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an independent newspaper EDITORIALS
The gulf’s economic cleanup W An honest effort to compensate oil spill victims
HEN BP HEEDED President Oba- ma’s urging, endowed a $20 billion fund to compensate victims of the gulf oil spill and said it would play no role in awarding the dollars, one aim was to remove controversy and politics from the process of determining who deserves cash, and how much. Instead, it seems, the heat has only been displaced — onto Washington lawyer Ken- neth R. Feinberg, who is administering the Gulf Coast Claims Facility after having run a similar Sept. 11 victim compensation fund. Mr. Feinberg has designed a two-step process. Within the next 90 days, people can apply for tem- porary relief, and they can do so without giving up any legal rights. After that the fund will weigh claims for final settlements; for those, claimants will have to give up their right to sue BP. Mr. Fein- berg is urging people to apply. He argues that they’re unlikely to get a better deal any other way, especially since suing BP will take years, have a highly uncertain outcome and entail sharing with lawyers a large cut of any award. For this reasonable suggestion, Mr. Feinberg is labeled a “corporate shill” by Alabama Attorney General Troy King, and no doubt that’s just the be- ginning. Beyond the name-calling, though, what are the arguments of Mr. Feinberg’s critics? Gulf state at- torneys general complain that 90 days isn’t enough time to apply for temporary relief. Mr. Feinberg counters that if you can’t apply for an emergency payment within 90 days, how urgent can your emergency be? You can always just apply for a final settlement instead. The critics also object to Mr. Feinberg using geo-
graphic proximity as one criterion in determining who deserves help. After all, many businesses that rely on the gulf aren’t next to the water. But geogra- phy isn’t Mr. Feinberg’s only consideration; the cir- cumstances of the applicant — whether it be a shrimp boat captain in Biloxi, Miss., or the owner
FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2010
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
dletters@washpost.com
The N.Y. mosque and religious freedom
Reading the Aug. 23 front-page article about oppo- sition to construction of an Islamic center in Mur- freesboro, Tenn., [“Nowhere near Ground Zero, but no more welcome”] I thought about those who say they are for religious freedom but oppose an Islamic center in Lower Manhattan only because of its proposed loca- tion.
If the opponents of Park51 in New York are con- cerned about the site because it reflects insensitivity to those who suffered from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist at- tacks, why are they not speaking out in favor of reli- gious freedom in Murfreesboro and other communi- ties where similar struggles are underway? Respect for the feelings of those victimized by the Sept. 11 at- tacks is important, but are religious liberty and equal treatment of those of different religions less signifi- cant?
ARYEHNEIER,New York
The writer is president of the Open Society Institute.
In his Aug. 24 op-ed column, “The mosque cop-out,” Richard Cohen claimed that one could not oppose the mosque being built near Ground Zero unless one be- lieved that Islam as a whole attacked America on Sept. 11. Let me propose another scenario: If someone were to announce a plan to build a gun store close to Col- umbine High School, would Mr. Cohen defend such a move? The principle is the same. Our constitution protects religious freedom just as it protects the right to bear arms. One need not seek repeal of the Second Amend- ment to disagree with such a plan. Even if the person’s intentions were noble, such as performing social out- reach to show the world that the vast majority of gun owners are peaceful, law-abiding citizens who want nothing to do with the extremists who wreaked havoc nearby, would any of us not find such a move at best questionable, and at worst highly inappropriate? I doubt anyone believes that guns as a whole at-
TERRY BARNER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Alicia Paul of Panama City Beach washes the deck of her charter fishing boat after the ban on commercial and recreational fishing was lifted in the Florida Panhandle this month.
of a shrimp processing facility in Chattanooga, Tenn. — can override geography. There are complaints about the protocol Mr.
Feinberg is developing for final settlements, too, such as that wages earned in the spill cleanup ef- fort could be deducted from payouts. But this is only fair; the whole point is to compensate claim- ants for their net losses due to the oil spill. Lost amid the outcry is that applying to the claims facility is entirely voluntary. If victims feel they can get a better deal in court, prosecuting
their liability claims as they would have without the fund, they are free to do so. If they worry that experts underestimate the damage to the gulf — and, therefore, the losses they might suffer — they can delay their application for final payment. Still, victims would be wise to discount some of the shriller rhetoric and look carefully at what Mr. Feinberg is offering. His first priority is to serve victims’ needs in a fair and reasonably expeditious process. It’s not clear how many of his critics can say the same.
Pension time bomb The shadow hanging over GM’s turnaround
P
RESIDENT OBAMA has a riposte for critics of his decision to rescue General Motors and Chrysler: You can’t argue with success. And much good news has emanated from De-
troit of late, especially from GM. Having wiped out almost all of its debt through an administration- orchestrated bankruptcy process, slashed excess plants and streamlined operations, GM is once again turning a profit: $2.2 billion so far in 2010. Sales are up; promising new models are coming to market. GM’s aggressive new management is plan- ning a public stock offering, which would let the Treasury Department start unloading the 61 per- cent stake it bought for nearly $50 billion. U.S. offi- cials speak of escaping with modest losses — a small price for averting industrial catastrophe. All true — up to a point. But the company’s stock
prospectus points to several reasons for caution, in- cluding such obvious ones as the sluggish U.S. econ- omy and overcapacity in global auto manufactur- ing. And then there’s a threat that the Obama- supervised bankruptcy did not address: the precari- ous condition of GM’s immense pension plans. With almost $100 billion in liabilities, GM’s defined-benefit plans for U.S. employees (one cov-
ers a half-million United Auto Workers members, another, 200,000 white-collar personnel) are the largest of any company in America. Yet they were underfunded by $17.1 billion as of the end of 2009, and the underfunding had only slightly lessened, to $16.7 billion, as of June 30. (Chrysler has a similar problem, on a smaller scale.) Having been filled with borrowed money before Chrysler’s bankrupt- cy, the funds can limp along for a couple of years. But, as GM’s prospectus acknowledges, federal law will require it to start pumping in “significant” amounts by 2014 if not sooner. GM does not say ex- actly how much, but an April Government Account- ability Office report suggested that a $5.9 billion in- jection might be required initially, with larger ones to follow. In other words, any investor who buys GM stock is buying stock in a firm whose revenue is al- ready partially committed to retired workers. When companies go bankrupt, their underfund- ed pensions often are taken over by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC), a government-run, industry-funded insurance agency, which then pays retirees a fraction of what they were owed. But that didn’t happen in the GM-Chrysler bankruptcy. The UAW resisted what would have been a huge reduc-
Race to the Top It wasn’t perfect, but it pushed school reform in the right direction. W
ITH RACE TO THE TOP money now awarded, it is clear that some states that lost out were more deserving than some that won the much-coveted
grants. Yet, overall, the program has been a suc- cess in driving school reform. When Congress allocated an enormous pot of dollars for K-12 education in the stimulus bill last year, the Obama administration sequestered about one-twentieth of it to distribute on merit rather than use the usual automatic formulas. Education Secretary Arne Duncan made clear that in this case “merit” would mean commitment to reform. This spurred states to make important changes in K-12 education, such as moving toward paying teachers based on their ability to raise student achievement. In the event, the com- petition was not staged perfectly. But it helped transform the national discussion on education. The 10 winners of the second round of Race to
the Top will share grants totaling $3.4 billion: the District of Columbia and Florida, Georgia, Ha- waii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island. Delaware and Tennessee had snared $600 million in round one. Some of the winners make total sense: Massachu- setts, for example, which has been a leader in measuring and improving student performance, and the District, where Schools Chancellor Mi- chelle A. Rhee is setting a new standard for change. But the selection of Hawaii, Maryland and New York, with middling records on reform, over predicted winners Colorado and Louisiana, which fought hard battles to change how teachers are evaluated, raised questions about the process. The competition relied on a complex evalua- tion system, with outside judges examining 19 cri- teria and grading on a scale from zero to 500 points. Once he set the process in motion, Mr. Duncan was wise not to overrule individual
judges to select candidates he deemed more worthy.
But it probably was a mistake not to have re-
fined the judging system after the first round re- vealed its flaws. Much of the problem centered on discrepancies among judges; if their recommen- dations had gone to another, smaller panel for fi- nal review, the vagaries might have been reduced. It’s important that such issues be examined in an after-action review because, even though Race for the Top is over, the administration aims to appor- tion more federal dollars competitively. Even in states that failed to win additional
money, students will profit from newly imple- mented reforms, and that’s the most important result. Still, Mr. Duncan should find a way to keep faith with state leaders who fought valiantly to toughen academic standards, link student achievement to teacher pay or lift restrictions on charter schools.
tion in the generous benefits of its members, espe- cially the many who retire before age 65. And the Obama administration chose not to push back. The net effect is that the pension time bomb is still ticking. If GM earns robust profits, even more robust than it is making now, the bomb won’t det- onate. Otherwise — well, in a worst-case scenario, GM winds up back in bankruptcy, with PBGC in- tervention both unavoidable and more expensive than it would have been last year. And that could necessitate a bailout from Congress, because of the PBGC’s own deficits. We’re not offering investment advice — just a dash of realism about a still-troubled industry, and a warning that its dependence on taxpayers may not be ended so easily.
Tom Toles is away.
tacked America at Columbine; people merely accept that criminals abused something to take the lives of others, just as they did on Sept. 11. I don’t think the mosque near Ground Zero would be some sort of aw- ful place. But Mr. Cohen’s implication that there can be no debate as to its appropriateness is intellectually dishonest. Healthy debate is the lifeblood of democ- racy.
JON LYNCH, Centreville
As the rabbi conducting services at the Pentagon chapel for the past 11 years, starting a year before Sept. 11 and before the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial Chapel was built, I want to comment on the Aug. 23 article “Mus- lims welcome at 9/11 site.” There is a major difference between the Pentagon chapel and the Islamic cultural center/mosque con- templated in Lower Manhattan. The Pentagon chapel is run and controlled by American government em- ployees and the U.S. Army Pentagon Chaplain, and its doors are open to all faiths. Each faith is treated equal- ly and given an equal share of time and respect. As one of my Pentagon worshipers said: “One is public and sponsored by the U.S. government; the other is pri- vate, sponsored by an Islamic institution, who alone decides on its content and activities.” While our government cannot dictate how a mosque should be run, it can be hoped that all reli- gious institutions would adhere to the democratic principles of our nation.
MARVIN I. BASH, Arlington How to strengthen Social Security
The Aug. 11 editorial “Social Security’s tough truths” pointed out that “Social Security is not a cause of the nation’s current or future debt” but then concluded paradoxically that “the debt commission would per- form an important service by tackling the issue.” Given Social Security’s importance and that its pro-
jected shortfall will not affect benefits until 2037, our coalition of more than 125 organizations believes that changes must be debated not by an unelected com- mission but in the sunshine, through the legislative process. Only through a public discussion can we en- sure that the impact of proposed changes is carefully examined, expert input is given due weight, and the voices of the American people are heard. The Post should encourage elected officials to do their jobs rather than hide behind a commission to avoid ac- countability. The editorial correctly noted the modesty of Social
Security’s benefits — averaging $14,000 a year for sen- iors, less for people with disabilities, surviving chil- dren and others. But the editorial recommended, again paradoxically, that to protect Social Security from cuts in the future, we cut Social Security now. The new revenue needed to restore Social Security to long-range actuarial balance is manageable, the equivalent of what it would cost to extend the Bush tax cuts to the top 2 percent of taxpayers. There are doz- ens of proposals to increase the program’s revenue, all modest in their impact. We need to strengthen Social Security by increasing its revenue, not cutting its ben- efits.
NANCYALTMAN ANDERICKINGSON,Washington
The writers are co-chairs of the Strengthen Social Security Coalition and Campaign.
The politics behind foreign aid
Regarding the Aug. 24 front-page article “U.S. aid buys little goodwill in Pakistan”: It should come as no surprise that the Pakistanis
Helping Pepco keep the lights on LOCAL OPINIONS
3Join the debate at
washingtonpost.com/localopinions It’s easy to blame Pepco for the recent power
outages even when the direct cause is weather- related [“Holding Pepco accountable,” editorial, Aug. 24].
Since we can’t control the direct cause — storms
—let’s address the contributing causes and other factors that resulted in such a magnitude of cus- tomers without power. Remember, Pepco is (still) a highly regulated provider of power that is in business to make a profit. It behooves it to main- tain this service the best it can and keep its share- holders happy. The following are just some of the forces that prevent Pepco from delivering power to all of its users: Local and state rules that prevent the utility from making a reasonable profit and customer NIMBY issues about power-line rights-of-way and tree-trimming efforts.
Abusive energy surcharges (such as in Mont- gomery County) that line the pockets of local gov- ernments and result in customers not willing to pay for their delivered power. Inability of the Maryland Public Service Com- mission (PSC) to approve rules and rates for the long-term health of Pepco. This applies to the more frequent implementation of tree-trimming cycles and other efficiency improvements. The PSC and Pepco need to partner to improve
services to include better and more frequent tree- trimming programs, implementation of an in- telligent power control system that includes auto- mated metering, burying power lines where prac- tical, and the establishment of citizen advisory committees that review the performance not only of Pepco but also of the PSC. THOMASALTVATER, Germantown
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are skeptical of American intentions in their coun- try. We dole out aid with one hand and deadly drone strikes with the other. Development should not be viewed as a mere extension of security pol- icy. Imagine how Americans would react if the tables were turned. Remember when Hugo Chávez lav- ished low-income households in New York with oil? I doubt many New Yorkers believed Chávez was helping them out of the goodness of his heart. The Pakistanis are not fools. They know that our
generosity hinges on our security concerns, and they are right to expect the flow of aid to slow to a trickle once we no longer view Pakistan as a stra- tegic priority. So long as we treat development as just another front in the war on terror, the Paki- stanis will as well. ROBERT BLAIR, New Haven, Conn.
CORRECTION The Aug. 26 editorial “An open, innovative Inter-
net” incorrectly described the classification the Fed- eral Communications Commission was considering for broadband Internet service providers. The clas- sification was common carriers, not content carri- ers.
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