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an independent newspaper EDITORIALS
I The Senate chooses a sensitive moment to slash funding for Iraqi security forces.
RAQ IS at a tipping point. The parliament elected in March’s elections was finally seat- ed this week, but the formation of a new gov- ernment is still weeks or months away. Mean- while, a big withdrawal of U.S. forces is going
forward — the number of troops will be halved, to 50,000, by the end of the summer. If a stable gov- ernment forms by then and Iraqi security forces are able to fill the gap left by American units, the U.S. mission in Iraq will be on the homestretch to a successful conclusion. But a lot could still go wrong — especially if
Iraqis begin to perceive that what is supposed to be a transition from occupation to strategic part- nership with the United States is becoming an American rush for the exits, complete with the dis- avowal of past commitments. That’s why it’s par- ticularly concerning that the Senate has chosen this sensitive moment to slash more than $1 bil- lion from the aid programmed for the Iraqi transi- tion — including critical funding for security forces. The most dangerous cut was initiated in the
Running off track
A Virginia squabble over Metro’s board threatens crucial funding.
W
HEN CONGRESS agreed last year to provide $1.5 billion over 10 years in new capital funding for Metro — a critical infusion of cash for a transit
system starved of it — the money came with some strings attached. One was that the money would be matched annually by contributions from the District, Maryland and Virginia. An- other was that Metro’s governing board of direc- tors would be expanded to include a federal vote. That seemed reasonable and logical: If Metro wanted federal funds, it would have to accept federal input. Now Virginia officials, who contribute almost $90 million annually to Metro in capital and op- erating funds, are making an identical demand for a seat at the table and threatening to with- hold contributions if they don’t get one. Their demand is justified. The threat to withhold funding is not; it’s blackmail. This is not a dispute between Virginia and
Metro, or even between Virginia and the other two Metro jurisdictions, Maryland and the Dis- trict. This is a dispute between Virginia and Northern Virginia. And resolving it would not require redrawing the rules governing Metro’s board. As things have stood for years, the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, a regional body representing Fairfax and Arlington coun- ties and Alexandria, has named two voting mem- bers to the Metro board to match the two voting members named by the District and the state of Maryland. (Maryland’s seats have for years been controlled not by suburban governing bodies but from Annapolis, which also provides the state’s subsidy.) When Virginia was asked to po- ny up $50 million a year in funds to match the federal dollars, state officials started pressing the commission to allow them to name one of the two voting members (plus an alternate) for Virginia. The Northern Virginians declined. The dispute began during the term of Gov.
Timothy M. Kaine (D) and has apparently sharp- ened since his successor, Robert M. McDonnell (R), took office this year. State officials point out that they are chipping in about 52 percent of all Virginia dollars going to Metro; the remaining 48 percent comes from Northern Virginia local- ities. State officials are also right that the Metro board would be well served by having Virginia represented by a full-time transportation expert, not part-time politicians, no matter how consci- entious and well-intentioned. Possibly, partisanship is exacerbating the
fight — Northern Virginia is controlled by Dem- ocrats, Richmond by Republicans. But Metro is not a political trophy to be squabbled over; it’s one of the busiest and most critical transporta- tion systems in the nation. Northern Virginia needs to recognize the state’s legitimate interest and contribution, back down and allow Rich- mond a vote on the Metro board. Richmond should negotiate without holding the system hostage. This internecine skirmish must not be allowed to jeopardize funding for transit in the nation’s capital.
Senate Armed Services Committee last month by Chairman Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.).Mr. Levin per- suaded his committee to cut by half the $2 billion requested by the Obama administration for the funding of Iraqi forces in the 2011 defense authori- zation bill. The administration’s request was the product of
a careful Pentagon study of what is needed to com- plete the transition to full control by Iraqi security forces at the end of 2011, when the last U.S. troops are due to depart. The total sum is $8 billion, of which $4 billion is coming from the Iraqi govern- ment. The Levin amendment could make it impos- sible for the United States to provide Iraq with equipment its forces will need — and the trouble will only be exacerbated if a separate, $300 million Senate reduction in funds for Iraq in the 2010 sup- plemental appropriations bill holds up. Mr. Levin’s cut has little to do with fiscal probity.
After all, he allowed some $2.8 billion in earmarks to be added to the $700 billion bill, including hun- dreds of millions for construction that the Penta- gon neither requested nor wanted. Instead the
senator was piqued by the Iraqi parliament’s deci- sion to reduce the government-requested defense budget from $7.4 billion to $4.9 billion. He argues that Iraqis, not Americans, should make up the $1 billion he took out. This position ignores a few facts: that Iraq is al- ready covering half the cost of the military transi- tion; that its defense spending is far higher than that of the United States as a percentage of gross national product; that it already needed bailouts from both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to fund its budget and even so “will have to issue new debt to cover its budget def- icit in 2010,” according to a letter signed by U.S. ambassador Christopher R. Hill and U.S. forces commander Gen. Raymond T. Odierno. But the biggest problem with the Senate cuts is the message they send: that the long-term stra- tegic partnership that the United States has prom- ised Iraq is likely to be barren. As Iraqis deliberate over the nature and course of their next govern- ment, there could hardly be a worse time for Con- gress to give that impression.
TOM TOLES
FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 2010
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
dletters@washpost.com
The oil spill’s gusher of mistakes Anne Applebaum’s June 15 op-ed column, “This isn’t
Obama’s Katrina,” made an excellent point about the power of political speech. Ms. Applebaum argued that the oil spill is BP’s problem and that President Oba- ma’s tough talk only emphasizes his inability to do anything about the situation. Makes you wonder whether politicians understand
that empty rhetoric isn’t as effective as it used to be. Mr. Obama may be the first president to use e-mail consistently (and that in itself is amazing), but his gen- eration of politicians is still largely unable to compre- hend how quickly information travels. In the past, politicians could get away with saying one thing and doing another (or talking tough and do- ing nothing). This is no longer effective. In fact, it is counterproductive in nearly every way. The sooner our political class comes to terms with the world it lives in, the better.
SCOTTATHERLEY, Arlington
While I support assisting wildlife injured by the gulf oil spill [“One bird’s odyssey through the oil,” graphic, June 13], I suggest that the days or weeks of effort, money and concern to clean oil off a pelican would be better spent assisting a homeless person on the streets of Washington, D.C., or Venice, La. JIM PEMBROKE,Washington
Was Ian Bremmer, in his interview with Big Money
editor James Ledbetter, kidding when he said that BP and the big banks employ a superior class of people — “the best and the brightest, the smartest and the most highly compensated” [“Why BP was unprepared for the big spill,” Sunday Business, June 13]? No doubt that’s why they deserve those multimillion-dollar bo- nuses. And the poor folks at the regulatory agencies just can’t keep up, being “poorly paid” and “not as up- to-speed.” Well, if there is any selection going on, it seems to be for those individuals who are best able and willing to transfer the costs of their mistakes to the common people. Sometimes cream rises to the top, but often what’s on top is scum.
SARAKALTENBORN, Takoma Park
What new HOT lanes mean for Va. The June 15 editorial “Blocking traffic” asserted that
Arlington County’s lawsuit opposing the plan to build high- occupancy toll (HOT) lanes on interstates 95 and 395 is invalid and a waste of tax dollars. I think this is instead an example of a county government that be- lieves in the concept of carpooling and mass transit and is willing to take action to protect it. Conversion from basic high-occupancy vehicle
(HOV) to HOT lanes will encourage single-occupant vehicles, degrade the commutes of carpoolers and bus riders, and threaten a tremendously successful sys- tem. Twice per day during HOV restrictions, the cur- rent system moves something like 30,000 people in 10,000 cars. The addition of another narrow, danger- ous lane by restriping the highway and removing a shoulder may allow 5,000 more single-occupant cars carrying 5,000 individuals during rush hour. That would be an increase in people movement of only 17 percent. To achieve that, existing carpools will be slowed from 65 to 45 mph, if we are lucky — grid- locked if not. Many people will just give up carpooling if there is only a small difference from traveling in the regular lanes. We carpoolers are the good guys here. Let’s find an- other approach, especially during rush hour. BOBHUGMAN,Woodbridge
Battle of the market models America and Europe have their points — and one big shared flaw.
rope’s “social market” approach. European Union President José Manuel Barroso crowed in January 2009 that President Obama had tacitly admitted as much and was “moving toward a European-style model.” Eighteen months later, the threat to the world economy comes not from the United States, which is slowly recovering, but from a government- debt crisis in Europe, which is facing years of auster- ity and thepossible collapse of its currency. Now it is fashionable to declare that “the European economic model is dead,” as a recent blog post on the conser- vative Heritage Foundation’s Web site puts it. Who’s right? It’s more than an academic point, be- cause the conclusions policymakers draw from the Western world’s crisis will probably influence them for years to come. The fact is, though, that the con- trast between the European and American models, though real, was never quite as stark as their respec- tive partisans often suggest. The United States, where government at all levels spent 35 percent of gross domestic product before the crisis (and nearly 45 percent now), is not the savage capitalist jungle of much European lore. (The European Union’s aver- age is a little less than half of GDP.) Nor is Europe, with its super-efficient export industries, the slouch- ing socialist beast of American myth.
A
S FINANCIAL CRISIS swept the globe a year ago, many on both sides of the Atlantic proclaimed the failure of U.S.-style free- market capitalism — and the triumph of Eu-
Rather, both Europe and the United States have committed different versions of the same mistake: failing to strike a sustainable balance between in- centives for growth and efficiency on the one hand, and measures to blunt capitalism’s sharpest edges on the other. For the past two decades or so, U.S. growth in output and living standards has out- stripped that of Europe. Yet the lightly regulated fi- nancial sector that led the way was also planting the seeds of the American boom’s destruction. Europe arguably sacrificed growth in favor of stable employ- ment, universal health insurance, long vacations and the other attributes of a “lifestyle superpower.” Instead of proving the superiority of one model over the other, this experience demonstrates that government can be relatively smaller or bigger, but it always must be smart and efficient. Europe tried to have day care and health care while providing far less justifiable entitlements, such as France’s fa- mously early retirement age or Spain’s laws that practically prevent firing and therefore hiring — both of which those countries are now belatedly re- forming. The United States tried to leave more wealth in private hands, but without wise reg- ulation, much of it wasn’t invested any more pro- ductively than government would have done. And, of course, what the continents share, despite all the rhetoric, is an appetite for more government than taxpayers are willing to pay for. Over the long run, that can’t work anywhere in the world.
LOCAL OPINIONS 3Join the debate at
washingtonpost.com/localopinions
Talking points won’t heal D.C.’s troubled youth
In his June 12 op-ed column, “D.C.’s juvenile jus- tice farce,” Colbert I. King quoted D.C. Council member David A. Catania (I-At Large) addressing the root causes of youth violence in the city: “Kids are being raised without the parenting and support they need to develop socially.” Mr. King’s columns consis- tently fail to consider our city’s problems with similar under- standing. He seems content to blame the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) and perpet- uate a culture of fear. Nationwide, recidivism rates are high, and more jail time seldom rehabili- tates youth offenders. Despite the best efforts at reform, most correctional facilities remain violent
Despite the best efforts at reform, most correctional facilities remain violent and punitive.
and punitive. Eventually, almost all offenders will have to reenter the community. I await more journalism from The Post that ex- amines how the lack of support leads so many youth to end up in DYRS care in the first place. The vague “pro- fessional therapeutic treat- ment” and “mental health in- tervention” that Mr. King trum- pets are not so different from the therapeutic goals devel- oped by DYRS in recent years.
Unfortunately, it’s harder to address these issues than it is to write alarmist columns in the paper. GABRIELFELDMAN, Washington
The writer was a teacher at the Oak Hill Youth Center from 2007 to 2009.
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As someone who lives on the Arlington border and within earshot of Interstate 395, I was dismayed by the editorial’s breezing past critical flaws in the proposed deal between Virginia and Fluor-Transurban. The Post mentioned, but failed to examine, the proposal that Virginia turn over control of one of our region’s most critical highways to a private consortium for “most of the rest of this century.” It also glossed over the conse- quences to Virginia taxpayers if the revenue projec- tions are “too rosy.” Is there any realistic chance that those projections will not turn out to be too rosy? What in our experience with highway projects in our country would lead a person to believe this project will come in on time and on budget? The Post is correct that Virginia should conduct an
environmental impact study, and that study should in- clude, among many other things, the consequences of spillover traffic from HOT lanes onto neighborhood streets, the congestion created and the use of resi- dential neighborhoods — such as Fairlington — for cut-through traffic. The safety impact of this cut- through traffic also needs to be examined. SAMANTHONY, Alexandria
The writer is president of the Fairlington Citizens Association.
Not The Post’s place to judge
I am deeply disturbed by The Post’s slanted analy- sis of the decision by arbitrator David Vaughn to re- instate two fired Metrobus drivers [“Passengers be- ware,” editorial, June 14]. The editorial challenged the impartiality of a respected arbitrator whom Metro management and the union chose to resolve labor disputes. Without the benefit of having heard the testimony of the charged employees or Metro management of- ficials, The Post suggests that the arbitrator should have upheld the dismissals. In a totalitarian society it would be routine to render a socially acceptable decision on the basis of perceptions, but we have adopted final and binding arbitration as a means of resolving labor disputes. It is wrong to publicly cas- tigate the work of an arbitrator who has applied his best judgment after hearing all the facts. The Supreme Court has decided that labor dis- putes are best left to mutually selected arbitrators for final decisions. In cases where those decisions conflict with law, they may be appealed to the ap- propriate court, but in other circumstances The Post’s editorial board is not called upon to render its own decision.
WILLIAM BURRUS,Washington
The writer is president of the American Postal Workers Union.
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