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EDITORIALS
Metro on a slippery slope
close a gap in next year’s budget for the transit agency. In doing so, Mr. Sarles heeded the testi- mony of dozens of passengers and others who insisted they’d rather suffer higher fees and fares than face longer waits, shorter trains, shorter operating hours and fewer bus routes. The bad news is that even as Metro scrambles to maintain service, storm clouds continue to gather over its long-term financial and opera- tional health. For one thing, the $1.46 billion budget that Mr. Sarles has proposed for the fis- cal year starting in July would meet current maintenance needs partly by raiding $30 mil- lion from the pot of money that’s supposed to pay for upgraded trains, buses, equipment and facilities. Granted, that’s just 5 percent of annual capital spending. But for a transit agency whose infrastructure is as aging and accident-prone as
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Stalled front
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A climate change bill shouldn’t take a back seat to immigration reform.
S THE Senate climate bill doomed? It certain- ly took a hit Saturday, when Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), hitherto the bill’s lone Re- publican backer, threatened to abandon the
effort. Mr. Graham, who had worked with Sens. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) for months on the bill, derided Demo- cratic leaders for opening the way to take up im- migration reform before the climate bill, calling the move “a cynical political ploy” and claiming that it endangered the climate effort. He has a point. Painstaking negotiations on the substance of a compromise climate bill are nearly complete. Mr. Graham, Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lieberman have gone to extraordinary lengths to attract a coalition of supporters, including environmental groups, elec- tric utilities, businesses, the Christian Coalition and even oil companies. Fence-sitting senators concerned about the bill’s effects on manufactur- ing and American competitiveness seem to be coming around to the idea of pricing carbon. This emerging coalition, backers claim, is still behind the bill. In contrast, there is no comparable groundwork
that would lead to an immigration bill’s passage. But at least some Democrats say they believe the politics of immigration reform are more favorable to them than the politics of climate legislation. House Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) faces a tough reelection battle, where a sizable Hispanic population wants to see him make an ef- fort to achieve reform. We understand the politics, and we support immigration reform. If it’s pos- sible to accomplish something this year, great. But Mr. Reid and the White House should not allow immigration to push climate change so far down the calendar that it becomes impossible for the Senate to take up. And all parties — including Mr.
Funding erodes, and with it a transit agency’s future.
IRST THE good news about Metro. The interim general manager, John Sarles, has proposed scrapping most of the service reductions that his predecessor, John B. Catoe Jr., was relying on to help
Metro’s, it’s a foolish move and creates a budget- ary hole that will be difficult to fill in the future. Mr. Sarles was apparently led to this budget-
ary gimmickry mainly by foot-dragging by one of Metro’s funding partners, the state of Mary- land. Virginia and the District have indicated that they’re prepared to find additional funds so that Metro needn’t raid its capital budget. But Annapolis insists it’s already ponying up $14 million more next year (bringing its subsidy for Metro to $230 million) and that it will go no higher. The trouble is, much of that $14 million is for services rendered — namely, more resi- dents of Montgomery and Prince George’s coun- ties using MetroAccess, the agency’s service for passengers with disabilities. It’s troubling that Maryland won’t dig slightly deeper to safeguard Metro’s future. The overall trend is that Metro is relying more heavily on passenger fares as its three jurisdictional partners become increas- ingly tight-fisted. It’s equally disturbing that Maryland appears to be edging away from its promise to meet Met-
ro’s long-term infrastructure needs, which are estimated at $11 billion over the next decade. Al- ready, even with a commitment from the feds to contribute $1.5 billion of that sum, Metro looked hard-pressed to raise even $8 billion of the $11 billion. Earlier this month, Maryland said it would defer for two years a $28 million payment that had been due in 2010. Officials in Gov. Martin O’Malley’s adminis-
tration say Metro is not spending money on in- frastructure fast enough to require that Annapo- lis cut checks right now. But Metro officials, mindful of tighter local and federal funding for transit, have already taken an ax to long-term in- frastructure spending, including replacements for antiquated trains and buses. In its latest pro- jections, Metro slashed its capital budget for the next six years by almost 10 percent, to about $4.6 billion, making it increasingly unlikely that it will reach the 10-year, $11 billion target for mod- ernizing the system. Metro, sorry to say, is on a slippery slope, and Maryland is pushing it downhill.
TOM TOLES
TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2010
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
dletters@washpost.com
Why Newt Gingrich is wrong
Regarding Newt Gingrich’s April 23 op-ed, “ ‘A secu- lar-socialist machine’ ”: Mr. Gingrich has seemingly forgotten that on Nov. 4,
2008, the American people elected President Obama and gave the Democratic Party decisive majorities in Congress because they supported their agenda, which is being enacted. Furthermore, the 2008 election se- verely rebuked the Republican Party’s conservative ideology, which is characterized by contempt for the role of government. The simple lesson from the 2008 election is that Americans expect their government to anticipate and effectively respond to crises by, for example, control- ling skyrocketing health-care costs, seeking an effec- tive solution for a looming environmental disaster, saving billions of dollars by having the federal govern- ment disburse federal student loans, engaging in a co- operative foreign policy and regulating the financial industry. This is called “good government,” a concept clearly
anathema to the reactionary, anti-government think tanks and Tea Partyers with whom Mr. Gingrich is so eager to identify.
MARCGORI, Fairfax
Newt Gingrich’s April 23 op-ed was cynical, exagger-
ated and full of false premises and conclusions. As I pay off my graduate education, I find one of his points particularly egregious. Gingrich’s assertion that the Obama administration and congressional Democrats are “nationalizing student loans” flagrantly misrepre- sents the change to the student loan programs that was part of the recently passed health-care reform bill. The Stafford and Perkins loan programs were al-
ready government-funded, although they were until recently administered by private loan companies. The companies would manage the loan transaction for a fee charged to the loan, so only about $17,900 of my $18,500 Stafford loan would be available for my education. What the legislation does is cut out the middle man, taking the very un-socialist step of re- moving a taxpayer-funded subsidy to lenders whose rates would otherwise not be competitive on the open market. By administering student loans itself, the gov- ernment ends this inefficient subsidy. Gingrich is a smart man, with a PhD in history. He knows what socialism is, and, more important, he knows that Obama is no socialist.
ZACKSHAEFFER, Washington
Newt Gingrich neglected to mention the federal farm support programs, consistently supported by both Democrats and Republicans. These are good examples of socialist government giveaway programs, old perennials that have been around longer than I have. Mr. Gingrich probably just forgot to mention them. No, wait! Isn’t he thinking about running for presi- dent in 2012? He may not want to alienate those farm communities in Republican states. I guess being so- cialist isn’t so bad when there is an election coming up.
WAYNEBERT, Arlington
As President Obama leads America toward caring for all of its citizens — not just those who are generat- ing wealth — he is being Christian, not secular. The fact that Newt Gingrich, in his April 23 op-ed and in re- cent statements, doesn’t recognize the Christian val- ues in Mr. Obama’s policies is troubling.
MARYANNETHOMAS, Black Mountain, N.C.
Root, root, root for the Nats
My love for the Washington Nationals mirrors
Graham — should keep in mind that the politics of climate change are likely to be harder next year, when Democratic majorities will probably be slimmer. Defeat or postponement now could frac- ture the coalition behind the effort. Politics aside, it’s past time that Congress dealt with climate change. Businesses face stifling un- certainty about the shape of inevitable climate
legislation. World leaders wonder when America will finally lead on global warming. And every year Congress waits to legislate, adequately curb- ing emissions will get harder and more expensive. Any comprehensive climate bill will require the support of at least a few Republicans to pass. We hope Mr. Graham and his Democratic partners find a way not to miss this opportunity.
A crack in the deficit door?
Some helpful words from Mr. Obama on facing fiscal reality
W
AS THAT the barely audible sound of a door cracking open just a bit? Candi- dates tend to make a lot of irresponsi- ble promises in pursuit of elections,
and once elected they tend to stick with them for fear of being branded with flip-flopping. Presi- dent Obama’s most foolish, and most consequen- tial, promise was not to raise taxes on house- holds earning less than $250,000 a year. Given the size of the government he wants to run, and given the size of the debt and existing obliga- tions that he inherited, hewing to this position is untenable. But we heard — at least we thought we heard — the glimmerings of an opening in Mr. Obama’s interview last week with CNBC’s John Harwood, and the president’s comments are worth revisiting as the commission prepares to hold its first meeting today. Mr. Harwood: “Should Americans think of
your promise not to raise taxes for anyone under $200,000 as lasting for the entirety of your presi- dency? You would never accept tax increases for that group? Or is it something for the initial phase of your presidency, now you take account again of where the deficit is and make a different decision?” Mr. Obama, after talking about stagnant middle-class wages, the growing burden of health costs, etc.: “Now, the thing I didn’t antici- pate up until a few months before my election was the fact that we were gonna be in such a deep crisis that I’d be inheriting a $1.3 trillion deficit, $8 trillion worth of accumulated national debt that we’re gonna have to deal with. And that’s why I’ve appointed this bipartisan fiscal commission to give me recommendations in terms of how do we deal with this in a serious way moving forward.”
Asked whether that changed his promise, the president restated his position that “we should be able to solve this problem without putting a burden on middle class families.” But, he added, “Having said that, I’m also going to wait for the fiscal commission to provide me what their best recommendations are. Because the one thing that I think all of us agree on is that we are cur- rently on an unsustainable path. . . . At a certain point, what we’ve got to do is match up money going out and money coming in. And right now, we’ve got a huge structural debt that I inherited and that the recession made worse. We’re gonna have to solve that.” Agreed. We’ve cautioned not to expect too much from the commission. But if it helps Mr. Obama and others find a face-saving way to wrig- gle out of unkeepable promises, it will perform a valuable service.
ABCDE
LOCAL OPINIONS
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An obstacle to the District’s medical marijuana law
The April 19 editorial “Medical marijuana” made a wise observation regarding the D.C. med- ical marijuana law — “critical details will need to be worked out in its implementation” — but did not mention the key obstacle: the federal drug law and the Drug Enforcement Administration opposition. The D.C. law and those of 14 states are messy because they need to work around fed- eral law. D.C. and the states would benefit from DEA cooperation, not opposition stubbornly grounded in the Constitution’s supremacy clause. Aside from the Mexican drug trafficking or-
ganizations, the big challenge for the next DEA administrator is to help the states and D.C. im-
plement their medical marijuana laws. President Obama’s nominee, Michele M. Leonhart, has been at the top of DEA for seven years as deputy and acting administrator. Previously she was DEA special agent-in-charge in both San Francis- co and Los Angeles. Since 1997, she has led DEA in resisting state medical marijuana laws. She lacks an essential qualification: a commitment to working with the states to implement these compassionate laws. The Senate Judiciary Com- mittee should look closely at her record and her willingness to carry out that mission.
ERIC E. STERLING, Silver Spring
The writer is president of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation.
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that of Charles Krauthammer [“The joys of losing,” op-ed, April 23]. Friends believe I’m a huge sports fan, but I have no interest in sports: It’s a bunch of men in peculiar costume chasing after a ball. I’m no sports fan; I’m a Nats fan! I love being at Nats Park, drinking overpriced beer and eating half-smokes (it’s not a Nats game until you drip chili on yourself). Nats baseball is so calming. The worries of the world melt away. Because there are no expectations, there’s no disappointment. And though few love the Nats, nobody hates them. They have no rivals. It’s a temple of Zen. Now, with the team playing .500 ball and Stephen
Strasburg on the way, I, too, am worried the team might get good, and then give the fans expectations. Moreover, it might become more difficult to buy cheap tickets and then move up to the good seats. I wear my hope in the Samuel Beckett quote on
my Nats cap: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Go, Nats!
DAVID LEVIN, Edgewater
Charles Krauthammer may enjoy watching the
Nationals lose, but those of us with a more rosy per- sonality would beg to differ. To us, there was noth- ing like an Alfonso Soriano home run over the RFK wall. Today’s team, now above .500, will not give up.
We just need Adam Dunn to stop trying to break the record for walks and start swinging more. Gosh, what’s Mr. Krauthammer going to do when Presi- dent Obama’s ratings go above 60 percent and the Nats keep winning? Mr. Krauthammer, have a hot dog and a beer and enjoy the good news on both fronts.
TONYRAMOS, Washington
My day is ruined! For the first time in years of reading Charles
Krauthammer, I unequivocally agree with him. The Nats are “bliss.” And, I, too, don’t know what I’ll do with the “contender” label. Wonderful.
DOUGLASM. WATSON, Springfield
Charles Krauthammer perfectly expressed the joys of being a Nats fan. When Washington greeted the arrival of the Na- tionals in 2005, my 1-year-old granddaughter at- tended her first Nats game at RFK. At age 3, she de- clared she was going trick-or-treating as Ryan Zim- merman. She wore her tiny No. 11 Zimmerman jersey, donned her pink batting helmet and carried her pink bat door-to-door. A month later, Mr. Zim- merman autographed her jersey. She wore the shirt until she couldn’t button it anymore. This year, my granddaughter is playing T-ball and loving every minute of it. She can name all of the Nats, but still especially adores Zim. She tries to emulate his pitching stance and his concentration, the step forward, mitt ready — when she’s not chatting with the other kinder- gartners in the outfield. I hope in 50 years she will be cheering for the
Nats, playing catch with her grandkids and singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” at the top of her lungs at Nats Park, just like her grandma used to do.
VIRGINIA THACKERY, Alexandria
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