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Now that the pesky stimulus bill is out of the way, Congress is getting down to the important issues facing this country. Tops on the list: Why Green Bay fans in western Wisconsin are subjected to the torture of watching Minnesota-centric games on their local televisions during fall Sundays.

Oh, the humanity!!!!

Sen. Russ Feingold, that noted Wisconsin trailblazer and innovator, testified about the issue Wednesday at a Senate Judiciary committee hearing. As it turns out, there are 12 counties in Wisconsin that receive Minnesota-based television broadcasting. Hence, they get the Vikings games on fall Sundays.

And Feingold WON'T STAND FOR IT ANY LONGER! Here's what he said Wednesday, according to -- it figures -- the Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune:

"When I travel to the counties in Northwestern Wisconsin every year to hold a town hall meeting, folks want to know why they are only able to receive news about Minnesota government and sport. Most of my constituents only want to watch the Vikings when they lose to the Packers and they are frustrated that an arbitrary line on a map prevents them from seeing their favorite team. We need to look for ways to ensure that people living in Wisconsin are able to watch the news, sports and other programming that affects them."

(Those are fighting words that I'm sure the Minnesota senate delegation of Amy Klobuchar and To B. Named will answer shortly.)

I know. In these tough economic times, it's not right to expect someone to order the NFL Sunday Ticket or make the difficult trek to a sports bar. That's why Feingold wants substantive changes to something called the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act to alleviate this problem.

Yes, we're having some fun with what we can only assume is a small excerpt of the agenda at Feingold's town hall meetings. Of course, in the NFC North one never knows.