Less than half of Americans own stock, and of the minority who own stock, a very small portion hold most of the stocks. An incredibly small percentage of Americans trade stocks on a daily basis. For a large segment of the American population, daily information about stocks is useless. Yet it musters its own section in the papers.
What percentage of the American people follow tennis? Tennis scores seem merit full reporting. How many people follow golf? Golf gets coverage, even though Jack Nicklaus' bogeys have a profound, lasting impact on the lives of only a tiny cadre of devotees.
Contrast this with the work of the United States Congress. Every year, the Congress considers, passes, rejects and shelves a number of bills. When bills pass into law, they have a major impact on all Americans' lives. Taxes, civil liberties, the definition of crimes and punishments, social programs, the building of roads, and school standards are just a few of the areas impacted by Congressional action. Inaction, of course, is also important -- laws on flag burning, campaign finance, medical insurance, and citizenship requirements have been consistently rejected; what would our nation look like with them in place? In short, the decisions made by the U.S. Congress have a broad and profoundly deep impact on every American's life.
Yet, curiously, the actions of the Congress receive only scant coverage. You may scoff at this contention: don't we hear every day about the Congress debating this or that bill? Don't we hear some majority or minority leader spouting off at the mouth on a regular basis? Yes, that's certainly true. But a majority of the time, you'll only hear about a bill (or other legislative action) when it's already been passed. A substantial minority of the time, you'll hear about a prominent bill before it's been passed, but after most members of Congress have made up their minds about it (meaning there's little you can do about it). The stark truth is that if you get your information from a newspaper, you'll never see a single word written about an overwhelming majority of bills.
In a nation prefaced on the ability of its citizens to participate in politics in an active and considered fashion, this absence is glaring. It is high time, in my opinion, that our newspapers began offering Congress sections.
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