For those of you who love a good metaphor (and who doesn’t?), I will attempt to illustrate the correlation between the current state of affairs in the National Football League and welfare reform. Please, no wagering.

We’ll start with football. On Monday, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones announced that he has filed a $750 million anti-trust suit against the league. He did it because he wants out of the league’s revenue sharing program that requires big-money teams, like his, to share their merchandising revenues with small market teams that don’t make as much money.

In short, the Dallas Cowboys are the most profitable team in football, and Jones wants it to be even more profitable.

There are rich, powerful people involved in the welfare debate, as well. They are the members of Congress, which is controlled by the conservative revolutionaries from the 1994 election. They, too, can’t see the point of sharing the wealth, their personal wealth and the collective wealth of the country, with those who aren’t as rich or powerful. They want to make drastic cuts in welfare so more money can be spent on important things, like stealth bombers.

Back to football. On the other side of the proverbial field are the small market teams, who are the beneficiaries of Jones’ begrudging generosity. Teams like the Cleveland, soon to be Baltimore, Browns. The owner of the Browns, Art Modell, announced Tuesday that he will move the team to Baltimore next season. The Browns are deep in debt, Modell said, and he had no choice.

The league hates to see teams play “musical cities” because it’s bad for business. But Jones says small market teams wouldn’t be in this situation if they would only do a better job of merchandising in the market they have. They should sell more jerseys, hats, trolls and big foam fingers.

But teams like Cleveland don’t have the same opportunities the Cowboys have. Having a smaller base of fans, they have fewer people to sell useless team crap to. It also means they have less TV appeal. Less time on TV (have you noticed that Cowboy games are always televised?) means fewer fans outside of their market. The Cowboys are America’s Team, but who outside of Cleveland likes the Browns? And let’s face it, having ugly uniforms and a stupid name doesn’t exactly help sell big foam fingers.

Congress has the same “pull yourself up by your boot straps” attitude about welfare recipients. But by making it more difficult for welfare recipients to get ahead, Congress is giving them a big foam finger.

Congress wants single mothers on welfare to go to work, but doesn’t want to provide the funding for child care. And just in case the mothers or their children get sick, Congress is slashing the Medicaid that would have provided them with medical care.

Congress wants people to get jobs that pay well, but it is making it harder to get financial aid for college. For those who can’t go to college, some members of Congress have proposed freezing or eliminating the minimum wage, which is already too low to make a living.

Despite the similarities in these two scenarios, there are some glaring differences. When the Cleveland Browns move to Baltimore next year, they will receive a huge check, a new home, all kinds of perks and a whole new group of fans who will support them emotionally and financially. No one is making such a generous offer for welfare recipients.

There is one more, very important difference. Even though it is a source of rivalry, team spirit and big money, professional football is really only a game. No matter how many teams change cities or fold all together, another one will always spring up in its place, and people will keep on watching. It is meant for entertainment and amusement.

When Congress talks about slashing welfare, it is deciding what the quality of life will be for a lot of people in our society. It is deciding whether or not underprivileged people are to be given the support and the opportunity they need to be successful. In making the cuts it has proposed, Congress is condemning people to a life of unfulfilled potential and opportunities never given. There is nothing amusing about that.

Steven Martens is a junior in journalism mass communication from Cedar Rapids.