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Opinion
The Daily Dispatch
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The shot fired around this nation
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Friday, January 22, 2010
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Editorial Board: James Edwards, Publisher • jedwards@hendersondispatch.com Luke Horton, Editor • lhorton@hendersondispatch.com Don Dulin, News Editor • ddulin@hendersondispatch.com Linda Gupton, Features Editor • lgupton@hendersondispatch.com 304 S. Chestnut St./P.O. Box 908 Henderson, N.C. 27536 PHONE: 436-2700/FAX: 430-0125
Daily Meditation For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
Our Opinion
Don’t miss the Navy Sea Chanters If the Navy’s traveling in the South, you can bet they’ll be stopping in Henderson. We’re pleased again to be hosting in the Tri-County a concert by one of the U.S. Navy’s premiere bands. The Sea Chanters, the official chorus of the United States Navy, will be performing at the Vance-Granville Community College Civic Center on Thursday, Feb. 18. We’re fortunate to have a venue that obviously pleases the Navy, and the people of the Tri-County have demonstrated to the Navy that you’ll be there to watch when they come to town to perform. The Country Current, the U.S. Navy’s country and bluegrass band, performed here in September 2008. Previously, the college hosted the Commodores, the Navy’s official jazz ensemble, and the elite Concert Band, the Navy’s top group of musicians. Each of those three previous concerts has packed the Civic Center, and each time the Navy’s groups have delivered with entertaining, high-caliber shows. When the call came offering the opportunity to host the Sea Chanters, The Daily Dispatch couldn’t help but say yes. We’re especially appreciative of the concert co-hosts, Vance-Granville Community College, for joining us in this endeavor. Already the orders for tickets are pouring in. The concert is free — your tax dollars and ours already paid the bill — but the Navy asks that we distribute tickets to those who wish to attend to allow concert-goers a chance to “reserve” a spot in the audience. Tickets are available by writing to us here at the Dispatch. We only ask that you tell us how many tickets you want — maximum of six, please — and send us a self-addressed stamped envelope to mail your tickets to you. A handy form is available in the Dispatch throughout the week. Considered by critics as one of the nation’s preeminent professional choral ensembles, the Sea Chanters chorus is the group that performed at the inauguration of President Obama. This chorus is the group that sang at the memorial service for former President Ford. They were there when the nation remembered the astronauts of the space shuttle Columbia. They were the ones singing at the Presidential wreath-laying ceremony at the site of the United Airlines Flight 93 crash in Pennsylvania. Perhaps you recall their memorable performance of “Amazing Grace” to an international television audience at the National Day of Prayer in Washington’s National Cathedral after 9/11. They bring a group of 20 performers, accompanied by piano, bass and drums. Their music varies from traditional choral music, including the sea chantey, to Broadway musicals. We have a rich history of cultural entertainment in our community, thanks in part to groups like the Henderson Community Concert Association, the Henderson Rec Players and so many of our churches. We’re proud to be a part of that cultural enrichment by sponsoring this concert with VGCC, and we’re especially proud to show our respect to the men and women of our Armed Forces — not just the Navy, but all of them — by hosting this patriotic event. Want more details? Visit our Web site and click on Extras! at the top of the page. Plan to join us on Feb. 18 and get ready to be entertained.
For the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Tuesday night’s senatorial election results could be defined as the demise of a Democrat dynasty. And for the Republican Party, Scott Brown — its pickup-truckdriving, snow-stomping, underdog candidate turned champ — could be defined as a presentday tortoise whose diligence and campaign-savvy triumphed over the hare. Scott Brown was indeed a tortoise in this historic race on his way to returning this Massachusetts’ U.S. Senate seat to Republican hands for the first time since 1972. Brown’s longshot victory capped a candidacy of creeping up polls, in which he originally lagged by doubledigits behind state Attorney General Martha Coakley. Yet with the finish line crossed, one questions how the tortoise touts the trophy while the hare hops home in defeat? Or, perhaps politically put: How did arguably one of the most liberal states in the Union elect a Republican senator? “I’m Scott Brown. I’m from Wrentham. And I drive a truck.” Brown wasn’t your typical politician. The Massachusetts state senator’s campaign, commercialized behind the wheel of his 2005 GMC Canyon, trafficked in the attention of voters — a valuable commodity. But his pickup wasn’t preferred by every observer, particularly President Obama, who made wisecracks about Brown’s campaign trips in the truck during a Coakley rally last Sunday in Boston.
“It might not take you where you want to go,” Obama said of Brown’s ride. “Maybe it will,” responded Massachusetts. Brown’s populist appeal could be responsible for the monumental win. Huffington Post political analyst Jennifer Donahue credits Brown for selling Gina himself as Eaves “the people’s Daily Dispatch senator,” Columnist a title long bestowed on the seat’s prior holder, Ted Kennedy. If so, perhaps Brown’s defining moment as “the people’s senator” occurred during a much-discussed debate Sunday, moderated by CNN’s David Gergen. When asked if he was willing to sit in Kennedy’s seat and block health care reform, Brown replied: “With all due respect, it’s not the Kennedys’ seat, and it’s not the Democrats’ seat, it’s the people’s seat.” Gaining “the people’s seat” demonstrates not only an appeal to his Massachusetts constituents, it heralds an attack on the Democratic Party and its policies — namely health care reform. “I believe that all Americans deserve health care coverage, but I am opposed to the health care legislation that is under consideration in Congress and
will vote against it,” states Brown on his official campaign Web site. Citing concerns with the legislation, such as raising taxes, increased government spending and lower quality of care, Brown’s campaign further noted that he supports Massachusetts’ own revolutionary 2006 health care law, which he says “was successful in expanding coverage,” while acknowledging the state “must now turn it’s attention to controlling costs.” With Brown’s win, the Republicans regained the power of filibuster, knocking out a Democrat supermajority in the Senate. That might send Obama’s health care legislation back to the drawing board again — as well as many other things on the president’s legislative wish list. In an interview with George Stephanopoulos, President Obama acknowledged the implications of Brown’s victory. “Here’s one thing I know and I just want to make sure that this is off the table: The Senate certainly shouldn’t try to jam anything through until Scott Brown is seated,” Obama said. “People in Massachusetts spoke. He’s got to be part of that process.” And a part of that process he will be — due to the astounding support of Massachusetts’ unaffiliated voters. Brown outpolled Coakley among the state’s large number of independent voters by a margin of 73 to 25 percent, according to a Rasmussen poll. From the Senate floor Wednesday, former Republican presidential contender, Arizona
Sen. John McCain, called the Massachusetts election, “a shot fired around this nation.” Coakley, who has received criticism for her lackluster campaign, described herself as “heartbroken” to a crowd of supporters following her loss to Brown Tuesday night. “We never lost our focus or determination,” said Coakley. Yet a lack of determination may be exactly what accounts for the Democrat’s loss. The Republican’s victory began as a seemingly unwinnable race, with Coakley considered to be just strides from the finish line before Brown had budged from the start. Perhaps it was Brown’s passion for the race, that determination that despite all odds he would push to prevail, that made him the people’s champion. Perhaps people want to feel that they, and their causes, are worth fighting for. And Scott Brown, whose slow strides captivated a liberal state’s attention, did just that — plugging away and crossing the finish line first, a Republican winning in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. But, perhaps most important, Brown’s win sends a message that even one of the most liberal states in the Union cares not for the direction in which Democrats are leading the nation. Thus Brown’s election has both renewed Republican strength, and stripped the Democrats of their supermajority, potentially derailing much of the ruling party’s agenda.
Dems should abandon sinking ship To the extent U.S. Senators from Massachusetts have ever played much of a role in North Carolina politics, it’s been as useful foils for Republicans. Ted Kennedy certainly showed up in more than his share of fundraising mailings by Jesse Helms and other conservative candidates. John Kerry picked John Edwards as his running mate in 2004 in an attempt to compete for Carolinian and Southern votes, a tactic that ended embarrassingly for all concerned. The GOP loved it. But state Sen. Scott Brown’s improbable, spectacular election Tuesday night to fill out the remainder of the late Sen. Kennedy’s term has ripple effects that will reach all the way to North Carolina. The Brown victory cannot credibly be spun as a contest settled by local issues or personalities. Everyone knows that the Senate race between Brown and Democrat Martha Coakley was a referendum on President Obama’s agenda for health care reform and other issues. The president certainly recognized it. That’s why he went to Massachusetts over the weekend to campaign against Brown and to link his political fate to that of Coakley. By giving Brown the thumbs-up, voters in one of America’s most liberal states
gave ObamaCare the thumbsdown. Congressional leaders and the president have vowed to pass the plan, anyway. It is the act of fanatics determined to ride a sinking ship to the bottom of John the ocean. Hood Now we John Locke shall see Foundation how many rankand-file Democrats are as willing to become martyrs to the cause of government-run health care as their leaders are. Here in North Carolina, two Democrats in swing House seats, Larry Kissell of the 8th District and Health Shuler of the 11th, abandoned the doomed vessel months ago, along with Mike McIntyre of the more Democratic-leaning 7th. Now attention will turn to the future votes to be cast by Reps. Bob Etheridge and Brad Miller, two incumbents who represent Democraticleaning districts that, according to historical voting patterns, will only flip Republican under extraordinary circumstances.
The election of a Republican senator in Massachusetts qualifies as extraordinary circumstances. As for freshman U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, she won’t stand for reelection until 2014. A vote for the final version of ObamaCare may not end her political career. But it will mark Hagan as a Democrat of the left, not the center. The ideologues who still cling to ObamaCare insist that its demise will mean an end to health care reform. Their claim is idiotic. While significant disagreements persist about the merits of government-run insurance, the application of market principles to health care delivery, and the extent to which health plans should price risk accurately or simply redistribute income, there remain some areas of broad agreement that could serve as common ground for a truly bipartisan reform initiative. For example, most health policy analysts across the political spectrum recognize that the current system does not give patients the information, tools, and incentives they need to be more active participants in medical decisions. Reforming state and federal laws to encourage the publication of medical prices, the coordination of care, and the widespread adoption of
flexible spending and health savings accounts would allow providers, health plans, and patients to experiment with new ways to improve both the quality and efficiency of medical care without imposing new taxes or mandates, or forcing anyone out of current health care relationships they like. Most analysts also recognize that some state laws and regulations needlessly prevent patients from using the medical care they would freely choose, such as natural childbirth or low-cost clinics. Let’s junk these rules. Most importantly, most analysts realize that our current tax code is unfair to lower-income workers by offering full income- and payroll-tax exclusions for health insurance obtained at the workplace but not for those who buy health plans as individuals. Equalizing the tax treatment of all healthfinancing arrangements is good tax policy as well as good health care policy. Nervous North Carolina Democrats don’t need to abandon health care reform to save themselves from Martha Coakley’s fate. They just have to abandon the sinking ship. Hood is president of the John Locke Foundation and publisher of CarolinaJournal. com.