Editorial Roundup:

Posted By: Jim Thatcher

By The Associated Press

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March 27

The Blade, Toledo, Ohio, on General Motors buyouts:

The generous buyouts offered to union employees at General Motors and Delphi represent a calculated risk, both for the struggling auto manufacturer and for the workers, many of whom once believed they could count on jobs for life.

GM is using the buyouts to put its years of high labor costs behind it and to restructure for the 21st century, while 126,000 blue-collar workers at the two companies are getting a bittersweet glimpse of what life may offer beyond the shop floor.

This is a high-stakes gamble and not a sure thing for either party, nor for the economies of Ohio, Michigan, and other states with large numbers of GM employees. ...

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On the Net:

http://www.toledoblade.com

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March 26

The Greenville (S.C.) News, on government spending:

The U.S. government is facing enormous fiscal pressures. The evidence suggests that unless the government changes its spendthrift ways, the nation will be in for a rude awakening that could hurt seniors and the poor — and perhaps drag down the entire economy. We can't say we weren't warned.

Entitlements are growing at an unsustainable rate while the national debt has ballooned past $8 trillion. ...

Social Security and Medicare, meanwhile, will see enrollments explode beginning in 2008 as 79 million baby boomers begin to become eligible for those costly programs.

The irony: This coming fiscal calamity has been set into motion by a Republican president and Congress. President Bush and the GOP Congress, far from cutting Medicare, expanded it via a $729 billion prescription drug plan for seniors.

At a time of war, the nation should be trying to pare back spending, not increase it. ...

Instead of paying all of these expenses, Bush adds much of the cost to the federal credit card. During his time in office, Bush has overseen a 46 percent increase in the federal debt, from $5.6 trillion to more than $8 trillion. ...

The remedy is simple though difficult to achieve. Bush and Congress have to spend less. Otherwise, the nation will fall far short of its obligations to seniors, the poor and students in the future.

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On the Net:

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?CategoryOPINION

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March 27

The Johnson City (Tenn.) Press, on President Bush and federal land:

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (news, bio, voting record) is correct to oppose a plan by President Bush to sell more than 300,000 acres of federal land, including 3,000 acres in the Cherokee National Forest, to raise money for roads and schools in rural communities.

Tennessee's junior senator said recently the White House needs to come up with a better plan for replacing the $800 million the U.S. Forest Service estimates will be lost as a result of logging cutbacks on federal land.

Alexander told The Knoxville News Sentinel last week the proposal represents short-term thinking. The senator also said the deal reminds him of selling off the back 40 to pay the rent. We agree.

Selling public land to address budget shortfalls would represent a new and dangerous approach to dealing with fiscal matters in Washington.

Selling off this public land, which includes acreage in Carter, Johnson, Sullivan and Unicoi counties would be of little benefit to local communities.

In fact, the loss of federal land might actually present an obstacle to local counties looking to lure eco-tourists. It's simply not sound policy to sell off public land that long has been held in trust for all Americans to enjoy to address the federal deficit.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said last week he is undecided on the issue. Likewise, Rep. Bill Jenkins, R-1st, also said recently he is still studying the issue.

Public land is a vital part of America's natural heritage and should be preserved for future generations to treasure. Selling it off is a shortsighted solution to our nations budget problems.

Tennesseans need to tell Jenkins, Frist and other members of Congress that we do not want to see the Cherokee Forest used as a pawn in the budget games now being played on Capitol Hill.

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On the Net:

http://www.johnsoncitypress.com

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March 27

Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, on extending health care coverage for children:

Starting in May, parents in New Jersey will be able to keep their children on their health insurance plans until their 30th birthday — even if their "kids" don't live at home or aren't full-time students.

In passing the law extending the coverage age to 30, state legislators apparently failed to grasp the concept of "child" and "dependent." As a result, it could drive up the cost of employer group health insurance by keeping "children" covered for several more years. Before the law takes effect, the Assembly and Senate should roll it back and replace it with legislation aimed at reducing the sky-high cost of health insurance to make it more accessible to all state residents.

Most health plans cut off coverage for children at age 19, unless they're in school. Then coverage may continue until graduation or a specified age, often 23, with the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) making them eligible for the group rate for an additional 36 months. That gets them to 26. By that point, they've had ample time to find themselves, and full-time employment.

Six other states have expanded coverage for adult children to age 24, 25 or 26 and three more are considering it. Unlike the others, however, New Jersey won't require the "child" to live with the parent or be a full-time student. They just have to be under 30, a New Jersey resident and not have children of their own.

There comes a time for a dependent to become independent, and it's not at a person's 30th birthday. Parents should be encouraging their children to grow up and support themselves, well before they've reached their late 20s.

Bill sponsor Assemblyman Neil Cohen, D-Union, estimates the additional premium for an adult dependent could be $1,200 to $2,000 annually. But the director of the state Department of Banking and Insurance says that's "overly optimistic." A spokeswoman for America's Health Insurance Plans, representing 1,300 firms that provide benefits, said the law is too broad, going far beyond any other state's age extension, and could drive up the cost of employer group insurance. Young adults with health issues would be the ones most apt to stay on their parents' policies for low premiums, creating an expensive imbalance.

The age extension doesn't give the rest of the 23- to 30-year-olds in the state much incentive to grow up. Twenty-nine shouldn't be the age when you have to worry about finding health insurance. The potential the law has to raise the cost of health insurance premiums for everyone else is reason enough for the Legislature to deep-six it.

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On the Net:

http://www.app.com

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March 27

The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune, on tracking prescription drugs:

In 2003 a statewide grand jury found an alarming percentage of prescription drugs in Florida had been altered or stolen for illegal resale somewhere between their manufacture and their acquisition by hospitals, clinics, doctors and pharmacies.

As a result, insurance companies and Medicaid were bilked. Worse, patients were hurt.

As just one example, a Michigan man who thought he was injecting his son with growth hormone learned after the boy complained of pain that he had given him insulin, purchased from a legitimate Florida pharmacy. The prescription label had been changed by a counterfeiter.

The Legislature responded to the grand jury report by passing a law that strengthened licensure requirements for wholesalers and ordered them to start recording every transaction from manufacturer to dispenser starting July 1, 2006. With the deadline approaching, some wholesalers are complaining that the new rule would slow down drug delivery and that software vendors stand to benefit.

But Attorney General Charlie Crist, grabbing a potent issue for his gubernatorial campaign, says the industry has had more than a decade to figure out how to manage so-called pedigree papers. He says this is a public safety issue - potentially a matter of life and death - and the Legislature shouldn't reward those who've dragged their feet.

The question is whether Crist has a solution to a problem or whether a problem exists that needs solving. Before lawmakers vote to let the rule go into effect, they should figure that out.

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On the Net:

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March 26

Star Tribune, Minneapolis, on the Alaskan pipeline:

"Spills happen" has been the response, more or less, of the pipeline operator and its regulators to the largest leak of crude oil yet recorded on Alaska's North Slope. A section of 34-inch pipeline, which gathers crude oil from various wells and moves it into the trans-Alaska pipeline, rotted away from the inside out. Gosh, says the British Petroleum subsidiary that runs the network, corrosion is a known problem in these 30-year-old pipes, but we had no idea this one was giving out so fast.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation is full of praise for BP's quick response and vigorous cleanup program, skipping over the part about how the hemorrhage went undetected for five days, at least, before a guy happened to step out of his truck at the right place and smell oil.

Anyway, it's 40 below now and the oil is so thick it can be scooped right off the tundra. Heck, maybe 90 percent of it can be put back in a pipe and shipped to a refinery.

These have got to be among the last people on earth — outside the Bush administration, where it's an official article of faith — who can say with apparent conviction that oil drilling can expand across the North Slope, and into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, without environmental harm.

They know better than anyone that the operations centered on Prudhoe produce, on average, better than one spill per day. Yes, some of them are small; yes, not all of them are crude oil. But in the eight years ending in 2004, they totaled 1.9 million gallons.

All by itself, the latest leak has tainted a two-acre section of tundra with more than a quarter-million gallons of crude oil — enough, a pocket calculator suggests, to cover it nearly 5 inches deep. This is exactly the kind of accident that is supposed to be unthinkable these days, prevented by the technology that lets pipelines and pristine wilderness coexist.

The 34-inch pipeline that failed was fitted with state-of-the-art sensors, installed just two years ago, that are required to detect a leak as small as 1 percent of the flow (BP claims they can actually register a leak half that size). But they didn't notice this gusher, and nobody can explain why. Nor has anybody explained why BP hadn't given the line a thorough internal inspection since 1998.

The main point is that oil production in Alaska is both conducted and chiefly regulated by people whose highest interest is in seeing the crude keep flowing with as few interruptions as possible. People like the petroleum engineer who told a newspaper (with a straight face, we presume) he blamed the recent spill on environmentalists, because the leak occurred in a section buried under gravel for the convenience of migrating caribou.

It really would be nice if oil exploration could keep expanding across the North Slope without repeating this filthy history. But as this big spill reminds us anew, that's only a pipe dream.

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On the Net:

http://www.startribune.com

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March 26

The Wenatchee (Wash.) World, on benefits for illegal aliens:

If sufficient signatures are collected, Washington will have its version of Arizona's Proposition 200. That is the xenophobic citizens' initiative passed in 2004 to deny "public benefits" to illegal aliens and require state employees to check papers and report suspects to federal authorities.

Copies of the text are not yet widely available, but from news accounts it appears the Washington measure would have a smaller impact than some anti-immigrant types might expect. Illegal immigrant children won't be packed up and kicked out of schools and the sick won't be turned away from hospitals. Those "public benefits" must be supplied by federal law. Non-citizens are already barred from receiving cash welfare, Medicaid and other services, despite paying taxes to support them. Lying about citizenship to vote is already a felony.

The main impact of such an initiative would be to deny health care to pregnant women, or boot farmworkers' children from day-care, or root out the children of immigrants from colleges and universities — the few state benefits available to undocumented aliens. It also, incidentally, would turn brown-skinned people with accents into suspects, in the eyes of state employees.

An initiative like this will accomplish nothing that could even be modestly regarded as immigration reform. It will simply be vindictive and cruel, and play heavily on racial animosity. This state does not need this, and such measures are not worthy of our signatures.

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On the Net:

http://www.wenworld.com/sub/story.php?id1143321863-416-958

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March 27

The Times Herald-Record, Middletown, N.Y., on regulating ADHD drugs:

There are few more controversial, confusing issues regarding children and education than the use of powerful stimulant drugs to counter the effects of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Last week, an advisory panel of the Food and Drug Administration wisely and somewhat courageously tried to remove some of the confusion without adding to the controversy.

The FDA's pediatric advisory committee rejected a call for "tougher" warning labels on ADHD drugs, recommending instead that the labels be written more clearly. This would allow drug manufacturers to alerts parents to possible, but rare, serious side effects of the drugs — heart attacks, hallucinations and other psychological problems — without scaring away thousands of people who need and would benefit from the drugs.

The pediatric panel's recommendation conflicts with that of the FDA's drug safety and risk management committee. That panel advised using the strongest possible warnings on some of the drugs, to warn doctors, parents and patients of potential risks. Given the suspicion that the drugs — Ritalin, Concerta, Adderall, Strattera — are too casually prescribed by some doctors and that some parents and teachers look upon them as quick fixes for behavioral problems, there certainly is reason for concern about serious side effects. But the pediatric panel correctly warned about the confusion such strong warnings would inject into an already confusing issue. And of course, it would surely drive away children who would benefit from the drugs.

And many do. That's the problem. ADHD drugs can and have worked miracles in children's lives. Children who cannot focus, who are regularly disruptive, impatient or impulsive in class have been transformed into model students through use of one of the drugs. Their academic world is transformed from a negative to a positive place. The American Academy of Pediatrics says 70 percent of patients are helped through use of the drugs. That's significant, given that about 3.3 million Americans under 20 years of age used one of the drugs last year.

The controversy arises over the method of diagnosing the disorder. ADHD is a behavioral diagnosis. There are no easy physical symptoms to check. Blood work won't do it. Rather, doctors must confer with parents and teachers and assess a child's full medical and educational record to determine if he or she (it tends to be boys) has a legitimate disorder.

At least that's what is supposed to happen. It is safe and fair to say that the thoroughness of those assessments varies widely. The tendency to want to help a child do better in school is understandable, but doctors and parents must become better educated on the risks of misdiagnosing ADHD. At the same time, there are also potential serious risks to children from not diagnosing ADHD. It would be especially unfortunate if exaggerated fear caused this.

Clearly, all parties involved — doctors, parents, educators, patients and pharmaceutical companies — need to do more collaborative work on figuring this out. That's why any move to clearer labeling, as opposed to scare labeling, makes sense at this time. The FDA was wise to ask for a second opinion. It should take it to heart.

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On the Net:

http://www.recordonline.com

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March 27

Yomiuri Shimbun, Tokyo, on the Self-Defense Forces:

The Ground, Air and Maritime self-defense forces will be placed under an integrated chain of command on Monday, abolishing the current system under which these three arms of the Self-Defense Forces have each had their own respective command channels.

The United States has maintained a joint command structure since the beginning of the Cold War. During the 1990s, many major powers around the world established joint headquarters for their military forces. Given this, the Defense Agency's decision to place the three SDF arms under a joint chain of command represents an effort to meet needs of the changing times.

The United States also intends to set up a new headquarters responsible for commanding elements of the army, navy, air force and marine corps — called a unit of employment — at Camp Zama in Kanagawa Prefecture as part of its realignment of its forces in Japan. The plan is aimed at reacting flexibly to emergencies in the Far East and neighboring areas. The SDF's new chain of command will likely make it possible for the SDF to cooperate more smoothly with the U.S. forces.

The importance of civilian control by the prime minister and the Defense Agency director general will remain unchanged even under the SDF's new chain of command. It will also be necessary to fully discuss how political leaders should be involved in making final decisions about SDF operations.

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On the Net:

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/editorial/20060327TDY04008.htm

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March 28

Svenska Dagbladet, Stockholm, Sweden, on Germany:

Europe needs leadership. At the same time, the political landscape is dominated by politicians whose 'best-by' date has passed.

Tony Blair was like a beacon, nowadays one that is seldom lit. Blair has done his job and his leadership is winding up.

Silvio Berlusconi had a face-lift, while his politics have not. Berlusconi made an effort, but left Italy as the sick man of Europe.

France could enter the race. But instead of being firm on reforms, President Jacques Chirac shies away whenever the 'parliament of the street' marches against Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.

The exception in this dreary group is Christian Democrat Angela Merkel, who, since becoming Germany's chancellor last year, has shown that processes and structures are not everything in politics, but that people play a decisive role.

Merkel's image may be gray, but she has shaken life into Germany. Belief in the future has returned.

Of course, the chancellor has been helped along by an improved outlook for exports. But she has also taken charge.

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On the Net:

http://www.svd.se

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March 28

Politiken, Copenhagen, Denmark, on Ukraine's elections:

(Ukrainian President Viktor) Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party was punished with a third place because of a chaotic situation following the Orange Revolution with unfulfilled promises of better living conditions and a battle against corruption.

And he was punished for the split in the Orange flank after fired Yulia Tymoshenko as government leader last year.

The bitter election campaign between the two orange parties, as well as mutual accusations of corruption and power abuse, gave (pro-Russian opposition leader) Viktor Yanukovych's camp a great advantage.

However, the electorate didn't turn their backs on the revolution but rather forced the orange parties back together.

The election result still points toward a pro-Western course, with visions of European Union and NATO memberships.

The election also showed that Ukraine remains deeply divided on which course to choose: toward the West or toward the East, back to Moscow's arms.

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On the Net:

http://www.politiken.dk

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March 27

Aftenposten, Oslo, Norway, on ETA's cease-fire in Spain:

Too good to be true? The question has to be raised when terrorists announce they are laying down their arms after decades of death and destruction.

After the Irish Republican Army went through a similar transformation, the Basque ETA ended up as the last violent nationalist movement in Western Europe.

Finally, the armed Basques have seen that it is possible to win with nonviolent means. Winning that insight has cost many innocent lives. One influence now is that another Spanish group, the Catalonians, have won broad autonomy. The Catalonians have shown that peaceful means pack a punch. ...

It is worthy of note that the IRA advised ETA. The two groups have similarities. IRA's supporters have seen that they can win by abandoning violence, a lesson they passed on.

Basque terrorism was triggered by the misguided policies on dictator Francisco Franco and his helpers. ... Systematic oppression of the Basques' language and self-determination continued through the Franco period. Basque terrorism continued until now as a legacy of the dictatorship that time left behind, and the Basque people themselves grew tired of seeing.

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On the Net:

http://www.aftenposten.no

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March 28

The Egyptian Gazette, Cairo, on the Arab summit:

On gathering today in the Sudanese capital for their annual summit conference, Arab leaders will not need to look far to grasp the challenges besetting their nations. The host country itself faces an uncertain future in view of fast-paced attempts to internationalize the tragic dispute in Sudan's western province of Darfur.

The West has recently raised the stakes for military intervention in Darfur, where the U.N. says the province is the scene of one of the worst humanitarian disasters. Should the West go ahead with its plan to replace the African Union troops there with U.N. personnel, more deterioration would be expected. Sudan's woes would further exacerbate as locals have gone public with vows to fight any foreign forces as invaders.

The Arabs can help defuse these ominous tensions by lobbying for hammering out a regional solution to the Darfur feud.

In addition to Palestine and Iraq, this year Arab summiteers have on their agenda problems in Darfur, the Syrian and Lebanese tensions and prospects for peace after Hamas' rise to power.

Little has resulted from a long history of Arab summit meetings. Given the formidable challenges around them, Arab leaders will have in Khartoum to focus more on substance than on rhetoric.

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On the Net:

http://www.eltahrir.net

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March 29

Financial Times, London, on the resignation of Andrew Card:

Andrew Card might be best remembered as the man who whispered into George W. Bush's ear, "a second plane hit the second tower — America is under attack", as he was reading to children on September 11, 2001. On that occasion the White House chief of staff had no choice but to keep his president informed. But on too many others those working for the president have felt unable to pass on home truths.

By all accounts Mr. Card was a competent administrator. So too is Josh Bolten, Mr. Bush's new chief of staff who was previously director of the Office of Management and Budget. But replacing one dedicated administrator with another is unlikely to restore Mr. Bush's tattered fortunes.

Mr. Bush faces the prospect of almost three years of a lame duck presidency. Once considered an asset, the president is now spurned by fellow Republicans who are facing a tough battle to retain control of Congress in the November midterm elections. He has become such a liability that it is now hard for his administration to get a fair hearing on the Hill even for its more thoughtful legislative proposals.

Mr. Bush's problems extend far beyond growing public doubts about the wisdom of his administration's decision to invade Iraq or the ineptitude of postwar planning. They also extend beyond the controversy about his fiscal record, in which deficit spending has been fueled by tax cuts at a time when the nation is told it is engaged in a long-term war to defend its values. They even go beyond the fact that Mr. Bush is no longer automatically trusted by a majority to safeguard America's security — the one issue on which he had consistently outpolled his rivals.

At the root of Mr. Bush's low credibility is a reputation for incompetence. It now disables almost everything he does. It was reinforced by his administration's poor handling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster last year and the ill-judged nomination of Harriet Miers — Mr. Bush's personal lawyer — to the Supreme Court. On Iraq, it is bolstered by almost continual revelations about the administration's track record of deafness to independent advice on the importance of rapidly restoring Iraqi utilities and on anticipating and then minimizing the risks of a sectarian conflict...

The president can still retrieve his credibility and public trust if he acts decisively to reinvigorate his administration. This means appointing experienced and independent figures to important White House positions — people with the stature to tell the president when he is wrong. It would mean recruiting people on the basis of their experience and not necessarily their record of loyalty to Mr. Bush.

Yesterday the president missed an opportunity to make a break with the way his White House operates. There will be other opportunities, which we would urge Mr. Bush to seize.

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On the Net:

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/32eca0ca-bec1-11da-b10f-0000779e2340,s011.html

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