Time Is A Terrible Thing To Waste

There's a congressman out there who is fed up with the way our government wastes time and money. Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah would like Congress to stop spending their time on creating and voting on resolutions that acknowledge what, for some, are important milestones in history. The straw that finally broke the honorable Mister Chaffetz's back was the one that was slated to memorialize the start of the one hundred and forty-second season of the Saratoga race course in New York. Not the centennial or sesquicentennial, the one hundred and forty-second season. Add this to this year's previous resolutions to honor the likes of golfer Phil Mickelson, the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team, NASCAR driver Jimmy Johnson and the Penn State women's volleyball team and you get a sense of what might be wedged into the junior representative from Utah's craw.
Mister Chaffetz was concerned that visitors to the House Chamber, especially children, might wonder why their government officials were discussing a race track rather than weightier issues like the war or the economy. It should be noted that last year Chaffetz proposed his own resolution honoring the Real Salt Lake Soccer Club, from his home state of Utah, for winning the 2009 Major League Soccer Cup. He admitted that he was a new lawmaker then and "made some mistakes." Maybe he means commemorations of national pollinator week, national dairy month and national train day, but he says that he draws the line on sports resolutions because athletes already get "more than their fair share of accolades."
It's nice that he can draw a line frivolous legislation like those honoring last years BCS Champion, Alabama's Crimson Tide. Instead they can focus their attention on more pressing matters like the resolution recognizing Norooz, the Iranian New Year. Or maybe it's just easier to read one of those one pagers compared to one of those whoppers like the supplemental health care bill. Maybe they need to get some help from those kids up in the gallery, since the Reading Is Fundamental funding has run out. I hope Representative Chaffetz can find some time to work that resolution into his busy schedule.