the idea of that juiced-up asshole Barry Bonds breaking the great Henry Aaron's home run record, and as disgusted as I am with all the steroid-aided statistical milestones set in recent years, I reject the argument that the public interest is best served by a full-blown congressional inquiry into 'roids in sports.  It's not like there aren't more pressing issues that require their attention.

Of course, by now I'm aware that in this Congress, as in the Bush White House, there are always ulterior motives for actions that appear on their surface to be benign, benevolent, or just plain odd.  To me, this one always fell in the last category.  I couldn't quite figure it out. I thought for a while that they might be using the steroid issue as a catalyst for re-igniting the drug war; but that didn't quite make sense because in order to launch an all-out crusade, they would have to rely on Bush as a point-man; and Bush is vulnerable not only on his own past drug use but also on the issue of steriods in baseball, given that Jose Canseco (and, possibly, several other Rangers) shot them up right under his nose.  

Then the other day I read this, and it all clicked.  Their true objective, or one of them at least, is to use steroids as an excuse to launch an assault on organized labor. In order for Congress to interfere in the drug policy of a private company that employs union labor, they must first change Federal law governing collective bargaining agreements.  Thus what appears to be a good-faith effort to clean up the national pastime is really just another battle in the right-wing war on the New Deal.  First Social Security, now the Wagner Act.

•  Maybe also

  Gaming lobby?  Been wondering about that angle since the groundwork was being laid for this congressional frivolity last year.

  by Disenfranshit on Sat Mar 26, 2005 at 09:52:14 AM PDT

•  Hmm.

  Plausible.

  Then again, if you painted me the flimsiest portrait of them doing it to maneuver toward outlawing vitamins, I'd all that plausible, too.

  Wretched thing about a government ruled by people who aren't the least bit honest -- one is forced to believe everything and nothing about them.

  by Maryscott OConnor on Sat Mar 26, 2005 at 09:56:24 AM PDT

  •  Indeed.

    I'll keep an eye out for this, but I think it will have to remain in the postulate category for now.

    by ortsed on Sat Mar 26, 2005 at 10:05:27 AM PDT

•  Provocative idea, but not convincing

  Sure, I am always willing to believe ulterior motives by Republicans. Latching on to a popular cause to serve corporate interests is an old Republican MO. And give that the MLBPA is widely recognized as one of the strongest (maybe THE strongest) unions in the country, it would be a good place to start, though I doubt weakening the MLBPA has much effect on the auto workers.

  There is one major problem with your conjecture, however. If you watched the full hearings, you know that some of the most aggressive questioning came from Democrats, especially Waxman and Lantos. Are they now parties to an anti-union conspiracy?

  by Moosa Man on Sat Mar 26, 2005 at 10:15:43 AM PDT

  •  Because they are dupes

    No, they are simply taking advantage of an apparently straightforward issue upon which they can moralize.  In doing so, they unwittingly assist the right in furthering their pro-corporate, anti-labor agenda.  They are not the first congressional Democrats to fall into this trap, and unfortunately they will not be the last.

    by MHB on Sun Mar 27, 2005 at 06:30:36 AM PDT

•  Steriod Scandal = Arnold Innoculation

  My take (as a Californian) on the baseball steroid scandal is that it is an effort by the Bush/Radical Right-wing to make relative moderate Arnold Schwarzenegger unelectable nationally.  I've thought that since Bush first raised the subject in his state of the union address.

  Do you think it is just a coincidence that baseball, as American as apple pie and our national sport is the subject of the hearings?  I think the Republican image machine is connecting the dots in the public mind that steroids equal "un-American," which is Arnold's biggest political liability.

  Just to be on the record, I am no fan of Arnold's, and worked hard to oppose the recall that put him in office.  The chickens are coming home to roost though, and there's a palpable sense of "buyer's remorse" from one end of the state to the other over putting this freak of nature into the state's highest office.  I will be surprised if he even runs again once hiss current campaign to kill the unions and pull a DeLay-style redistricting are defeated.  

  Arnold only plays when it is a foregone conclusion that he will win, and he'll be going back to hollywood to make more bad movies within the next year or two.

  by wonkydonkey on Sat Mar 26, 2005 at 10:24:15 AM PDT

•  Well I still think the steroids thing was just

  old-fashioned distraction: it was about nothing, and thus allowed the politicians to avoid dealing with anything. Maybe they'll have hearings about the NHL strike and the new Star Wars movie next.

  by gnat on Sat Mar 26, 2005 at 11:24:46 AM PDT

•  Hiding Behind the Unions Skirts

  As a labor person, if I only had a dime for each time I've heard those words coming from mgt.  Which I heard during the Steroid Talks from the parent whose son committed suicide.

  I also noticed the very strong undertone of the GOP Rep's towards blaming the whole thing on the union.  Also, the Commissioner's statements that the union had prevented mgt from going whole hog and tossing everyone out of baseball who even could pronounce steroids.  Which makes Bush's seeming out of the blue 2004 SOTU speech mention of steroid abuse make sense.

  I would also conclude that it is the stated purpose of the GOP to gut unions, and, by extension, the right to organize Wagner Act.  The Players Union is very high profile, and by pinning the steroid scandal on them, would go a long way in discrediting the unions in general.  It is a goal of the business interest in the GOP to kill all unions.  Taking this shortcut would make a lot of sense, given their thinking.

  This is great for the GOP.  Just like their MO in the Bankruptcy Bill (credit deadbeats are driving up prices), Tort Reform (frivilious lawsuits are driving up insurance and prices), they will say the Union is not only protecting those evil steroid users, but trying to make sure current users get off scot free.  

  Anti-Union types hate the idea that unions can sit at the table and negotiate with mgt.  They hate the idea that unions are not under mgt control.  This is not about lazy union workers or productivity.  Union workers are very productive, more so than most others.  What honks the anti union people off is that they cannot control the unions.  So, getting rid of them is the only way.

  Expect Bush and his folks to begin going after the Players Union, feeding off the publics anger at their high salaries, etc.  Expect them to focus on labor in general, how unions drive up wages and labor costs, making America uncompetitive in the world markets.  Expect them to highlight how the Players Union has tried to protect players from banishment from baseball by owners, etc.

  Labor Unions are about all that is left of the New Deal protections made into law to level the playing field for workers.  One by one, unions have seen their clout reduced; first, by firms moving to non union, Right to Work states, and, finally, using NAFTA, to Mexico and other overseas locations.  While workers lose benefits, take pay cuts and then, finally, their jobs, those employers are enjoying large profits, passed onto happy stockholders.  As the Club For Growth leader says 'the best thing to happen since the 1980's has been average Americans buying stocks.  By doing so, they become directly interested in business making a profit.  And being concerned about profits means they will have little, if any, sympathy for organized labor, who will eventually, and sooner rather than later, die on the vine for lack of popular support'.

  Keep an eye on this one, I think your on the right path.  Democrats had better get ready to fight the GOP on this one.

  by vetman on Sat Mar 26, 2005 at 11:57:30 AM PDT