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an independent newspaper EDITORIALS


R Can more toy repairmen save the Castro regime?


AÚL AND FIDEL Castro find them- selves in a jam. The gerontocratic rul- ers of Cuba are facing the worst eco- nomic crisis in decades: Food produc- tion is falling, the last sugar harvest


was the worst in a century and only billions in subsidies from Venezuela’s erratic Hugo Chávez are keeping the country afloat. Yet 79-year-old Raúl and 84-year-old Fidel are determined to pre- serve as much as possible of the country’s failed socialist system — and they have no intention of allowing greater political freedom.


So the brothers are launching a series of eco- nomic half measures and political feints in the hope of patching their regime without having to change it. The latest came last week with the an- nouncement that 500,000 Cuban workers — or 10 percent of the state labor force — would be laid off from their jobs. Some will be shifted directly to the private sector by turning small state en- terprises into private cooperatives, while the rest


regulation, and the EPA steps in.


A new front Congress defaults on carbon


W


ITH LITTLE chance of passing com- prehensive climate legislation any- time soon, Congress has moved the de- bate under the radar — but it’s no less


rancorous. Now environmentalists and their op- ponents are battling over the Environmental Pro- tection Agency’s plans to regulate the carbon emissions of power plants, cement kilns and oth- er “stationary sources,” which the agency is pre- paring to begin doing early next year. This rankles many lawmakers, since some areas of the country will be disproportionately hurt in any carbon clampdown, and the EPA won’t compensate them for the costs of the agen- cy’s mandates. Perhaps even worse from law- makers’ point of view: Congress doesn’t have any say in the regulation, since the EPA is acting un- der the existing Clean Air Act. Senate opponents have tried all year to strip


the EPA of its authority to regulate. They haven’t succeeded. But even if they can’t manage to take away the agency’s legal ability to curb carbon, they still might be able to deny it the needed funding to enforce its new rules. Perhaps to avoid a tough vote on EPA carbon regulation, Demo- crats on the Senate Appropriations Committee last week delayed marking up the EPA spending bill.


Don’t expect this issue to go away. The in- formal leader of the anti-regulation crowd, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who lost her recent primary race, may not be in Congress next year. Even so, there are plenty of Republicans and Democrats who will eagerly take her place, not including Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), who has proposed freezing the regulatory proc- ess while Congress continues to think about passing some kind of climate bill.


But Congress, particularly the Senate, has been


unwilling to adopt policy appropriate to the scale of the problem. EPA regulation alone is not the best way to reduce economy-wide carbon emis- sions, not least because agency mandates will probably be inefficient and result in years of liti- gation, the uncertainty of which punishes busi-


Tour de farce New licensing regulations won’t ensure that tour guides in the District know their stuff.


The Lincoln Memorial, built in 1964 and de- signed by John Paul Stevens, commemorates the life and accomplishments of the 54th president of the United States.


F YOU SPOTTED the numerous errors in the sentence above, you may have a future as a District tour guide. If you did not, the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Af- fairs wants to keep you from making a living by ripping off visitors. It is a noble enough goal, but one that is not


I


likely to be furthered by the District’s new reg- ulations governing sightseeing businesses. The District has licensed tour guides since 1902. Over the summer, the consumer affairs de- partment revamped its licensing scheme to elim- inate archaic features. A would-be guide no lon- ger has to present a doctor’s note attesting that the applicant is not a drunkard. Nor do appli- cants have to provide letters attesting to their good character. But the agency left in place or introduced ele-


ments that are inane. For example, licensed tour guides are required to speak “proficient English.” But what about guides paid to show around non- English-speaking visitors? Aspiring guides are required to take a 100-question exam covering various facets of Washington life, including ar- chitecture, history and regulations. How rigor- ous could the test be? And what good is it in en- suring that someone who bills himself as a specialist in Georgetown has the requisite exper- tise? The regulations also require that every tour bus carry a licensed guide — with the exception of tour buses that use prerecorded audio guides. But even in the case of an audio guide, “a driver of such a sightseeing tour vehicle who talks, lec- tures or otherwise provides sightseeing informa- tion to passengers while the vehicle is in motion must be licensed as a sightseeing tour guide.” Is such a driver not allowed to point out the Wash- ington Monument to an elderly visitor who may not have understood the recorded announce- ment? Is he permitted to speak while the bus is


stopped but not while it is moving? Tonia Edwards and Bill Main, owners of Segs in the City, found the new rules unconstitutional, as well as silly. The two have been in business for seven years, operating under a standard business license and renting Segways to visitors and touring them around on the machines. Because the new regulations require guides that use “self- balancing personal transport vehicles” — a.k.a. Segways — to obtain tour guide licenses, the pair become scofflaws simply for identifying a land- mark to customers. They sued the District last week, arguing that the licensing scheme violates their First Amendment rights to free speech. There are better ways to ensure quality tours for visitors. Books and Web sites dedicated to travel give visitors guidance on reputable tour companies or guides. Voluntary certification with tougher standards developed by an industry group would eliminate the coercive bureaucratic intrusion, while providing a mechanism that companies or individuals could use to distin- guish themselves.


nesses. But that route is still better than continu- ing without any national carbon policy at all, a state of affairs that is also uncertain for busi- nesses but in which emissions aren’t reduced. As long as lawmakers fail to regulate carbon,


President Obama should resist their efforts to keep his administration from doing so.


will be expected to find work in an expanded “self- employment” sphere, where Cubans are licensed to work in such vocations as toy repairman and piñata producer. Some Cuba watchers have proclaimed this the


biggest economic upheaval since the 1960s and predicted that Cuba will soon resemble China and Vietnam, capitalist countries governed by com- munist dictatorships. In reality, the Castros ap- pear to intend something closer to the emergency reforms that were introduced in the early 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Private em- ployment was also allowed to expand then but was tightly controlled. In this instance, too, the regime expects to blanket the new private sector with regulations and taxes and has no plans to provide capital, access to materials, or foreign investment. Predictably, apologists for the Castros and for


U.S. corporate agriculture greeted the half step with renewed calls for the lifting of what remains


of the embargo on trade with Cuba, or at least the end of all restrictions on travel. This, too, is part of the Castros’ strategy. The regime has begun slowly releasing political prisoners into exile — another limited concession that it has made before — in the expectation that the Obama administration will respond and that a wave of American tourists will arrive with desperately needed dollars. In fact, the administration reportedly is planning a liberalization of travel restrictions, though not a lifting of the tourism ban.


Such an adjustment, which would return U.S.


policy to where it was during the Clinton adminis- tration, may be the best response to the Castros’ half measures. Fundamental changes of U.S. pol- icy toward Cuba should await fundamental re- forms by the regime. When average Cubans are al- lowed the right to free speech and free assembly, along with that to cut hair and trim palm trees, it will be time for American tourists and business executives to return to the island.


TOM TOLES


MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2010


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR dletters@washpost.com


In defense of Newt Gingrich In his Sept. 14 op-ed, “Gingrich, unhinged on Oba-


ma,” Eugene Robinson seemed to be the one who is unhinged. Speculation on the origins of the worldview of world leaders has been going on since there have been world leaders, and the influence of fathers is often the strongest influence. The reaction to Newt Gingrich’s remarks has bordered on irrationality. Mr. Robinson asserted that merely bringing up President Obama’s father in this way is equivalent to doubting that the president is a U.S. citizen, and oth- ers have gone so far as to suggest that doing so is coded racism. What is so off-limits about Mr. Oba- ma’s past, specifically his father? Mr. Robinson also mentioned Supreme Court Jus- tice Sonia Sotomayor. Mr. Gingrich rightly pointed out that her “wise Latina woman” statement was racist — unless you buy into, and apparently Mr. Robinson does, that some groups of people are ex- cluded by virtue of their status to the charge. He also mentioned Mr. Gingrich’s reaction to


Shirley Sherrod’s remarks. That reaction came after the Obama administration fired her (apparently it had the same reaction that Mr. Gingrich did) and be- fore the full context of her remarks were known. But, hey, why be accurate when you’re on a roll? Lastly, Mr. Gingrich never made a moral equiv- alence between supporters of the proposed mosque near Ground Zero and Nazis, as Mr. Robinson seemed to suggest.


RICK TYLER, Washington The writer is spokesman for Newt Gingrich. The equal-pay debate rolls on Valerie Jarrett continues to propound the myth


that women are underpaid [Washington Forum, Sept. 17]. Yes, government data show that women working full time earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn. But women choose different jobs, and full-time women in general work fewer hours. So this is not proof of bias. Labor Department data show that comparing


wages of men and women who work 40 hours weekly yields a wage ratio of 86 percent. Marriage and chil- dren explain some of the wage gap, because many mothers value flexible schedules. In 2009 single women working full time earned 95 percent of men’s earnings, but married women earned 76 percent, even before accounting for differences in education, jobs and experience. Many studies show that when women work the same jobs as men, with the same work experience, they earn essentially the same. The Paycheck Fairness Act, advocated by Ms. Jar-


rett, would require the government to collect and analyze pay data on the sex, race and national origin of employees. The bill would disallow differences in pay between men and women based on education, training and experience unless justified by business necessity, and it would automatically sign up work- ers for class-action lawsuits. This legislation would spawn a tidal wave of law- suits, enmesh employers in endless paperwork and litigation, and slow U.S. employment growth. DIANA FURCHTGOTT-ROTH, Chevy Chase


The writer is director of the Center for Employment Policy at the Hudson Institute.





Since 1963, there has been very little progress on equal pay for women. In the 1980s, women were car- rying red pocketbooks to signify support for equal pay. Except for union workers and government em- ployees, women still earn less than men. Wages and salaries are set mostly by the men who run corporations and companies. Congress’s support of the Paycheck Fairness Act deserves widespread backing. But female relatives of corporate titans can do more by just telling their husbands, uncles, broth- ers, etc., to stop shortchanging women. HELENDODSON, Olney


The real cause of tainted eggs Michael Greger of the Humane Society of the


United States misstated the scientific record on sal- monella and “cage-free” egg farms [letters, Sept. 17]. One of the studies that Mr. Greger cited concluded that “the system with the lowest chance of infection was the cage system.” Others on his list noted con- founding factors that distort results, such as flock size and vaccination rates. Most of the studies exam- ined European farms, not U.S. ones. Poor farm management was the biggest issue fuel- ing the recent salmonella outbreak — not “cage” vs. “cage-free.” A 2010 review of international scientific literature in the journal Poultry Science found “no general consensus demonstrating the superiority of one housing situation over another regarding food safety and egg quality.” There may be a strong ani- mal rights rationale for embracing “cage-free” egg farming, but there are no valid food safety reasons. DAVIDMARTOSKO, Washington


The writer is director of research at the Center for Consumer Freedom.


The defeat of Duchy Trachtenberg The Sept. 17 editorial “The good, the bad and the


LOCAL OPINIONS 3Join the debate at washingtonpost.com/localopinions


Why D.C. cabdrivers opposed Mayor Fenty


I read with dismay the story on the role of the taxicab industry in the mayoral election [“Cab- bies rally to drive home a Gray win,”Metro, Sept. 15]. It is unfair to say that drivers opposed Adri- an M. Fenty and supported Vincent C. Gray be- cause drivers resented the switch from a zone to a meter system. They have embraced the new system because it reduces confusion and con- flicts with passengers. Drivers opposed Mr. Fen- ty for five primary reasons:  The Fenty administration has denied them fair representation on the Taxicab Commission, which governs their livelihoods. Neither active operators nor ardent advocates for them are on the commission.  The administration set the meter mileage rate at the lowest in the country, forcing many drivers to work 12-hour days.  The administration shut down the Taxicab Commission for eight months, precisely when the commission had unanimously decided to


raise the fares to reach parity with those in sur- rounding counties.  The administration refuses to address persis- tent issues of what drivers feel is harassment and abuse through excessive ticketing and tow- ing by the city’s taxi hack inspectors.  The administration continues to claim broad, unilateral authority over the cab industry under what it calls “the Levin Act” (it’s really a clause in another law), even though meters have been fully implemented. Our group contends that the administration is in flagrant violation of local statutes, the Home Rule Act and the con- stitutional and human rights of the drivers. Finally, I am concerned about the continued


framing of this issue by the media and political establishment in ways that appear intended to be dismissive of drivers because of their nation- al origin and place of residence. KENWILLIAMS, Washington


The writer is a member of Justice for D.C. Taxis.


ugly” rightly cited the disproportionate influence of special-interest groups such as unions representing public employees when voter turnout is low in Montgomery County. County Council member Duchy Trachtenberg (D-


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At Large) was targeted for defeat by unions repre- senting teachers and other public employees be- cause she took a stand for fiscal responsibility. She did not accede to demands the county could not af- ford, public employees turned out to vote, John Q. Public did not and she was unseated. She was the best friend that people with mental illnesses, as well as the general public, ever had, and now she will be gone. The public interest is what lost on Election Day in Montgomery County. CRAIG S. KNOLL, Frederick


The writer is executive director of Threshold Services, which helps people with mental illnesses or substance abuse disorders. He distributed campaign materials for Duchy Trachtenberg on Election Day.


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