Kansas.com: Opinion

KATHLEEN PARKER: WHO WILL BE THE FACE OF REPUBLICAN PARTY?

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:40 CST

When it comes to the six Republicans competing for lead dog of the GOP leadership, all are on point: They love Ronald Reagan, are pro-life, advocate small government, and promise more diversity and fewer taxes.

They are also, with one exception, locked and loaded -- armed in Second Amend-ment solidarity. During a 90-minute debate Monday at the National Press Club, only Michael Steele confessed to owning no guns.

The first-ever debate among contenders to chair the Republican National Committee attracted a standing-room-only crowd of more than 500. Imagine that many people showing up to hear six guys talk about the future of a party in the early stages of rigor mortis.

Then again, the new party leader, to be selected by the 168-member committee, will be the face of the Republicans during a new Democratic reign. By the choice of its chief spokesman, the GOP will redefine itself. Or will it?

Will the new GOP stick to its guns? Will party leaders continue to cling to a base that no longer resonates with a growing majority of Americans?

ROBERT O'CONNOR: STATE CAN'T AFFORD NOT TO BUILD COAL PLANT

ROBERT O'CONNOR — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:40 CST

In our current economic downturn, can we afford to thumb our noses at a project with the magnitude of the Sunflower Electric Power Corp. energy complex?

I find it appalling that our state leaders can ignore a multibillion-dollar construction project with the associated boost in jobs and benefit to western Kansas. Instead, they base their decision not to support the project on the production of a gas that is emitted by every human in society and every car that cruises down the roads of America.

New coal-powered electrical plants are being built in Pueblo, Colo.; Kansas City, Mo.; and Nebraska. These plants will emit carbon dioxide that will mix into the atmosphere of Kansas -- so we will have the same situation, but not the economic benefits.

Is Kansas going to be the martyr that arbitrarily decides the guidelines for carbon dioxide emissions -- even though this gas is not regulated, nor has its supposed association to global warming been scientifically proved? Kansas will have little to no effect on this compared with places such as China, where they are building plants as fast as they can.

Carbon dioxide is a component needed for the production of biodiesel from algae plants, and this technology and research are out there and components of the Sunflower complex. If it is done right, biodiesel can be made and render the emission of the coal plant virtually carbon-free. The production of biodiesel, ethanol and electricity could give Kansas a leg up on becoming one of the country's leading energy-producing states.

THOMAS FRIEDMAN: MIDEAST'S GROUND ZERO

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:40 CST

The fighting, death and destruction in Gaza are painful to watch, but all too familiar. Gaza is a miniversion of three great struggles that have been playing out since 1948: 1) Who is going to be the regional superpower -- Egypt? Saudi Arabia? Iran? 2) Should there be a Jewish state in the Middle East and, if so, on what Palestinian terms? And 3) Who is going to dominate Arab society -- Islamists who are intolerant of other faiths and want to choke off modernity, or modernists who want to embrace the future with an Arab-Muslim face?

The struggle for hegemony over the modern Arab world is old. But what is new today is that non-Arab Iran is now making a bid for primacy -- challenging Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Iran has deftly used military aid to both Hamas and Hezbollah to create a rocket-armed force on Israel's northern and western borders. This enables Tehran to stop and start the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at will and to paint itself as the true protector of the Palestinians, as opposed to the weak Arab regimes.

Hamas rejects any recognition of Israel. By contrast, the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank, has recognized Israel -- and vice versa. If you believe, as I do, that the only stable solution is a two-state one, with the Palestinians getting all of the West Bank, Gaza and Arab sectors of East Jerusalem, then you have to hope for the weakening of Hamas.

Why? Because nothing has damaged Palestinians more than the Hamas death-cult strategy of turning Palestinian youths into suicide bombers. Because nothing would set back a peace deal more than if Hamas' call to replace Israel with an Islamic state became the Palestinian negotiating position. And because Hamas' attacks on towns in southern Israel is destroying a two-state solution, even more than Israel's disastrous and reckless West Bank settlements.

Hamas' rocket attacks pose an irreversible threat. They say to Israel: "From Gaza, we can hit southern Israel. If we get the West Bank, we can rocket, and thereby close, Israel's international airport -- anytime, any day, from now to eternity." How many Israelis will risk relinquishing the West Bank, given this new threat?

MEGHAN DAUM: 2008 WAS A GOOD YEAR FOR FAKING MEMOIRS

MEGHAN DAUM — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

How did Herman Rosenblat, a 78-year-old Holocaust survivor and seemingly sweet old man, become the pariah of publishing?

He spent upward of 15 years telling this story: As a teenager at a German concentration camp in 1945, he encounters a girl on the other side of the camp's fence who tosses food to him daily. The two never speak, but she gives him the strength to survive. Settled in New York 12 years later, Rosenblat finds himself on a blind date with a Polish woman named Roma Radzicki whose family, she says, lived near the camp during the war. Despite incalculable odds, Radzicki turns out to be the girl from the fence. He proposes to her on the spot, and they remain married today.

The story originated in a newspaper contest that Rosenblat won -- naturally -- in the early 1990s. It appeared in the anthology "Chicken Soup for the Couples' Soul" and twice landed Rosenblat on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," where Winfrey pronounced it "the single greatest love story, in 22 years of doing this show, we've ever told on the air." It was adapted into a children's book and sold as a movie. Berkley Books, a Penguin division, signed Rosenblat to write a memoir, "Angel at the Fence," scheduled for release next month.

But beginning on Dec. 25, the New Republic reported that Holocaust scholars, as well as many of Rosenblat's family members, either doubted the story or knew it to be downright false. Though Rosenblat had been at Schlieben, a subdivision of the Buchenwald concentration camp, there is no record of Radzicki ever living nearby. Moreover, most scholars agree that the layout of the camp made it impossible to approach a fence from either side without being seen by guards. Within days, Berkley had canceled the memoir, the children's book had been pulled from shelves and the movie was being relabeled and rewritten as fiction.

Though the best-known case of a fraudulent memoir in recent memory remains James Frey's "A Million Little Pieces" in 2006, last year turned out to be a big one for not-quite-nonfiction as well.

DAVID BROOKS: THE PSYCHOLOGICAL WAR

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

For several years, Israelis and Palestinians played the land-for-peace game. Each side engaged in a series of elaborate maneuvers designed to get the best possible deal when it came time to negotiate a final status agreement.

But when Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran became leading players in the Middle East struggle, that land-for-peace game was suspended. A different game with different rules was begun. This new game is not oriented toward a final agreement. The extremist groups believe in the eventual extermination of Israel. They're not interested in a handshake on the White House lawn.

In this new game, each side seeks the destruction of the other, but neither has the power to achieve it. They are engaged in a struggle that has no near-term practical end.

The extremists' goal is to kill as many Jews as possible and wait for God (or Iran) to kill the rest. Israel's goal is to restrain the brazenness of the extremists until their movement somehow burns itself out or is destroyed from within Arab society. Israel's realistic immediate goal is not to achieve some permanent resolution, but to merely suppress terrorism week by week and month by month.

In this game, violence doesn't necessarily beget violence. It sometimes prevents it. The difference between successful Israeli actions and unsuccessful ones is not in the amount of destruction they achieve, but in the psychological messages they send.

GARY L. MILLER: WSU AND KU HAVE DIFFERENT APPROACHES

GARY L. MILLER — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

There is great promise for Kansas in the development of a vigorous biotechnology business.

Wichita State University and the University of Kansas are poised to take leading roles in the effort nationally, just as Kansas State University has in research to combat bioterrorism.

As noted in The Eagle editorial "Biased? Claim about KBA not substantiated" (Jan. 7 Opinion), the discussions among WSU, KU and the Kansas Bioscience Authority have progressed more slowly than any of us would have liked. That's not because of a lack of good will, but because of fundamental differences in approach.

WSU and its principal partner, Via Christi Orthopaedic Research Institute, have adopted a research and development model that involves working side by side with customers -- especially medical device manufacturers -- to move from identifying needs to developing solutions that will be quickly adopted by health care professionals. The possibilities for innovation under discussion range from medical instruments to operating tables, battlefield stretchers, and replacement bones and joints.

This approach builds heavily on our experience with the National Institute for Aviation Research. NIAR works closely with the aviation industry to meet the industry's identified needs and anticipate future needs. NIAR's research moves in a straight line from its labs to the factory floor, translating into jobs for Kansas.

CHARLES MURRAY: SOCIAL SECURITY IS THE LARGEST PONZI SCHEME

CHARLES MURRAY — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

The U.S. and international media have been following the story of Bernard Madoff and his "giant Ponzi scheme," as the Wall Street Journal called it, which may have cheated unsuspecting investors out of tens of billions of dollars. The Securities and Exchange Commission termed it "a stunning fraud that appears to be of epic proportions."

But is this -- as it is being touted -- the largest Ponzi scheme in history?

No. That honor goes to a Depression-era creation of the U.S. government itself: the Social Security system.

Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, describes a Ponzi scheme as "a fraudulent investment operation that involves paying abnormally high returns to investors out of the money paid in by subsequent investors, rather than from the profits from any real business."

You have just met Social Security. The federal government today collects payroll taxes from 163 million workers to finance the retirement benefits of 50 million Americans. In fiscal 2008, Washington collected $785 billion in taxes and paid out about $585 billion in benefits.

PAUL KRUGMAN: ACT SWIFTLY, BOLDLY TO BOOST ECONOMY

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

"If we don't act swiftly and boldly," declared President-elect Barack Obama in his latest weekly address, "we could see a much deeper economic downturn that could lead to double-digit unemployment." If you ask me, he was understating the case.

The fact is that recent economic numbers have been terrifying, not just in the United States but around the world. Manufacturing, in particular, is plunging everywhere. Banks aren't lending; businesses and consumers aren't spending. Let's not mince words: This looks an awful lot like the beginning of a second Great Depression.

So will we "act swiftly and boldly" enough to stop that from happening? We'll soon find out.

We weren't supposed to find ourselves in this situation. For many years, most economists believed that preventing another Great Depression would be easy.

It turns out, however, that preventing depressions isn't that easy after all. Under Ben Bernanke's leadership, the Federal Reserve has been supplying liquidity like an engine crew trying to put out a five-alarm fire, and the money supply has been rising rapidly. Yet credit remains scarce, and the economy is still in free fall.

CAL THOMAS: LIKE PIGS AT THE TROUGH

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

Like pigs waiting in line to get their snouts in the feeding trough come many of the nation's governors -- on the heels of the mayors -- asking Washington for bailout money.

Democratic governors from overspending states such as New York, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Ohio are among those seeking financial deliverance. The governors want Washington to pony up $1 trillion for their absolutely-essential-nonnegotiable-if-we-don't-get-the-money-people-will-starve programs.

New York Gov. David Paterson claims that because tax revenues have plunged, 43 states now have budget deficits totaling about $100 billion.

No, those states have deficits because when times were good and the money was rolling in, they thought they could get away with endless new programs, while putting little or no money aside for the inevitable rainy day. Neither did they consider which programs were necessary and which were just politically beneficial. Or maybe they did and they opted for politically beneficial, thus creating their problem, and ours.

Notice the sleight of hand about to be perpetrated on hardworking taxpayers. In the end, it is we who pay for the plans of politicians who are unable, or unwilling, to control themselves when it comes to other people's money. When Republicans cut taxes, Democrats scream about growing deficits. But Democrats never worry about the deficit when they spend more than the government takes in. So it really isn't about the deficit at all. It is about how much of our hard-earned money the Democrats, mostly, will allow us to keep. When you understand this, you understand everything about politics and politicians.

LANCE DICKIE: FAITH CRISIS FOR TRUE BELIEVERS IN MARKET

LANCE DICKIE — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

There are true believers suffering a real crisis of faith. They have been worshipping at the Church of the Free Market, and their doubts run deeper than stockbrokers not answering prayers or returning calls.

For decades, their prophets have preached that economic markets function best when left to themselves, unfettered by government regulation or oversight.

Businesses, investors and traditional market forces would self-regulate, self-correct and self-enforce. Oops.

The collapse of the housing and stock markets trace their way back to decisions and choices made at the highest levels of government and commerce. The rest of us get swept along for the ride, both up and down, and suffer the consequences of hubris, incompetence and criminality.

To hear the humbled apostles for markets free of disclosure and rules begin to mumble about the need for government regulation is extraordinary. Chief among the apostates is former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who humbly confessed his wonderment at mortgage-lending practices to a congressional committee:

BEN LIEBERMAN: NOW ISN'T TIME FOR AN OIL SUPPLY CRACKDOWN

BEN LIEBERMAN — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

It's starting to look as though the change coming to Washington, D.C., will bring bad news at the pump in the years ahead.

As gas prices topped $4 a gallon last July, President George W. Bush revoked the long-standing executive order that outlawed oil exploration and drilling in 85 percent of America's territorial waters -- nearly everywhere off the "lower 48" except Texas and Louisiana. Congress followed up by allowing its own 27-year-old offshore moratorium to lapse on Oct. 1.

These outdated restrictions never should have stayed on the books for so long -- the risk of oil spills has been dramatically minimized with the latest technologies. But at least Washington did the right thing by belatedly getting rid of them.

Thus, the leasing process can commence in areas estimated to contain 19 billion barrels of untapped oil -- about 30 years of current imports from Saudi Arabia. And, it should be noted, these initial estimates tend to be on the low side. We may well find much more oil.

Earlier in the year, then-candidate Obama and leading Democrats in Congress had opposed this expansion of domestic oil drilling. However, both relented in the face of last summer's public outrage over $4-a-gallon gas, as well as polls showing 2-1 support for more drilling.

NICHOLAS KRISTOF: EVIL BEHIND THE SMILES

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

Western men who visit red-light districts in poor countries often find themselves surrounded by coquettish teenage girls laughingly tugging them toward the brothels.

But anyone inclined to take the girls' smiles at face value should talk to Sina Vann, who was once one of those smiling girls.

Sina is Vietnamese but was kidnapped at the age of 13 and taken to Cambodia, where she was drugged. She said she woke up naked and bloody on a bed with a white man -- she doesn't know his nationality -- who had purchased her virginity.

After that, she was locked on the upper floors of a nice hotel and offered to Western men and wealthy Cambodians. She said she was beaten ferociously to force her to smile and act seductive.

"My first phrase in Khmer," the Cambodian language, "was, 'I want to sleep with you,' " she said. "My first phrase in English was" -- well, it's unprintable.

TRUDY RUBIN: IRAQI POLITICIANS NOW VALUE STABILITY

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 01:38 CST

As violence diminishes and U.S. troops draw down, Iraqis are trying to figure out what kind of political system will emerge when American influence fades.

The nature of that system matters to Americans, too. The purpose of the "surge" strategy of Gen. David Petraeus was to stabilize Iraq so it would no longer provide a haven for al-Qaida or a fertile field for Iranian intervention.

But Iraq's political system is increasingly fragmented. Although Shiites and Sunnis are no longer fighting, there are growing splits within those sects, and tensions between Kurds and Arabs. Many Iraqis yearn for another "strongman" -- a "good Saddam." Some think Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki wants that title.

So is some form of democracy really possible in Iraq? Will the country pull together or splinter as Americans are leaving? After two weeks of talking to leaders of all factions in Iraq, I've found some grounds for optimism, despite huge obstacles ahead.

First, some history: After the Iraq invasion, U.S. officials set up a political system dominated by religious and ethnic parties led by returning exiles. Secular parties were marginalized. Many middle-class Iraqis who opposed religion-based politics fled abroad.

PRO: STIMULUS NEEDED TO BOOST ECONOMY

MARK WEISBROT — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 01:38 CST

Nobody needs to be told that our economy is going down the tubes at a rate unseen for decades. Every week brings new numbers that are setting records. In just the three months that ended in November, the job loss was 1.26 million, the worst since 1975. We lost more than 2 million jobs in 2008.

To arrest this downward spiral, the Obama team is talking about an economic stimulus package of about $800 billion over two years. Some are complaining that this is too much. But it is actually not so large, considering the size of the problem we are facing. It is about 2.7 percent of the gross domestic product. The recent increase in military spending plus tax cuts for the rich -- compared with 2001 levels -- add up to about the same.

Even if we take into account the rest of our red ink, and we actually hit the dreaded "trillion-dollar deficit" in 2009, how extreme would this be? A trillion-dollar deficit would be about 6.7 percent of GDP. In 1983, coming out of our last deep recession, President Ronald Reagan ran a deficit of 6 percent of GDP. And the current recession easily could be worse.

State and local governments will need at least $100 billion to $150 billion next year to keep from cutting back on their employment and on education and making the recession much worse. We will need increases in food stamps, unemployment insurance and Medicaid spending for the poor.

Obama's plan will include spending to repair our roads, bridges and schools -- much of which is long overdue. There inevitably will be tax cuts in the package, but at least these will go to working- and middle-class people, unlike the bulk of the Bush tax cuts.

DAVID BRODER: ILLINOIS DEMOCRATS ARE OUTDOING THEMSELVES

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 01:38 CST

Opportunism comes in many forms in Illinois politics. Unfortunately for the reputation of my home state, the nation is learning about all of them.

Thanks to the court-approved wiretaps released last month, we heard evidence that Gov. Rod Blagojevich saw the election of Barack Obama as an opportunity to extract a juicy payment for himself -- cash or a cushy job -- in return for the appointment to Obama's Senate seat.

In the past few weeks, we've learned that the Democratic leaders of the Illinois Legislature saw the embarrassment of the governor (a man they already despised) as an opportunity to guarantee that Obama's seat would remain Democratic. The Democrats rejected legislation to require a special election, and instead are trying to remove Blagojevich by impeachment and give the appointing power to the lieutenant governor.

And then Tuesday, we learned that Roland Burris, a guy who has been hanging around in Illinois politics for decades, saw in all of this an opportunity to vault himself into the Senate -- no matter what Obama and every other Democrat from Springfield to Washington thought.

All involved, including Obama, have been exceedingly polite in their public comments about Burris. I have known him for years and I like him. But I have never been confused about the level of his talent. He was elected as far back as 1978 as state comptroller and stayed in that low-visibility office for 12 years before moving up to attorney general in 1990.

CON: PLAN WON'T BRING RECESSION TO END

WILLIAM F. SHUGHART II — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 01:38 CST

President-elect Barack Obama has announced plans for a new stimulus package containing $500 billion to $700 billion worth of public works projects. The package would be "the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the federal highway system," he said.

America's governors already are scrambling to compose lists of "shovel-ready" projects so no bridge or highway is left behind. But while a "new" New Deal will produce certain visible results -- more construction materials will be sold, more construction workers will be employed and some of the nation's infrastructure may indeed be improved -- it is unlikely to give the economy much of a boost.

Most projects qualifying for funding will be selected not because they are urgent national or regional priorities, or because they are likely to produce the greatest benefit at the most reasonable cost, but because they please important political constituencies: organized labor, for example.

In addition, Obama's proposed massive transfer of resources to the construction industry will shift funding away from other uses that are potentially more valuable. America's future is still the knowledge industries, not road building.

The truth is that government cannot "create" jobs or wealth in one sector of the economy without destroying them in others. Look no further than the old New Deal for proof.

THOMAS V. THORNTON: BIO LAB WILL PROTECT NATION'S FOOD SUPPLY

THOMAS V. THORNTON — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 01:38 CST

A recent report served as a reminder that food safety cannot be taken for granted, and that we must renew our efforts to fight diseases that threaten the food supply.

Former Sens. Bob Graham of Florida and Jim Talent of Missouri issued the "World at Risk" report, which came to the conclusion that even more imminent than the threat of a rogue nuclear attack in the next five years is the threat of an attack by biological weapons.

Perhaps because of the agricultural heritage of Kansas, I am particularly attuned to biological threats, especially those that could attack our food supply and agriculture economy. These threats, if carried out, would affect all of us -- young and old, urban and rural, poor and rich.

With that perspective, I was heartened last month when our nation took an important and serious step forward to address this concern.

That step was the recommendation of Manhattan as the preferred location for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, a proposed federal research laboratory that will develop vaccines and countermeasures for animal diseases that could harm our food supply.

NICHOLAS KRISTOF: OBAMA NEEDS TO PUT THE SQUEEZE ON SUDAN

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 01:38 CST

If Barack Obama wants to help end the genocide in Darfur, he doesn't have to look far for ideas of how to accomplish that. President George W. Bush and his top aides have been given, and ignored, a menu of options for tough steps to squeeze Sudan -- even destroy its air force -- and those will soon be on the new president's desk.

The State Department's policy planning staff prepared the first set of possible responses back in 2004 (never pursued), and this year Ambassador Richard Williamson has privately pushed the White House to squeeze Sudan until it stops the killing.

Williamson, who is Bush's special envoy to Sudan, wrote a tough memo to the president this fall outlining three particular steps the United States could take to press Sudan's leader, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir:

• The United States could jam all communications in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital. This would include all telephone calls, all cellular service, all Internet access.

• The United States could apply progressive pressure to Port Sudan, from which Sudan exports oil and thus earns revenue.

MOTI RIEBER AND ELIZABETH BEHRMAN: ISRAEL'S ACTION IS DEFENSIVE, LEGITIMATE

MOTI RIEBER AND ELIZABETH BEHRMAN — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 01:40 CST

The world's attention has been drawn in recent days to the tiny area of Gaza, where Israel is engaged in an action against Hamas, the Islamic fundamentalist movement that rules that area. Because people are understandably disturbed by the use of military force, we want to explain the reasons behind Israel's actions.

Hamas is recognized by the United States as a terror organization, responsible for many Israeli civilian deaths through its campaign of suicide bombings earlier this decade. It refuses to recognize either Israel as a state or prior agreements negotiated between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. This has seriously damaged the possibility of reconciliation between the two sides.

In 2005, Israel withdrew from Gaza and handed it over to Palestinian leadership. In 2007, Hamas took over the territory by force, overthrowing the power-sharing arrangement with Fatah (the other main Palestinian political party) that had been in effect.

Rather than acting as a legitimate government, concerning itself with governing Palestinian society and building its economy, Hamas has used the territory as a launching pad for Qassam rockets -- missiles that have a range of 20 miles, putting much of southern Israel within range. More than 6,000 rockets have been fired from Gaza since that time, including more than 2,000 in 2008 alone.

These rockets deliberately target civilians, and thus are correctly defined as "terrorism." The towns of Sderot and Ashkelon have been pounded on a daily basis. Preschools, homes and bus stops have been targeted. When the alarm goes off, civilians have 15 seconds to find cover.

MICHAEL KAISER: U.S. ARTS ORGANIZATIONS NEED FINANCIAL HELP, TOO

MICHAEL KAISER — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 01:40 CST

While government bailouts are being offered or considered for financial institutions, the auto industry, homeowners, and so many other needy and worthy sectors, one group is quickly and rather quietly falling apart: our nation's arts organizations. In the past few months, dozens of opera companies, theater companies, dance organizations, museums and symphonies have either closed or suffered major cash crises.

Well-managed arts organizations have typically been able to find the money required to operate if they create interesting programs, market them aggressively and build strong donor bases.

But these times are different.

Many organizations that spent years building large endowments to provide more stable sources of support have seen them decimated. A number of our most loyal donors have watched their own investment portfolios be depleted and cannot provide their traditional funding. Our audience members cannot buy as many tickets as they have in the past.

This perfect storm already has weakened the fabric of our nation's arts ecology. Over the past several months, the Baltimore Opera Co., Santa Clarita (Calif.) Symphony, Opera Pacific, the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art and others have closed or come close to closing. There probably will be a torrent of additional closures, cancellations and crises in the coming months.