K THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com
➛ S E R V I N G T H E P U B L I C T R U S T S I N C E 18 81
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2011 PAGE 11A
Editorial
OTHER OPINION: IMMUNIZATION
CDC to students: Take your shots
P
ARENTS WHO think er they delay immunizations, they’re doing school- the greater the risk to their children a favor by not child. Last month, this country getting them immu- experienced its largest outnized against childhood diseas- break of measles in 15 years – es need to think again. They 214 cases. An outbreak of put not only the health of their whooping cough, 121 cases, reown children at risk, but also cently developed outside Chithe health of their friends and cago in McHenry County, Ill. Some parents apparently are classmates. Yet new studies show a grow- still motivated by a 1998 study ing trend in some areas of the that linked the measlescountry either to forgo child- mumps-rubella vaccine to autism. But a British hood immunizations doctor, Andrew or to delay the shots More than half of Wakefield, lost his until parents think all states saw medical license their children are old increases in the last year after inenough to tolerate a potential negative re- number of children vestigations receiving immuni- showed he falsiaction. An Associated zation exemptions. fied data in the study. Press analysis coordiThe AP analysis nated with the federal Centers for Disease Control identified most parents who and Prevention found one out apply to their school districts of 20 kindergartners in eight for immunization exemptions states did not take all of the vac- as “middle-class, college-educinations required to attend cated white people.” The parschool. More than half of all ents don’t believe mass inocustates saw increases in the lations are the reason that most number of children receiving childhood diseases are in decline. immunization exemptions. Actually, it is the success of Meanwhile, a separate study published in a recent edition of mass immunization in the the journal Pediatrics found United States that has made that more than one in 10 par- these parents so bold as to disents in the United States de- dain them. Many of these viates from recommended adults simply aren’t old schedules to have children im- enough to have memories of munized. About 2 percent of what it was like when an outparents in that study refused all break of polio could cripple or kill children throughout a comrecommended vaccines. Parents need to heed the munity. warning of the American AcadThe Philadelphia Inquirer emy of Pediatrics that the long-
QUOTE OF THE DAY “I’m going to re-establish my reputation.” Herman Cain The beleaguered contender for the Republican presidential nomination, dogged by accusations of sexual harassment and infidelity, told Fox News Channel earlier this week that he will work to restore his public standing. A statement on his candidacy is expected today.
OTHER OPINION: WINE, SPIRITS
Delivering LCB from stately past
L
ET’S GIVE CREDIT where credit is due. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s decision to allow delivery of certain wines and liquors to homes and businesses is progress of a sort. This small move is really large by the standards of the change-resistant monopoly. It removes the irritation for customers of having to order their choices from the system’s inventory and then being required to pick them up at a state store. Now, for a fee of $14 for one to three bottles and $1 for each additional bottle, a measure of convenience comes to the transaction, with deliveries by UPS to customers at homes or businesses. But, as always with the stateowned system, convenience comes belatedly and in small proportions. Only 1,500 to EDITORIAL BOARD
2,000 items from the LCB’s 30,000 products are available, including niche items and special orders as well as some “Chairman’s Select” wines. A spokeswoman said the LCB debated making this change for several years but held back for fear of enabling underage drinkers to buy alcohol. That’s a legitimate concern and curbing illegal drinking is one of the board’s statutory responsibilities. But in the end it was done in a sensible way; in making deliveries, UPS drivers will require a signature and valid ID from buyers. That raises the question of why the delivery, with the simple safeguard against underage purchasers, was not allowed years ago. Every Pennsylvanian knows the answer: The government monopoly moves slowly. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
PRASHANT SHITUT President and Interim CEO/Impressions Media MARK E. JONES JOSEPH BUTKIEWICZ Vice President/Executive Editor Editorial Page Editor
MALLARD FILLMORE
Obama’s Scranton visit reveals how far he’s fallen THE CROWD was thin on Wednesday in Scranton. President Obama just can’t attract the audiences he once did. Even Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, seemingly didn’t care to join him. It is an all-too-telling sign of Obama’s plummeting popularity in a state that he once won by 10 points. President Obama knows he’s in trouble. He’s made 11 trips to Pennsylvania since January. But countless campaign stops cannot paper over the reason for his unpopularity: the litany of broken promises he’s made to Pennsylvanians and Americans. Some of the boldest promises were made in Scranton on his last trip to the vice president’s hometown in 2008. So did he return triumphantly to tout their fulfillment? Hardly. For President Obama a promise made is rarely a promise kept. On that 2008 trip he proclaimed that job creation would result from government spending on green energy, saying it would “lower gas prices and create millions of jobs.” Billions of dollars in spending later, unemployment, like gas prices, remains painfully high. Just a few months ago, the California solarenergy company Solyndra went bankrupt, becoming the prime example of stimulus money gone bad. Pushing a political agenda, the administration wasted $535 million in taxpayer money on a company that destroyed jobs – 1,100 of them – instead of creating them. Then there’s the housing crisis. Again, in
MAIL BAG
REINCE PRIEBUS 2008, the president said in Scranton that “I have a plan to stabilize the housing market.” But that plan, the Home Affordable Refinance Program, “hasn’t worked,” according to White House economist James Parrott. Millions of homeowners have underwater mortgages, and at least 5 million more foreclosures are expected in the coming years. But the biggest promise of the Obama candidacy was never a specific policy. He promised to fundamentally change the way politics was done – to change the way Washington works. That was the basis of “hope and change.” And in many ways that was the basis of his election. Back to Scranton in 2008: Obama declared he would be “a president who is not playing the usual political games.” Since taking office, he hasn’t stopped playing political games. He’s been on a nonstop campaign tour of 2012 swing states – making more visits than the last two presidents in the same period of time. On top of that, he’s managed to hold 69 fundraisers so far this year. He’s relentlessly attacked Republicans even though, as a candidate, he claimed, “I don’t try and demonize my opponents.” In 2008, he was supposed to be post-partisan. Today, he’s become hyper-partisan. On everything from deficit spending to the stimulus, from health care to regulatory
Reince Priebus is chairman of the Republican National Committee.
LETTERS FROM READERS
Natural gas pipelines pose threat to liberty
I
COMMENTARY
reform, the president’s promises have yet to come true. Pennsylvanians have witnessed his abysmal economic record firsthand. The Keystone State has lost 37,900 manufacturing jobs, and 189,000 more people are living in poverty since he took office. Voters have taken note. This week, his approval rating fell below that of Jimmy Carter’s at the same stage in his presidency. And in Pennsylvania, only 42 percent approve of the job he’s doing, compared to 53 percent who disapprove. While the president continued campaigning, Republicans have worked nonstop to promote policies that would accelerate economic growth. In Washington, the Republicans in the House of Representatives have passed more than 20 bipartisan bills that would directly spur job creation. But for political reasons, the president and Senate Democrats are uninterested. In Harrisburg, Gov. Tom Corbett and Republicans in the General Assembly are dedicated to getting Pennsylvania back on track. But Washington Democrats are standing in their way. Their burdensome mandates, onerous regulations and reckless spending are serious obstacles to job creation. By now, it’s no secret that the 2012 election will be a referendum on President Obama. In November, voters will decide whether or not he has fulfilled his promises; if not, he’ll be a one-term president. And in Scranton, it looks like voters already have made up their minds – they want to change direction.
SEND US YOUR OPINION
was watching a taped “State of Pennsylvania” broadcast when the subject of Marcellus Shale came up. The guest, a congressman, said, “It’s going to kick in,” referring to eminent domain for natural gas pipelines. Did my neighbors know that I would have to give up my land for pipes to transport their gas? Did my neighbors know that the natural gas industry lobbies the government to prevent me from saying no or from even setting the price? Now the gas/pipeline industry will be able to take my land at the price that it and the government say is fair compensation. Did my neighbors know that their freedom to use their land would take away my freedom? The rationale used by proponents of the gas/pipeline industry: Drilling/fracking creates jobs; natural gas is “clean” energy; and “our” natural resource makes our country energy independent. My observations contradict these ratio-
Letters to the editor must include the writer’s name, address and daytime phone number for verification. Letters should be no more than 250 words. We reserve the right to edit and limit writers to one published letter every 30 days. • E-mail: mailbag@timesleader.com • Fax: 570-829-5537 • Mail: Mail Bag, The Times Leader, 15 N. Main St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 1871 1
nales. First, if these jobs are so prosperous, why are superstores built for these prosperous employees to buy products made in China? Second, repeated rhetoric-brainwashing of how clean natural gas is makes me question the gas industry’s opinion of the general public’s common sense. The comparison of natural gas to coal infers that gas is clean. Natural gas pollutes. It is a fossil fuel; it pollutes. Third, is energy independence justification for taking my land and/or my land’s gas? The cost of that “justification” will be the burden of all my neighbors – of all Americans. Disregard for environmental regula-
DOONESBURY
tions/oversight and disregard for personal rights, values and American liberties are found in poorer, less-educated and socialistic countries. Bambi Ilku Springville
Men in charge should face scrutiny in scandal
F
rank Noonan, now state police commissioner, apparently had an opportunity to arrest accused child sex abuser Jerry Sandusky in 2008 when the entire matter was turned over to the attorney general. Noonan was the head of the office’s criminal investigations at that time. Putting this matter before a grand jury delayed the inevitable. Gov. Tom Corbett, who previously was attorney general, should be investigated for this Sandusky matter. Putting Corbett in a lead role with the Penn State University trustees is like putting a fox in charge of the chicken coop. Tom Dombroski Shavertown