A14
R
KLMNO
FGHIJ After the spill
an independent newspaper EDITORIALS
‘Good news’ of the oil’s dispersal may be premature. T
HE OBAMA administration has an- nounced that three-fourths of the oil that leaked into the Gulf of Mexico from BP’s Macondo well is contained— evaporated,
skimmed, collected, burned off, dispersed or dis- solved. The remaining fourth, said White House energy chief Carol M. Browner, will also slowly degrade or disappear, making the risk of cata- strophic contamination smaller. Could it be that President Obama overstated
the severity of the spill when the leak was still gushing, calling it the “worst environmental dis- aster American has ever faced”? He, of course, was hardly the most theatrical — remember Ca- jun pundit James Carville’s on-air exclamations of, “We’re about to die down here”? The lesson: In the midst of a big, unprecedent-
Spaced out
O ASTEROIDS need apply — U.S. space policy is on a collision course with itself. Last year, the Augustine commission found that without an additional $3 bil- lion in funding over the next several years, the Bush administration’s Constellation program for manned spaceflight and a return to the moon would be impossible. So in June, when President Obama released his administration’s plan for space, he moved to dis- mantle Constellation, instead emphasizing inter- national cooperation and arms control, and maintaining mission-essential functions. So far, so good. But the new plan added a manned mis- sion to asteroids and even a visit to Mars by 2025 without allocating more funds for that. This makes little sense. Human spaceflight has always been an inspiring proposition. But it is also cost- ly. And a plan that allocates a smaller percentage of NASA’s funds to human spaceflight, yet sets a more ambitious goal, is a poor use of limited resources. More sensible are other elements of the new plan: increasing NASA’s focus on hard science and offering incentives to the commercial sector to develop the capacity to launch astronauts into low Earth orbit. Such incentives would be valu- able — the Obama plan seeks to extend the life of the International Space Station through 2020, and the demise of the shuttle program would leave American astronauts hitching rides with the space flights of other nations. Private contrac- tors already supply the hardware NASA uses; having them perform the launch function, with NASA serving in an appropriate regulatory role, is a logical step. Meanwhile, Congress is coming up with a plan of its own. Last month, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee unani- mously passed a version of the NASA Authoriza- tion Act of 2010 that continues elements of the Constellation program — such as the devel- opment of heavy-lift capacity and work on the Orion space capsule — cuts down funding for commercial human space initiatives to $1.3 bil- lion (less than half of the $3.3 billion in the Oba- ma proposal) and extends the life of the shuttle program. The House just released its version of the bill, with even slimmer incentives for private development of launch capacity. All three plans for space have in common an
N
unwillingness either to abandon the dream of hu- man spaceflight or to confront the budget reality. But with the funding for NASA set around $19 bil- lion and not likely to change, bold plans for hu- mans in space are simply not feasible. Something must give. If the administration and Congress truly want human spaceflight, they need to fund it adequately. Piecemeal funding that dooms pro- grams to failure is a waste of money — especially when so many truly vital space functions, from the satellites that supply maps and communica- tions to the telescopes that allow us to glimpse distant worlds, could benefit from such support.
What’s missing from the bold plans for human spaceflight
ed event affecting complicated systems with un- certain consequences, it’s better not to jump to superlative conclusions too soon. The same cau- tion should accompany the apparently good news last week. The spill was so large that even a fourth left over is a huge volume of crude, some of it possibly buried in places where it could take a long time to degrade. The massive amounts dis- persed in the gulf may have long-term conse- quences for sea life. There also may be huge amounts of natural gas and methane in the water. Though the most visible damage occurs shortly
after oil spills, it takes much more time for the full effects to be known. See, for example, the per- sistent environmental degradation that plagues even decades-old oil spill zones, from sickly man- grove swamps in Mexico to stunted fiddler crabs
in Massachusetts. Now is the time to conduct careful study of what still requires cleaning up, not to declare mission accomplished. Congress, too, must keep this in mind. Pres- sure to pass legislation making some long-need- ed changes to oil drilling oversight — such as lift- ing the cap on liability for monetary damages that shields drillers and skews their incentives to drill responsibly — might now wane. For a variety of reasons, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has delayed consideration of these is- sues until September. A thorough regulatory overhaul can — and should — wait until it’s clear- er exactly what went wrong on the rig and after the blowout. But there are certain things Con- gress can do before that, such as lifting that lia- bility cap.
TOM TOLES
SUNDAY, AUGUST 8, 2010
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
dletters@washpost.com
A mosque near Ground Zero
Regarding Richard Cohen’s Aug. 3 column, “Gin- grich vs. ‘they’ at Ground Zero,” on the debate over building the Cordoba House Islamic center near Ground Zero in New York: Mr. Cohen was right when he declared there is a right to build the center, which would include a mosque. But he should reconsider whether it is the right thing to do. Having the right to do something doesn’t always mean it is the right thing to do. Some examples: Nazi sympathizers shifting a march from Skokie, Ill., where large numbers of Holocaust survivors lived, to a park in Chicago; Pope John Paul II moving a Carmelite convent from its site next to Auschwitz, the infamous death camp where millions of Jews were killed; the Ku Klux Klan not being allowed to march in areas where the African American commu- nity suffered enormous pain. The application of this principle supports open- ing the Islamic center and mosque farther from Ground Zero. The good that the center offers can then be achieved without causing additional pain to the families still suffering from the Ground Zero tragedy caused by Muslim extremists. RALPH SHAPIRO, Silver Spring
I applaud Richard Cohen’s condemnation of the
faulty and cynical logic Newt Gingrich used to justi- fy his opposition to the construction of an Islamic community center, intended as an interfaith bridge, near Ground Zero. However, Mr. Cohen could have gone further. Mr. Gingrich, Sarah Palin and the Jew- ish Defense League all would have us violate one of the core principles that defines this great country: religious tolerance. It is they who desecrate the memories of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The proposed mosque and community center provide us with an opportunity to show the world that our core values were unshaken by the terrorist attacks nine years ago. If we follow the likes of Mr. Gingrich, Ms. Palin and New York gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio, we hand al-Qaeda a victory. TONY SPERANZA, Silver Spring
I don’t see how anyone could cogently argue with the principles expressed in the Aug. 4 editorial “A vote for religious freedom,” which supported con- struction of a Muslim community center and mosque a few blocks from Ground Zero. As the edi- torial did, I recognize the powerful and genuine sen- sitivities and emotions aroused by every action re- lated to that space held sacred by millions of Amer- icans.
I would hope that, in building the center, the Mus- lim community might, in an expression of true neighborliness and understanding, consider the construction on its grounds of a meaningful memo- rial to the thousands lost on Sept. 11. In that way, some hearts might be softened, if not mended. BERNARDRIES,Washington
Richard Cohen was correct in excoriating politi- cians who fail to uphold America’s constitutional freedoms. Indeed, when it comes to religious toler- ance and the proposed Islamic center and mosque in New York, Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Abe Fox- man and Rick Lazio have hardly been profiles in courage. So why did Mr. Cohen find it necessary to taunt
Who’s minding the Metro? Board members who don’t show up for meetings
T
O THE LIST of dysfunction at Metro — bro- ken escalators; deadly accidents and safety mishaps; aging equipment; crumbling plat- forms; uncertain management; parlous fi- nances — add one more glaring problem: members of Metro’s own board of directors who regard their responsibility to attend board meetings as optional. Put another way, some of the same people whom passengers are relying on to fix a broken agency can’t even be bothered to show up. According to records obtained by the Washington Examiner, about half of the 14 Metro board mem- bers have missed meetings in the 18 months that ended July 1 with some regularity, meaning at least a quarter to a fifth of the time. By far the worst of- fenders are D.C. Council memberMichael A. Brown (I-At Large), one of the District’s representatives on the board, and Marcell Solomon, one of Maryland’s. By their absences, both men make a mockery of the nation’s second-busiest transit system and display contempt not only for their colleagues on the board, but also for the system’s bus and rail passengers. Mr. Brown, who seems to regard his service on the board as an amusing hobby, skipped 52 meet- ings, about two-thirds of the Metro board’s sessions, since the start of 2009. Mr. Solomon was paid al- most $40,000 last year for his so-called service on the board, more than any other board member. Still,
he skipped about half the meetings in the same time span. (A few of his absences early this year may have been due to knee surgery.) In his defense, Mr. Brown points out that he’s an
alternate member, without a vote on the full board, so — this part is implicit — who cares if he plays hooky? In fact, alternate members are empowered to vote on critical and often decisive issues in com- mittee meetings, which are numerous and which he skips at the same rate as full board meetings. Mr. Brown serves on the Metro board at the pleasure of D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, who should immediately replace him with someone who cares enough to show up. Mr. Solomon was appointed by his close friend and sometime legal client Jack B. Johnson, Prince George’s County executive. Mr. Johnson has made a habit of rewarding his cronies with handsomely paid, no-show jobs. According to the Examiner, among the meetings Mr. Solomon skipped was one last month at which Metro’s real estate committee approved an important plan to develop land around the New Carrollton station in Prince George’s, the jurisdiction he is supposed to repre- sent. Mr. Solomon’s truancy is an embarrassment to Metro, to Maryland and to Prince George’s. He, too, should be removed from the Metro board without delay.
Mr. Lazio by invoking the specter of the Mafia stereotype? Mr. Cohen wrote: “He of all people should know that it is unfair to judge an entire peo- ple by the criminal behavior of a few: capiche?” In addition to mangling Dante Alighieri’s mother tongue and smearing Mr. Lazio’s ethnicity, Mr. Co- hen fell prey to the ad hominem tu quoque, or “you, too,” fallacy. For the record — according to the FBI — an infini- tesimally minuscule percentage of Italian Amer- icans (.00782 percent) are involved in organized crime. In truth, the scions of Italy may well be Amer- ica’s most law-abiding ethnic group. ROSARIO A. IACONIS,New York
The writer is vice chairman of the Italic Institute of America.
A BRAC model for tax reform? The “Topic A” panel of experts discussing whether
LOCAL OPINIONS 3Join the debate at
washingtonpost.com/localopinions
A columnist shoots and misses on gun laws and self-defense
Columnist Courtland Milloy’s anti-gun screed was as inaccurate as it was unfair [“This gun safety stuff is a piece of cake,”Metro, Aug. 4]. Perhaps if he had paid at- tention in his safety class in- stead of nitpicking about the crime examples or lambasting his instructor for once in- nocuously dropping a part of a gun, he might have learned some useful facts. Like, for example, step two
Maryland, with its draconian gun laws, has a much higher violent crime rate than Virginia does.
in getting a concealed-carry permit is not to move to Virginia, since Virginia will issue per- mits to nonresidents. Or that violent crime can occur in restaurants just as easily as it can occur on the street or in a bank. Or that almost every
mass shooting in the United States over the past 20 years happened in places where guns are pro- hibited (i.e., where the law-abiding victims had no means of defense). Or that his home state of
Maryland, with its draconian gun laws, has a violent crime rate approximately 245 per- cent higher than Virginia’s. Perhaps Mr. Milloy really should consider moving across the river, where the
government still trusts the people to secure their own safety. As the old saying goes, “When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.”
SCOTT BRADFORD, South Riding 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
STEPHEN P. HILLS, President and General Manager KENNETH R. BABBY, Chief Revenue Officer/GM, Digital
Business and advertising: 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
1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071 (202) 334-6000
The Washington Post Company: DONALD E. GRAHAM, Chairman of the Board
Editorial Page Editor JACKSON DIEHL
Health reform’s dental care gap
Letters must be exclusive to The Post, must be signed and must include the writer’s home address and day and evening telephone numbers. Because of
d HOW TO SHARE YOUR VIEWS
space limitations, published letters are subject to abridgment. Although we are unable to acknowledge letters we cannot publish, we value the views of those who send us their comments. Letters should be submitted to
our e-mail address at
letters@washpost.com. They may be sent via U.S. mail to Letters to the Editor, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071 or they may be hand-delivered.
As a dentist, I am proud of the care that my col- leagues provided the needy at a free clinic in Wise, Va., through the Knoxville-based medical relief group Remote Area Medical [“ ‘Each tooth has a story,’ ” Health, Aug. 3]. Dentists hold hundreds of similar events each year throughout the country. But what about the many thousands of other people who aren’t able to travel and stand in line for care? Children who seek care at volunteer events such as the one described by The Post are eligible for care through Medicaid. However, most states woefully underfund their dental programs, and most adults are not covered by them at all. The primary reason the American Dental Associa- tion did not support the new health-care-reform law was that it did not ensure that low-income Amer- icans had access to dental care via Medicaid. Con- gress must address this problem or, shamefully, there will be many more opportunities for The Post to report on events like the one in Wise. RONALD TANKERSLEY, Newport News
The writer is president of the American Dental Association.
to extend the tax cuts enacted during George W. Bush’s administration pointed out the obvious prob- lem without an obvious solution [Sunday Opinion, Aug. 1]. The U.S. tax code is hopelessly riddled with special-interest loopholes. Nearly 45 percent of Americans pay no federal income tax, so they don’t care what the others pay. And politicians continue to tweak the tax code to help their cronies. Since nobody has the political will to fix the prob- lem, perhaps this is an opportunity for a panel along the lines of the Base Closure and Realignment Com- mission (BRAC) to rewrite the tax code for an up-or- down vote by Congress. Like BRAC, experts appoint- ed by both sides, and representing neither side, would draft a tax code to ensure that everybody paid something (so they had a stake in governance), and that the tax code is equitable, understandable and shorter. It should be simple enough that the average citizen can do his or her taxes without an accoun- tant. It may be too optimistic, but just as BRAC helped politicians make tough decisions, a tax BRAC could help put our government on a sustainable path toward growth and prosperity. MIKE COLLINS, Annapolis
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