A20
EZ
RE
KLMNO
ABCDE Fiscal fantasies
ANINDEPENDENTNEWSPAPER EDITORIALS
President Obama is irresponsible, but not irresponsible enough for the GOP. T
HERE IS a disconcerting disconnect between the two fiscal policy debates unfolding in Washington. One involves the looming expiration of the Bush tax cuts, and it is being conducted on a
bizarrely narrow playing field: whether to extend all of the tax cuts or just most of them. The second concerns how to get long-term debt — the long-term debt that those taking part in the first conversation propose to deepen — under control and what mixture of spending cuts and tax increases is best to achieve that goal. In the short term, with economic growth
anemic and unemployment high, big tax hikes or reductions in government spending would be counterproductive. It is puzzling, to say the least, to hear congressional Republicans simultaneous- ly insist that it would be economic folly to raise taxes when the economy is still recovering and demandthat spending be slashed, immediately, to 2008 levels. The impact of the latter would be dangerously contractionary. In a speech this month, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernan- ke underscored the dual imperatives of fiscal stimulus in the short term and fiscal stability over the longer run. Stepping gingerly into the political
A return to fairness
Rejecting a Bush policy on plea bargains and DNA
D
URINGTHEearly part of this decade, the Bush administration fought vigorously to undermine legislation intended to ensure that inmates insisting on their innocence
had reasonable access to post-conviction DNA evidence.Whensuch a bill appeared near passage, the administration successfully pushed a provi- sion that allows defendants to waive the
right.The administration then instructed prosecutors to insist on such waivers in all plea bargains — to force defendants, as a condition of any plea bargain, to promise not to seek potentially exoner- ating DNA evidence down the road. The U.S. attorney’s offices in the District and in Alexandria followed the directive, although not all federal prosecutors abided by the mandate. There was a superficial logic to this for those
who believe that only the guilty confess. In fact, though, some innocent suspects are bullied or coerced into admissions of guilt. Defendants sometimes accept pleas to avoid the death penalty or other stiff sentences. The Bush administration decision to force some defendants to waive their rights toDNA evidence left open the possibility of miscarriages of justice. Attorney General Eric H.Holder Jr. has rightly
reversed this wrongheaded, callous policy for an approach that better serves the interests of justice. Under newguidelines, federal prosecutors will no longer be required to seek DNA waivers from those entering plea deals,andsuch waivers willno longer be included automatically in standard plea
debate, he noted that “a fiscal program that combines near-term measures to enhance growth with strong, confidence-inducing steps to reduce longer-term structural deficits would be an im- portant complement to the policies of the Federal Reserve.” But there is a difference between injecting a
short-term boost and needlessly adding to the long-term difficulty. The two bipartisan blue- prints that have been released so far — the recommendations of the co-chairs of President Obama’s debt commission and a more detailed analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center — have underscored the obvious: There is no sensible solution to the debt problem that does not include both spending cuts and revenue increases. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, hardly a radical hotbed, reflected as much in its statement re- sponding to the outline produced by commission co-chairs Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson: “While we do not agree with everything in the draft commission report, we share the co-chairs’ belief that any solution will require commitment and sacrifice on both the spending and revenue fronts.” So why is Mr. Obama, having appointed the
debt commission, proposing a permanent exten- sion of the tax cuts for households making under $250,000 a year? “Now, this is actually an area where Democrats and Republicans agree,” he said in Indiana on Tuesday. “The only place where we disagree is whether we can afford to also borrow $700 billion to pay for an extra tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, for millionaires and bil- lionaires. Idon’t thinkwecanafford it rightnow— notwhenwearegoing tohave tomakesometough decisions to rein in our deficits.”Missing fromMr. Obama’s analysis: any explanation of how we can afford to borrow more than $2 trillion to pay for making the rest of the tax cut permanent. But the administration’s arguments look rea-
sonable in comparison to the official Republican mantra: The Bush tax cuts must be extended, in their entirety. “Some have suggested that getting our deficit under control will take both spending cuts and more tax increases,” Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), the incoming chairman of theWaysand Means Committee, said in a speech to a tax policy group this month. “Let me be clear in saying that Washington doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem.” If that ends up being the Republicans’ last word, the country is in trouble.
TOMTOLES
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2010
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
dletters@washpost.com
Michelle Obama and history Richard Cohen has taken the predictable potshot
at Sarah Palin for her criticism ofMichelle Obama’s remark during the 2008 campaign that for the first time as an adult she was proud of America [“Palin needs a history lesson,” op-ed,Nov. 23]. Mr. Cohen noted that when he visited Washing-
ton in 1952, “colored” signs still existed. ButMichelle Obama had not even been born in 1952. Mr. Cohen wrote about slavery and the Civil War. None of us were alive then. Mrs. Obama grew up in an America where she
could attend Princeton University (a school white womencould not attend half a century ago), and she and her husband could attend Harvard. The Civil RightsActwaspassed the year
shewasborn.Shehad good reason to be proud of America before 2008. Richard Cohen needs to learn that part of history. Lawrence Ink, Beltsville l
I commend Richard Cohen for his insights and
sensitivity in hisNov. 23 column. African Americans should be able to reflect on, cry about and celebrate our history and heritage without judgment or labels. Our ability to embrace our past has made us, I dare say,morepatriotic thanmost, forwecontinue to love America even though America has not alwaysshown us love. There are times when we are “more proud” and times when we are disappointed. But in spite of it all, we teach, serve, heal, invent and die for this country, when a less patriotic people would have revolted. All of this to help keep America the wonderful country that it is. I only hope that if Sarah Palin has aspirations
beyond her current media junket, she will learn to understand, respect and appreciate those of us whom she says she wants to lead.
Yvette Lewis, Bowie l In excoriating critics of Michelle Obama, Rich-
ard Cohen is guilty of his own intemperate and distorted version of American history when he sarcastically questions the “mythical wonderfulness of America.” Was Brown v. Board of Education mythical? Was the 1964 Civil Rights Act mythical? Was the 1965Voting RightsActmythical?Howabout affirmative action? The American system is not perfect, but it has consistently demonstrated its ability to outgrow the past, not to remain stuck in it, asMr. Cohen appears to be.
MelGalun, Rockville
Time for the crime As if Courtland Milloy’s recent apologia for
Prince George’s County’s executive leadership fail- ings wasn’t sufficient, his diatribe [“Celeb testimo- nials on doing time need to stop,” Metro, Nov. 24] bemoaning the “unfair” imprisonment of African American criminals further insults both the intelli- gence and morality of law-abiding black citizens.
Mr.Milloy apparently believes that incarceration
is akin to catching a cold — a random event that strikes unfairly, implies no wrongdoing and should carry no stigma; and, what’s more, that black celebrities who have gained insight and perspective from their imprisonment should somehow stifle their altruistic impulse to share these insights in the hope of deterring others from criminality. What a terribly unfortunate message to send to
agreements. Prosecutors retain some wriggle room in “extraordinary” circumstances, but that determination must be made case by case. DNA has become an invaluable tool and has
been instrumental in proving the innocence of some 250 wrongly convicted defendants — some of whom had confessed and some of whom were
sitting on death row. It is, by and large, most often used to prove guilt. Demanding that a defendant give up the right to request evidence that could definitively determine culpability undermines the purpose of a justice system – to ferret out the truth so that the guilty are punished and the innocent are spared.
Taming Montgomery’s unions Ignore the complaints of labor leaders and embrace fiscal responsibility. M
ONTGOMERY COUNTY’S public em- ployees unions, coddled for years with unsustainably large increases in salary and benefits, have grown into unman-
ageable giants. In other localities, officials have taken a more matter-of-fact approach to painful cost-cutting, including layoffs, furloughs and sala- ry freezes. In Montgomery, where unions boast openlyabouttheir ability to installandremovethe very elected officials who set union members’ salaries, politicians feel they must tiptoe so as not to provoke the county’s dyspeptic labor leaders. That’s the ugly context in whichNancy Floreen
(D-At Large), president of theMontgomery Coun- ty Council, commissioned a report last spring on the contributing factors to the county’s gaping structural deficit — specifically, personnel costs, which account for more than 80 percent of tax-supported public
spending.The results of that study are in, and they are eye-opening. With luck, they will create a political environment in which the unions will come to the bargaining table this
3Join the debate at
washingtonpost.com/localopinions Tobacco funds misdirected The theft of $4 million by a Virginia Tobacco
LOCAL OPINIONS
Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission member [“Tobacco funds are draw- ing scrutiny,” Metro, Nov. 23] illustrates the major problem related to the allocation of these fundsbyVirginiaandmany other states. Andit’s not that there need to be better accounting safeguards in place. It’s that the funds aren’t being used as they were intended by the master settlement agreement between state attorneys general and the tobacco industry: to prevent tobacco use and help people stop smoking. Virginia is failing to keep its promise to
prevent our kids from starting to smoke and helping smokers quit. The Centers for Disease Control and Preven-
tion (CDC) recommends that Virginia invest $103 million each year in these life-saving
programs, but we’re spending only $9 million— less than 10 percent of what the CDC recom- mends. As a result, we’ve seen declines in smoking rates come to a screeching halt. In September, the American Lung Associa-
tion released a study showing that for every $1 Virginia invests in helping smokers quit, the commonwealth would get back $1.25 in lower health-care costs and increased worker produc- tivity. In other words, by keeping kids from starting
to smoke and by helping smokers quit, Virginia can save lives and money. Until Richmond gets this message, we’ll be
spinning our wheels. Dennis C. Alexander, Washington
The writer is regional executive director for the American Lung Association.
winter prepared to make the sort of hard conces- sions that private-sector workers have been mak- ing for some time. The report, by the county’s independent Office
of Legislative Oversight, presents some arresting numbers. In a decade, salaries for county workers jumped by 50 percent, and health and pension benefits soared by a mind-blowing 120 percent. For every dollar it spends on salaries, the county spends about 52 cents on benefits, up from 35 cents a decade ago. The report includes a series of charts that illustrate that salaries for county workers in a broad range of employment catego- ries are now higher than in Fairfax and Arlington counties or virtually any other area locality. As inmany other places,Montgomery’s revenue
growth in thecomingyears is projected at just half the past decade’s level. Barring further steep tax increases — on top of a burden that is already among the highest in the region—there is simply no money available to support more fat union contracts.
As a constructive first step toward recognizing
that reality, council member Valerie Ervin (D-Sil- ver Spring), who is set to become council presi- dent next month, has offered legislation that would require arbitrators in contract disputes betweenthe county and the unions to give priority consideration to Montgomery’s budgetary and fiscal situation—in other words, its ability to pay. The bill would create a more level playing field for contract negotiations that unions have dominat- ed for years based on their certainty that arbitra- tors would rule in their favor. It’s an eminently reasonable proposal; predict-
ably, union leaders have attacked it in venomous terms. With luck, council members who have quaked at such snarling in the past will find some spine and stand up for fiscal responsibility. And if the current round of contract negotiations yields more unaffordable concessions to labor, the coun- cil should consider amending the county charter to scrap collective bargaining. Fairfax has man- aged well without it;Montgomery can, too.
ABCDE
EUGENE MEYER, 1875-1959 • PHILIP L. GRAHAM, 1915-1963 KATHARINE GRAHAM, 1917-2001
BOISFEUILLET JONES JR., Chairman KATHARINE WEYMOUTH, Publisher and Chief Executive Officer News pages:
MARCUS W. BRAUCHLI Executive Editor
RAJU NARISETTI, Managing Editor ELIZABETH SPAYD, Managing Editor
SHIRLEY CARSWELL Deputy Managing Editor
Editorial and opinion pages: FRED HIATT
Deputy Editorial Page Editor Business and advertising:
STEPHEN P. HILLS, President and General Manager KENNETH R. BABBY, Chief Revenue Officer/GM, Digital
Vice Presidents
ROGER ANDELIN....................................................................................Technology BENJAMIN C.
BRADLEE...............................................................................At Large USHA CHAUDHARY
.............................................................Finance & Admin/CFO JAMES W. COLEY JR............................................................................... Production L. WAYNE CONNELL
..................................................................Human Resources LEONARD DOWNIE JR.
...............................................................................At Large WENDY EVANS
......................................................................................Advertising GREGG J. FERNANDES
..........................................................................Circulation JOHN B. KENNEDY
........................................................................................Labor ERIC N.
LIEBERMAN....................................................................................Counsel CHRISTOPHER
MA..............................................................................Development STEVE STUP.................................................................................Digital Advertising
The Washington Post Company: 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071 (202) 334-6000 DONALD E. GRAHAM, Chairman of the Board
dLetters can be sent to
letters@washpost.com. Submissions must be exclusive to The Post and should include the writer's address and day and evening telephone numbers. Letters are subject to editing and abridgment. Please do not send letters as attachments. Because of the volume of material we receive, we are unable to acknowledge submissions; writers whose letters are under consideration for publication will be contacted.
Editorial Page Editor JACKSON DIEHL
the District’s at-risk black youth. One can only hope that they’re reading Michael Vick, not Courtland Milloy. At least the quarterback, for all his mistakes in judgment, clearly sees the connection between criminal acts and their consequences. Mr. Milloy, armedwithanequallypowerful platform, chooses to blur what needs to be an unmistakably clear mes- sage: “You do the crime, you do the time.” Robert Glenn, Gaithersburg
Environmental injustice TheNov. 22 news story “EPA examineswaste ‘hot
spots,’ ” noted that the toxic coal ash disposal from Mirant’sChalkPointpower stationinPrinceGeorge’s County isanexampleof theproblemof “environmen- tal justice.” This refers to the fact that toxic waste disposal facilities are typically located in political- lypowerless communities. Speakingof the ruralPrinceGeorge’sdisposal site,
Fred Tutman, who heads Patuxent Riverkeepers, laments, “Why is this not in some other county?Why is itnot inthePotomac?” But wait. It is! Mirant has just such a toxic ash
disposal site in Dickerson, located in Montgomery County within feet of an unnamed tributary about a half-mile from—youguessedit—thePotomacRiver. In fact, the dump is located not somanymiles from thewater intake for
theD.C.metropolitanarea. Mr. Tutman is right about one thing. Ironically,
despite its tony address, the Dickerson site, because of itsruralsurrounds, isdefinitelyanotherexampleof environmental injustice.
BevThoms,Dickerson
What’s good for veterans . . . The Nov. 23 front-page article “McConnell has
made his (ear)mark on Louisville” noted that Senate Minority Leader MitchMcConnell has said that his announcement, days before his 2008 reelection, of a $75 million earmark to build a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Louisville “helped him survive that year’s Democratic wave.” This, of course, is the same Mr. McConnell who
has given dozens of speeches denouncing the “monstrosity” of the “government takeover” of health care by “Obamacare,” whichmust be repealed to protect Americans from “socialism.” As a former Marine, I applaud the senator’s
efforts to provide health care tomy fellow veterans, but I hope that he privately appreciates the irony of attacking the president’s private-sector health in- surance program while supporting socialist medi- cine (government hospitals, government doctors) for our veterans, as well as our active-duty troops, of course.
Michael D. Barnes, Chevy Chase
The writer (D-Md.) was a member of the House of Rep- resentatives from 1979 to 1987.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158