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an independent newspaper EDITORIALS
President Obama gets his choice . . . by thumbing his nose at the Senate.
E HAVE QUALMS about Elizabeth War- ren, the Harvard law professor President Obama has put in charge of setting up the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. The new body, which will have a half-billion- dollar budget and wide regulatory power over mortgages, credit cards and the like, was her brainchild. It emerged from Warren’s zealous campaign against what she called the “tricks and traps” of the banking industry, which has made her a hero to the progressive wing of the Demo- cratic Party. Like many such activists, however, Ms. Warren can be simplistic and hyperbolic. Certainly, her dim view of the banking indus-
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try is fully reciprocated — and, egged on by Wall Street, Republicans probably would have filibus- tered her nomination to be the bureau’s first di- rector. That, in our view, would have been un- justified. Ideologically contentious as she may be, Ms. Warren is qualified for the job. In an ideal
Turkey’s
constitutional change
Is a key NATO member becoming more democratic or less so?
racy, as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan de- clared? Are they “another important step by Turkey on the road towards Europe,” as the Ger- man foreign minister put it? Or do they open the way to a “civilian dictatorship” by Mr. Erdogan and his Islamist Justice and Development Party, as the leader of the opposition is warning? Per- haps the most salient — and worrisome — charac- teristic of Mr. Erdogan’s government after nearly eight years in office is that the answer is not obvi- ous. After a polarizing campaign that became more
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a referendum on his government than on the 26 proposed constitutional reforms, Mr. Erdogan was rewarded with a decisive victory: 58 percent of voters approved the changes in a charter that had been imposed by the military after a 1980 coup.Many of the changes are indisputably liber- al and will strengthen democracy in a Muslim country that is a NATO member and has aspired to join the European Union. For example, military officers will be subject to civilian trials; the rights of women, the elderly, handicapped people and children will be enhanced; restrictions on unions will be lifted; and individuals will have greater privacy rights and the ability to appeal to the Con- stitutional Court.
But the constitutional package, which was pre- sented to voters for a single, up-or-down vote, also contains a sweeping reorganization of the Consti- tutional Court and Turkey’s other top judicial body, the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecu- tors. Each would be expanded, and the power of appointment would be shifted to the president and legislature. Until now, Turkey’s judiciary has been a bastion of secularism and thus of resis- tance to Mr. Erdogan. The Constitutional Court
RE THE constitutional amendments ap- proved by a referendum in Turkey last Sun- day “a turning point” for Turkish democ-
world, as opposed to the polarized Washington in which we actually live, she would have re- ceived at least a prompt hearing and a floor vote. Still, Republicans would have been within their rights. Can the same be said for Mr. Oba- ma’s end run of the Senate confirmation proc- ess? Senate confirmation of the bureau’s director was one of the few checks Congress built into an office that otherwise will be very powerful and independent. Nevertheless, the statute estab- lishing the bureau gives Treasury Secretary Tim- othy F. Geithner interim authority in the ab- sence of a permanent director, at least until July 21 — when the bureau officially absorbs and consolidates various federal agencies’ con- sumer-protection functions. And, under the ar- rangement the president outlined, Ms. Warren will work for Mr. Geithner. Of course, she’ll also be on the White House staff, reporting to the president — as Mr. Geithner does. That gives her
a free hand, indeed, and as Mr. Obama said Fri- day, she’ll be advising on everything from policy to personnel to a nominee for director, which might yet be Elizabeth Warren. Only actual rule- making will have to wait, for now. Mr. Obama would have been better off picking
a more confirmable candidate, as some senators from his own party had urged. Even a recess ap- pointment for Ms. Warren — which would have lasted through 2011 — would have been prefera- ble in terms of sticking to constitutionally pre- scribed processes for filling federal offices. But either move would have infuriated progressives, who still dream of a full five-year term for Ms. Warren — and whose support Mr. Obama needs in November. For all intents and purposes, the president has created, and filled, a de facto di- rectorship. This might have been in keeping with the letter of the laws, but not with their spirit.
TOM TOLES
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2010
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
dletters@washpost.com
The GOP’s bias problem Gerard Alexander [“Conservatism does not equal
racism. So why do many liberals assume it does?,” Out- look, Sept. 12] once again uses my writing as a conven- ient straw man for his claims that liberals unfairly ac- cuse Republicans of racism. I can’t speak for every “liberal,” but I have never argued that Republicans are “racist.” I have argued that the Republican Party used explicit and more subtle racial appeals for political purposes in the South and the rest of the nation. As the English biographer Boswell wrote to his friend Samuel Johnson, “Men’s hearts are concealed. But their actions are open to scrutiny.” Moreover, I have always — like most historians fa- miliar with the political history of the American South in the post-civil rights era — acknowledged the role that other factors such as economic development have played in the political transformation of the region. Mr. Alexander is manufacturing history, a more so-
phisticated version of the recent bizarre claim by Mis- sissippi Gov. Haley Barbour, chairman of the Repub- lican Governors Association, that his generation of Southern Republicans embraced civil rights. It has be- come the drumbeat of ideological conservatives, and it is a whitewash of one of the more unsavory episodes in our nation’s history.
DANCARTER, Pisgah Forest, N.C.
Gerard Alexander tried to absolve all conservatives
of racism by equating conservatism with conserva- tives. The conservative philosophy by itself is not racist, but it takes little examination of the conservative par- ty in America, the Republican Party, to see that it is pro-white. Were it not, it would be expected to have roughly the same proportion of African Americans and Hispanic Americans as the Democratic Party. But both these groups know better from over 40 years’ his- tory than to cast their lot with the GOP. Perhaps Richard M. Nixon’s 1968 victory over Hub-
ert Humphrey was not propelled entirely by Nixon’s “Southern strategy.” Nixon was also helped by antiwar Democrats like me who were put off by Humphrey’s support of the Vietnam War and who thus stayed home in droves. Still, it was not for lack of effort on Nixon’s part in pandering to Southern segregationist whites and to Northern whites who hated being treat- ed as equal to their black fellow union members. PHILIPL. MARCUS, Columbia
Anti-colonialism, circa 1776 The latest crackpot notion from the right is that
President Obama supports the tradition of “Kenyan anti-colonialism,” as Eugene Robinson discussed in his Sept. 14 op-ed column, “Gingrich, unhinged on Obama.” And the problem is? This country was founded on anti-colonialism. So-called Tea Partyers who agree with Newt Gin- grich will have to overlook the fact that the original Boston Tea Party — from which they so proudly and defiantly derive their movement’s name — was a de- cidedly anti-colonial action. And Professor Gingrich seems to have forgotten his history. Without anti-colonialism, this country wouldn’t
exist. MAUREEN CLYNE, Arlington Stop arming Mexico’s drug gangs
struck down his initiative allowing women to wear head scarves in state schools and came with- in one vote of outlawing his party. Now Mr. Erdogan will have the power to place his appointees in a dominating position. The op- position charges that the courts will become merely another arm of the ruling party — which, it claims, is carrying out a “creeping coup” against the secular state. While some of the critics’ rheto- ric may be exaggerated, Mr. Erdogan’s actions give cause for concern. In the last several years his gov- ernment has used questionable tax charges to lean on opposition media. Sprawling investiga-
tions of alleged coup plotters have swept up not just military officers but also businessmen and journalists. Mr. Erdogan’s constitutional reforms conspic- uously did not include greater protections for freedom of speech and religion, or for the Kurdish minority. But the prime minister, who now is heavily favored to win reelection next year, has promised a more complete constitutional rewrite. If he still wishes to move Turkey toward the West, Mr. Erdogan will have to pursue those reforms while resisting the temptation to strip the judicia- ry of independence.
Wanted: A federal voice at Metro* *Must be willing to work for free and fix a transit mess
trols on the Metro board of directors. We do know that it’s high time to fill it, and that if the bureau- crats assigned to the task at the General Services Administration can’t get the job done, then the White House should get involved. The feds secured the two voting seats, plus two
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alternates, in legislation enacted almost a year ago. The same legislation put Congress on the hook for $150 million in annual capital spending on Metro over the coming decade. That was the bare bones of the deal: Metro got the promise of additional federal funding; the feds got two votes out of eight — the others belong to Maryland, Vir- ginia and the District — on the Metro board.
E DON’T know exactly why the Obama administration has failed to fill one of two voting seats the federal government con-
The administration moved relatively quickly to appoint half its allotment. Mortimer L. Downey, a transportation pro who once ran New York City’s transit system, was named a director, and Marcel C. Acosta, a former top executive in the Chicago system, was named an alternate. So far, so good. Then . . . nothing. The GSA has been screening and interviewing candidates. We’re told that the agency did send feelers out to at least one candidate some months ago. The candidate declined the appointment. That may be understandable. After all, federal
directors on the Metro board are paid nothing for the job, and anyone who accepted it would be as- suming a role that could be thankless at best. With a chilling recent record of accidents, safety lapses and mismanagement, Metro is a mess and
remains vulnerable to more incidents. Further- more, some federal employees might be barred from accepting an appointment because of con- flict of interest concerns. Nonetheless, the GSA’s failure or inability to fill the voting seat is extremely troubling. Metro has begun seeking a new full-time general manager; shouldn’t there be considerable federal input? Nearly half ofMetro’s daily bus and rail ridership consists of federal workers; more still are federal contractors. Just a couple of months ago, the Na- tional Transportation Safety Board issued a slash- ing report on Metro’s management problems — including the board’s shortcomings. Having fought hard for two seats at Metro’s governing ta- ble, how could the feds continue to leave one un- filled?
The Sept. 13 editorial “Mexico’s gun traffic” high- lighted the alarming number of U.S. weapons that are arming Mexico’s drug cartels. Many of these military-style weapons never should come into the United States in the first place. A ban on imported firearms not used for sporting purposes was authorized by provisions in the 1968 Gun Con- trol Act and enforced during the administrations of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Presi- dent George W. Bush quietly abandoned enforce- ment of the ban. As a result, the U.S. civilian firearms market is inundated with imported, military-style weapons. These weapons are often imported from Eastern Europe into the United States and then ille- gally trafficked into Mexico. A return to enforcement of the import ban re- quires no legislative action and would be a win for both the United States and Mexico. Starving Mexico’s brutal drug cartels of military-style weapons would make all of us in the United States and Mexico safer. ELIOT L. ENGEL,Washington
The writer, a Democrat representing New York, is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere.
Smaller, but no less dangerous I found Brian Palmer’s article on the planned new
generation of nuclear reactors disturbing [“The nuke next door,” Health & Science, Sept. 14]. Just be- cause the new reactors would be smaller doesn’t mean they would be any less deadly to surrounding residents if a meltdown were to occur. History teaches that we need to factor in human error when contemplating new technologies. I’ll take the safer solar and wind power options over nukes any day. ROBYNMILLER-TARNOFF, Bethesda
A Medicare rule needs an update
LOCAL OPINIONS 3Join the debate at
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In Prince George’s, Mr. Baker faces an entrenched opposition The Sept. 16 Metro article “Baker win hints at
shift in mood” aptly pointed out that Prince George’s County voters are seeking a new style of leadership. But Rushern L. Baker III’s victory in the primary for county executive certainly does not mean that voters rejected the administration of Jack B. Johnson. As the article noted, voters recycled Johnson’s former police chief as their new sheriff and chose Mr. Johnson’s wife over more qualified candidates to serve on the County Council. Voters also pro- moted Johnson-backed Marilynn Bland from the council to be clerk of the Circuit Court, despite her clear lack of qualifications. The reason voters chose Mr. Baker is simple: His only real rival, Sheriff Michael A. Jackson, clung to his own indefensible positions on the shooting of
two dogs by deputies carrying out a raid, his de- partment’s backlog of unserved warrants that may have cost a young woman her life, and his promo- tion and defense of staff members who were sus- pected of embezzling funds from the local union. While Mr. Baker offers hope for change, voters had no other viable choices when they went to the polls. With few qualified elected leaders who share Mr. Baker’s vision, it will be difficult for him to im- plement his agenda.
JENNIFERHARRIS, Accokeek d Letters and Local Opinions:
letters@washpost.com Op-eds:
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The Sept. 7 Health & Science section article “When is a hospital patient not an inpatient?” shed much- needed light on a longtime problem — how Medicare’s rules on observation stays affect what beneficiaries must pay for inpatient care. For years, the policies gov- erning hospital stays have been misinterpreted and misunderstood to the point where they no longer serve a useful purpose. There is no clear-cut line between an inpatient stay and an observation stay, especially if the patient is el- derly and frail. A key problem is that Medicare re- quires a three-day inpatient stay as a prerequisite for Medicare-covered post-acute care at a skilled nursing facility. The three-day stay is itself an arcane gatekeep- ing tool with no clinical foundation. But prohibiting the count of observation days toward the three-day stay only makes a bad situation worse. To avoid pa- tients being lost in the precarious limbo of observation stays, all days that patients spend in a hospital should be counted for purposes of the three-day hospital stay. Patients and their families need clarity and peace of mind, especially when a loved one is unclear on how treatment will continue once he or she leaves the hos- pital. We are in a new era of health care — a time for new thinking about old methods of how patients get skilled nursing care. We must all work together to move this policy in the right direction. BRUCEYARWOOD,Washington
The writer is president and chief executive officer of the American Health Care Association.
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