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EDITORIAL AND OPINION/tCtt Oailittt
Thursday, February 2, 2006
®j)c Cl>arlottc
The Voice of the Black Community
I S31 Camden Hoad Charlotte, NC. 2S203
Gerald (). Johnson CEO/PUBLISHER
Robert L Johnson co-PUBLISHER/CIENERAL MANAGER
Herbert L White editor in chief
OPINION
Treating the
symptoms of
U^heahh
care crisis
At this rate, there'll be no cure for
spiraling costs or lack of access
Let’s give President Bush credit for turning attention to the
nation’s health care problems in his State of the Union address-
even if you do not agree with his proposals.
President Bush belie^'es that the best way to control costs is to
push responsibility down to the health care COTisumer. If
patients pay for their medical care, they will look for reasonably
priced choices.
But, just as we are trying to understand a com
plicated new “choice based” Medicare drug plan,
we may have a hard time getting excited about
the President’s complex set of choices of tax cred
its and health accoimts
The real tragedy of the President’s health care
proposab-and the various plans of those who
oppose his ideas-is that they ignore the coimtry’s
real health care crisis, which is this; The way we
live and the way we eat is making more of us
D.G.
Martin
Connect \«1th $0i(t
Grading Congress and the NAACP
If the last presidential elec
tion and the Supreme Court
confirmation hearings of
Samuel Alito proved nothing
else, they
showed how
certain issues
— especially
abortion
rights and gay
marriages —
get pushed to
the forefront
while issues of
true concern
George E.
Curry
sicker and sicker
A few weeks ago, I had supper with former state representa
tive Jack Hunt and members of his family, including his daugh
ter Judy, also a former legislator. One of their guests was Dr
John Buse, director of UNC Diabetes Care Center, and a nation
ally recognized expert on the prevention and treatment of dia
betes.
At that time, The New York Times was running a series of arti
cles on a diabetes epidemic that is sweeping parts of New York.
Diet, the lack of exercise, and other environmental factors are
unlocking people’s genetic predisposition toward diabetes at an
alarming rate.
As a consequence of the onset of diabetes, these new victims
will sufier countless expensive and debilitating health problems,
llieir suffering and the costs of treating them could, in most
cases, be prevented or reduced, by changing their eating and liv
ing patterns
Dr. Buse has said. “The great news is that with early detection
and careful treatment, people can take control of their diabetes
and live full liws without symptcaus or complications.”
I asked why we (throng our government) are not pushing
harder to encourage these life style changes.
Judy Hunt, who had a long bout with diabetes herself, cau
tioned that blaming the victims was not a solution to the prob
lem. ,
I agree with her And I think our country’s people have a long
history of resisting any effort fia* the government to tell us how
to live our lives
But we have made exceptions when people's dangerous acts
are life threatening Motcarydists have to wear helmets. Taking
certain drugs is a crime. We are not allowed to drive a car with
out a license.
But we let people at risk for diabetes eat and smoke and “loaT
their way to a dangerous end. caie that will usually invdve great
expense to the community
So why not address that problem?
One state governor is.
Until a few years ago . Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee,
the subject of a recent column in the New Yoik Times column by
Nicholas Kristof, wei^ied almost 300 pounds. (Aj^Tarently he
shared some fast food eating habits with a former Arkansas gov
ernor.)
When Huckabee learned that he had developed T^pe 2 dia
betes. he dramatically changed his life st>ie. Diets of salad and
an exercise plan that included marathcn races Irou^t his
wei^t down to 180 pounds
Another result: His diabetes is gone Huckabee is a conserv'a-
tive RepuUican and not anxious to expand government But.
having learned personally how wei^t loss and exercise prevent
disease, he has beccxue an advocate fcx* the government to do
much more to prauote healthy lifestyles
He told Kristc^, “ when I look at our state budget, and I see
that every year our Medicaid budget is increasing 1^ 9 to 10 per
cent, and I lock at state em|k>yee8' health (dans and I see that
those costs are escalating at double digits and twice the rate of
inflation • as a fiscal manager. I have not only the right but
frankly also the responsibility to see what can we do to improve
this bottom-line cost.”
Until our leaders adc^ the “Huckabee” a]:^3roach, the debate
about President Bush's proposals is not about “finding a cure” to
our health care crisis, it is just a discussion of how to “treat its
symptoms ”
DXj. Miirttn ts host of UNC-TV's ’’North Carolma BookHxttch.” whch
airs on SunJavs at 5 pm.
to most Afiican-Americans
get relegated to the back
ground.
That’s why I always look
forward to the NAACP
Report Card covering the
most recent session of
Congress. Like labor and
other special interest groups,
both liberal and conservative,
the NAACP identifies issues
of importance to African-
Americans and then grade
members of the Senate and
House, based on their level of
support. The NAACP has
been doing this since 1914,
just five years after it was
founded.
Not surprisin^y, there is a
mjyor difference in how mem
bers of the two m^or parties
vote. For the most part,
DemcxTats support the pro-
civil rights agenda of the
NAACP and Republicans, by
and laige, are hostile to civil
rights. No Republican in
either the House or Senate
scored higher than a C. In
fact, most earned Fs, includ
ing likely presidential candi
dates Senator John McCain
of Arizona and Bill Frist of
Tennessee. The so-called
Republican moderates -
Lincoln D. Chafee of Rhode
Island and Olympia Snowe of
Maine earned a C and a D,
respectively
Republican strategists who
contend they want a laig^er
share of the Black vote are
lik» umpires - they talk a
good game, but they don’t
play ball. Not with the major
ity of African-Americans.
No group in its right mind
votes against its self-interest.
But Afiican-Americans are
asked to do just that.
In many instances, the
Report Card shows that most
Republicans were not evrai
close to making a D. In the
Senate, Jeff Sessions of
Alabama; McCain and Jon
Kyi of Arizona; Charles
Grassley of Iowa; Sam
Brownback and Pat Roberts
of Kansas; Mitch McConnell
and Jim Bunning of
Kentucky, Thad Cochran
and TVent Lott of Mississippi;
Chuck Hagel of Nebraska;
John Ensign of Nevada; Judd
Gregg of New Hampshire;
James Inhofe and Tbm
Cobum of Oklahoma; James
DeMint of South Carolina;
Frist and Lamar Alexander of
Tbnnessee and John Comyn
of Tfexas all voted ri^t only 5
percent of the time. Put
another way, of the 20 issues
dted by the NAACP, they
voted wrong 19 times.
The one issue they general
ly supported the NAACP on
was reauthorizing the Carl D.
Perkins Vocational and
Tfechnical Act. Most of them
opposed the NAACP and sup
ported the nominations of
four far right judges - Janice
Rogers Brown, William H.
Pryor, Priscilla Owen and
John Roberts - voted against
increased funding for AIDS,
rejected additional funds for
low-income home energy
assistance, voted against a
successful amendment that
presewed $14 bOlion in
Medicaid funding over five
years and against a move to
lift the minimiiTu wage fix)m
$5,15 an hour to $7.25 an
hour over 26 months.
The Entire Congressional
ddegations in six states —
Alaska, Idaho, Nebraska,
New Hampshire, Oklahoma
and Wyoming - earned Fs. If
the A-votes of Bennie
Thompson, the lone Black
member of the Mississippi
delegation, were excluded,
the Magnolia state would
also have an all-F lineup.
Only two states
-Massachusetts and Rhode
Island — produced delega
tions that earned all As.
The Report Card includes a
list of what the NAACP caUs
its ‘legislative quarterbacks,”
defined as members of
Congress that have “champi
oned the NAACP’s legislative
priorities or by offering an
NAACP-supported amend
ment during floor considera
tion”
This is where the NAACP
dropped the ball.
Why “salute” Sens. “Norm”
Coleman of Minnesota, John
Ensign of Nevada, Arlen
Specter of Pennsjdvania,
Gordon Smith of Oregon and
Representative Mike Castle
of Delaware, all of whom
earned an “F’ on the NAACP
Report Card? Not only did
they receive failing grades,
none supported the NAACP’s
position more than 45 per
cent of the time; of 20 hi^-
lighted votes. Ensign voted
against the NAACP 19 times.
They didn’t carry the ball
for Black America, they fum
bled it.
The NAACP should be
ashamed for sucking up to
the enemies of dvil rights by
anointing them as quarter
backs. As the NAACP should
know fix)m rushing to the
defense of Philadelphia
Ea^es Quarteiback Donovan
McN abb in a dispute with the
president of the local NAACP
diapter, a quarterback, is a
team’s star player. He directs
the team’s offensive plays.
The voting record of some of
the NAACP’s quarterbacks is
offensive — and perhaps that
accounts for the NAACP’s
confusion.
One paece of advice to the
NAACP: If you’re going to
assign them a position on the
gridiron, call them defensive
linemen. Then, there would
be no confusion about their
wanting to prevent any for
ward progress
GEORGE E. CURRY is editor-
in-chief of the National
Newspaper Publishers
Association News Service and
BlackPressUSArom. He appears
on National Public Radio three
times a week as part of "Netvs and
Notes with Ed Gordon."
On the Net:
www.georgecurryrom.
Alito causes strategy shift for blacks
The Republicans exhibited
their power by successfully
getting Judge
Samuel Alito
throu^ the
confirmation
Ron
Walters
process.
What does
this mean for
Black politi-
ced strate
gies? I have
argued in the
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past that the line-up of power
in the government should
occasionally cause Black
leaders to shift tactics at the
national level.
At this moment in history, it
appears that the S\q)reme
Court will not be as favoraWe
to Black interests as it has in
the past. In fact, its new xm-
servative activists may legis
late in a manner that
changes the framewoik of
dvil and human ri^ts sub
stantially. stopping in its
tracks the progress made
and, in fact, making laws that
support a versicai of White
upperdass privilege. In that
event, the m^or opportuni
ties for corrective acticHi lay
in the Congress and the
White House, both of which
are subject to electoral partic-
ip>ation.
\\Tth mid-term elections
looming on the horizon that
could change the compdexicri
of the House and Senate,
these elections take on a
sense of urgency probably
greater than other mid-term
elections in the past because
of the dear and present dan
ger now presented by the
px>tential for negative action
vested in this Supreme
Court. Recent Gallup polling
indicates the electorate is
now shifting toward
Democrats in their party
preference, and other polls
find that if the elections were
hdd now, Democrats would
stand a good chance of
pulling the dramatic upset
that Republicans did in the
1994 ‘’revolution” in which
they took control of the House
and Senate.
The seeds of discontent are
obviously the war in Iraq that
is going badly, but other
recent issues have con
tributed. sudi as: the deep
cuts in the social budget fea
turing a $13 billicm whack in
Pell Grants, lobbying scan
dals that have cau^t up sev-
^'al high-profile RepuHican
leaders and now the revela
tion that the White House
has been conducting an ille
gal. secret program that has
spied on the American p^eople.
So bad is it, that in Tbxas a
recently released p»ll by the
University of Houston shows
that Rep. Tbm Delay, the
vaunted sheriff of the
RepuUican party who is in
the process of losing his posi
tion as House whip over his
ethics scandal, has lost 50
p)ero9it of the piolitical sup>-
port in his district since 2004.
This makes him v'ulnerable
to a challenge by Democrats.
This year, in some critical
elections, blacks voting power
could make a difference. The
adjustment I would make is
that because of the smalls
number of competitive con
gressional district races,
more emphasis needs to be
put on statewide turnout that
affects s^iate and gub^nato-
rial elections.
A big turnout by Blacks in
statewide elections where
their population is significant
could affect the results on my
paiority fist, where there are
both Senate and gubernatori
al races such states as:
Florida, Maiyiand, New
York, and Tbxas. Then, there
are Senate elections alone in
Mississippi and New Jersey
and races fcr governor alone
in Alabama, California,
Michigan, Georgia, Illinois,
and South Cardina.
Ri^t now, the partisan dif
ference in the U. S. Senate is
55 Republicans and 44
Democrats (one Democrat
leaning Indepondent), which
is the reason that Democrats
could not win on a straight
p)arty-line vote to Uock Judge
Alito - or any other signifi
cant measure they choose.
So, Democrats need a shift
(ff six seats. But in the House
of Representatives, since
there are 232 Republicans to
202 Democrats (one
Democrat-leaning
Indep)endent) there needs to
be a shift of at least 16 seats
in the House elections to give
Democrats control. This is a
much tougher task due, as
suggested, to the fact that the
number qf competitive con
cessional districts has
shrunk in the past two
decades. Then, there are 28
Republican Governors and 22
Democrats and theatre needs
to be a shift of seven for
Democrats to gain control of
most of the state houses.
This is vital, since mudi of
the px)licy initiative at the
local level comes from state
px)licy direction and
resources.
No doubt, the blade political
infrastructure will gear-up
for these elections, with both
partisan and non-partisan
organizations alike trying to
turnout the vote. But the new
reality is that, with the
Supreme Court turning
RiCitward, black leaders pre-
p>are sede oppxDrtunities for
change by shifting more
toward effective strategies of
Sectoral participation.
So, when they come around
this year, you better be listen
ing. real good, and proparing
vote. But how they come
around is beginning to mat
ter much nuro.
RON WALTERS is
Distinguished Leadership
Scholar, Director of the African
American Leadership Institute
and Professor of Government and
Politics at the University of
Maryland College Park.