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WeeklyJuly 31, 2009 Volume 1 Number 28This Week in Washington WHITE HOUSE HAPPY HOUR 4Despite hype, the awkward andinconclusive beer summit went flat onmoving the conversation on race forward

HEALTHCARE CO-OP IDEA COULD PUSHTHE PUBLIC OPTION OFF THE TABLE 5Senate Finance Committee considers anational network vs. government-run plan,and moderate Republicans are listening

BLUE DOGS MARK THEIR TERRITORY 6Conservative Democrats win concessionswith their bark, but their bite will be tested

CALLING ALL CYBERGEEKS 8U.S. Cyber Challenge is a bid to recruit anarmy of hackers to secure the Internet

IRS TARGETS LARGEST SWISS BANK 9Americans have $14.8 billion hidden inoffshore accounts, government says

Q&A Joe Solmonese, president of theHuman Rights Campaign, on whyhomosexuals can trust Obama 10

Commentary and Features WASHINGTON WHISPERS 2Biden park may bloom; Bush the bogeyman;Albright pines for pins; bumping Bernanke?

THE PRESIDENCY | KENNETH T. WALSH 12Obama works through a summer slump

QUIZ OF THE WEEK State nicknames 13

TWO TAKES Would cap-and-trade work? 14

CAPITAL NOTIONS | ROBERT SCHLESINGER 17Gates case is about liberty, not race

WASHINGTON BOOK CLUB 18Howard Deans Rx for healthcare reformBLOG BUZZ 20

ON HEALTH | BERNADINE HEALY, M.D. 21Reform demands that lawmakers read bills LETTERS | EDITORS NOTE 23

PAST & PRESENT | BY MARGARET HENOCH 24Why the CIA and Congress have problems VITAL STATISTICS 26

CROSSWORD 27

THE BIG PICTURE 28

The beersummit:from left,Biden,Gates,Crowley,and Obama

SAUL LOEBAFP / GETTY IMAGES

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Delaware Sen. Tom Carper revives an old Joe Bidenplan to get the First State a national park highlighting

its unique cultural and historical landmarks

Its been a long time since tiny Delawaredistinguished itself as it did way back in 1787 when

state fathers huddling at Dovers Golden FleeceTavern became the first to ratify the Constitution.

Now, more than two centuries later, Delaware is back asthe state of firsts. And not just because Joe Biden is thefirst vice president from Delaware. The mid-Atlanticcoastal state could finally get its first national park, a goalchampioned by Biden in the 1990s. And hes now in aposition to make sure it happens.

Leading Delawares charge is Democratic Sen. TomCarper, whose bid to revive the national park effort wasbuoyed by support from President Bushs interiorsecretary, Dirk Kempthorne, and now has the backing of

President Obamas interior chief, Ken Salazar. If youthought Dirk Kempthorne was helpful, Carper saysSalazar told him, youve not seen nothing yet.

Delaware doesnt have what most national parksdovast acreage. But at the suggestion of First Statecitizens, Interior is looking at a unique model that wouldconnect historical and cultural landmarks in a collection ofspoke and hub patterns, like a bike. A hub with spokesleading to maybe the Golden Fleece Tavern where theConstitution was first debated and ratified in 1787,suggests Carper. Or the spokes could lead to stops on theUnderground Railroad. Legislation is required, but with

First Biden, Now a Park

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WASHINGTON WHISPERS

the support of Biden and Salazar, saysCarper, I like our chances.

Bush Still a Bummer for GOPHes gone, but unfortunately forRepublicans, former President GeorgeW. Bush isnt forgotten by many. Thenew bipartisan Battleground Poll findsthat a majority of Americans think theGOP is blocking Obama-style changeand supporting Bush policies.Democratic pollster Celinda Lake saysBush remains a good bogeyman forDemocrats, which is why she wants theprez to regularly make references to W.

Albright Pines for PinsFormer Secretary of State MadeleineAlbrights much-anticipated book on hermany dozens of fashion pins is finallybeing printed for an October 1 release.But success has a high cost to the formerdiplomat, who sometimes used herbrooches to make a point. (For example,she once wore a snake pin after an aide toSaddam Hussein denounced her as aserpent.) Timed with the release ofRead My Pins: Stories From a DiplomatsJewel Box, New Yorks Museum of Artsand Design has scooped up more than200 of her most important pins for afour-month exhibition. Which means,

she tells Whispers, I dont have any. Imgoing to have to go out and buy more.

Fighting a Bernanke BumpHang in there, Ben Bernanke. Fans of yourwork as a first-term Federal Reservechief are going to bat with their WhiteHouse friends to quash rumors thatPresident Obama is thinking about namingeconomic aide Larry Summers or Fedofficial Janet Yellen as your replacement.They would be fools to ditch Bernanke,an influential financial industry exec tells

Whispers. The buzz heightened thismonth when Big Ben broke protocol bystaging a TV town hall on his economicrecovery tricks. Some saw it as cam-paigning. But one banking boss says, Heunderstands the need to communicate.

Newsmax to Open in D.C.Newsmax is the latest of the new mediato play the contrarian. Whilemainstream media are shrinking,Newsmax plans to open a five-personWashington bureau, joining growingoutlets like Huffington Post. ForNewsmax, its an Obama expansion,says boss Chris Ruddy. While not wellknown in D.C., the site racks up DrudgeReport-like Internet traffic, operates aTV channel on the site thats popularwith conservative lawmakers, andprints Newsmax magazine. SaysRuddy: Washington is our place.

Apollo Lands in KennebunkportAdd George H. W. Bush to the fans of thefirst moonwalk. To celebrate thismonths 40th anniversary of the walk,the 41st prez hosted a showing of TheWonder of It All at his Kennebunkport,Maine, compound. Filmmaker JeffreyRoth joined Apollo 16 moonwalker JohnYoung to show off his flick, which tells

the personal stories of seven of thesurviving astronauts who walked on themoon. Roth says Bush got the idea afterthe film was shown at his presidentiallibrary and museum in Texas. It mightbe hard for some of the youngergeneration to imagine, Bush tellsWhispers, but the world gatheredaround their TVs and held their breathas Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon.Now filmmakers and historians likeJeffrey Roth are reminding us of thebravery and the humanity of these trueAmerican heroes. lWith Debra Bell and Suzi Parker

The Whispers PollPresident Obama appears eager tobring diversity to the Supreme Court,having picked the first Hispanic to siton the bench. If presented with asecond chance, which should he pick?

Native American 50%

Asian 19%

African-American 16%

Gay or lesbian 13%

Muslim 2%

Source: The Synovate eNation Internet poll wasconducted July 2729 among 1,000 nationallyrepresentative households by global marketresearch firm Synovate.

The ObamaMeterNational pollster John Zogby givesPresident Obama his lowest ratingsince the ObamaMeter began.

Obama slips in his standing withvoters, muddles his message bytalking race, and cant even win overconservative blue dog Democratsto his healthcare plan.

0 100

Facing His Biggest Hurdle Yet: 72



It was designed to create a teachable moment about racein America. But the much-ballyhooed beer summit atthe White House last night seemed to go flatter than aweek-old glass of lager. When the main antagonists

the black professor and the white copgot together for 40minutes on the South Lawn at President Obamas invita-tion, the media were kept in a roped-off pen 50 feet away,out of earshot. No questions were allowed, and Obamaseemed eager to move on to other issues. He had told re-porters earlier in the day that the beer summit was aclever term, but this is not a summit, guys. This is three folkshaving a drink at the end of the day and hopefully givingpeople the opportunity to listen to each other.

President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden sat ata round, white picnic table sipping from mugs of beer andchomping on pretzels and peanuts with the two central fig-ures in the drama, Harvard scholar Henry Gates Jr. andCambridge, Mass., Police Sgt. James Crowley. Obama andBiden were in shirt sleeves; Gates and Crowley kept theirsuit jackets on. Crowley told a news conference later thatthere were no apologies and no tension. Two gentlemenagreed to disagree on a particular issue, he said, adding thathe and Gates agreed to stay in touch by phone and meetagain in the future. Gates issued a statement extolling freespeech and thanking Obama for bringing them together.The national conversation over the past week about my ar-rest has been rowdy, not to say tumultuous and unruly,Gates said. But weve learned that we can have our differ-ences without demonizing one another. Theres reason to

hope that many people have emerged with greater sympa-thy for the daily perils of policing, on the one hand, and forthe genuine fears about racial profiling, on the other hand.

The drama started July 16 when Gates was arrested fordisorderly conduct after police came to his home toinvestigate a possible break-in. Obama intensified the con-troversy when he said the police had acted stupidly. Tosmooth things over, he invited Gates and Crowley to sharebrews. But in the end, despite considerable media hype,the beer summit seemed awkward and inconclusive, echo-ing Americas larger conversation about race. l

The Blue Dogs Power Cybergeeks Wanted Tax Haven

Crackdown Obamas SlumpThisWeekInWashingtonWhiteHouseHappyHour Despite media hype,the beer summit did little to move theconversation on race forward

By Kenneth T. Walsh

On the menu: peanuts,pretzels, and beer

CHIP SOMODEVILLAGETTY IMAGES



Until recently, the healthcare debatehas focused on a government-run insur-ance plan. But this week, that changed asword leaked that the Senate FinanceCommittees bipartisan group of six sen-ators, led by Max Baucus, a MontanaDemocrat, and Chuck Grassley, an IowaRepublican, has chucked the public planin favor of something else: healthcare co-operatives. While negotiations on theoverall healthcare plan are continuing,the idea seems to have the backing ofmany moderate Republicans, whosevotes will determine whether healthcarereform is a partisan or bipartisan affair.Theres also some interest in the House,although the political deal reached thisweek between House leaders and fiscal-ly conservative blue dog Democratssticks with the public option.

But what exactly are health co-ops? Afew exist in the United States, and theyshare some basic features with their 1844ancestor. They are nonprofits, and, likefor-profit companies, they sell insurance,but they also own hospitals and clinics,acting in some ways as a one-stop shopfor healthcare needs.

You really do hear the voice of theconsumer with co-ops, says KarenDavis, president of the CommonwealthFund, a widely respected national foun-

dation that specializes in healthcare. Alot of their initiatives to slow the growthof their premiums come straight from their members.

One of the most successful cases isHealthPartners, which covers morethan a million people in Minnesota andWisconsin. It started in 1957, andDonna Zimmerman, who overseesHealthPartners government policy,says it provides better care at cheaperprices than competitors, in part becauseits run by the same people who pay forits services.

Policy people face a big, difficult ques-tion: Can health cooperatives be a na-tional solution, or are they just a weakeralternative to a public option? The Sen-ate Finance Committees draft plans callfor setting up a national network of co-ops, maybe one in each state or at leastone in every region of the country.

Davis calls that plan high risk. Forone thing, several efforts to start co-opshave failed, largely because of pressurefrom for-profit competitors. New co-opswill need billions of dollars from thegovernment to get started, as well as aguaranteed large customer base. A pub-lic option, on the other hand, could startup faster and be more powerful. But formany, its also politically a nonstarter. l

To get a glimpse of the possible future of Americanhealthcare, a good starting point might be Eng-land, 1844. Some British laborers got togetherand opened a small store in which they sold but-

ter, oatmeal, and other goods. Their goal was not tomake money but to create a way to buy food in bulk atcheaper prices.

The store was a success, giving rise to a global explo-sion of what are known as cooperatives, or co-ops. In theUnited States, co-ops have formed to sell everything fromelectricity to agriculture to healthcare, and the model israpidly gaining traction in Washington as politiciansstruggle to complete healthcare reform.

Members of the Senate Finance Committee and others meeting on healthcare reform last week

CHARLIE ARCHAMBAULT FOR USN&WR

THIS WEEK IN WASHINGTON

A NewOption forHealthcare The Senate FinanceCommittee isconsidering co-ops

By Kent Garber


the seven blue dogs on his committee. The episode was widely heralded as a

tidy illustration of the growing clout of thecoalition of 52 mostly Southern, mostlyfiscally conservative House Democrats. Italso appeared to make an impression onhigh-profile House Republicans. Goodfor them, Minority Leader John Boehn-er said of the holdout blue dogs. He addedthat he would now consider shelving thenickname lap dogs, which he had previ-ously taken to calling them.

But that particular moniker points tocriticism within Democratic ranks as well:namely, that the blue dogs dont have thesort of substantial sway that their recentspate of press would suggest. The bluedogs have really created this brand name,says Burdett Loomis, a professor at theUniversity of Kansas and author of a re-cent study on the subject, Blue DogHouse Democrats: Lead Dogs or Mythi-cal Beasts? Despite all of the attentionthey have garnered, he says, until recent-ly there was little evidence that the coali-tion really mattered in Congress.

True, Loomis says, they have been avoice for fiscal moderates. Many come

from either rural Southern districts orNorthern blue-collar coal-mining towns,for example, that arent very hospitableto an extremely liberal member of Congress, he says. Or, some would add,even moderately liberal: Thirty-two ofthe 52 blue dog Democrats districtsvoted for Republican presidential can-didate John McCain in the general elec-tion. So the first thing theyre doing inmany ways is responding to their con-stituents, says Loomis.

But despite the tough talk, have bluedogs voted against the Democratic Partyon many issues? The answer since thecoalition was created after the 1994 Re-publican revolution ousted many oftheir ranks, Loomis says, has been, Notnoticeably.

The blue dogs argue this doesnt meanthey lack pull. Theirs is more of an insidegame, they say, to get the Democraticleadership to change and modify its agen-da. Under President Obama, however,they have begun to flex their muscle with-in the party in high-visibility arenas likehealthcare reform. Earlier this month,they also succeeded in passing pay-as-you-go legislation, known as PAYGO. Thebill institutes across-the-board spendingcuts if the cost of new laws isnt matchedby increased revenues or cuts elsewhere

After another day wrangling over healthcare reform,it was no small amount of frustration that inspiredRep. Henry Waxman to stand in front of a pressgathering and not-so-subtly accuse the blue dog

Democrats of being party turncoats. I wont allow themto hand over control of our committee to Republicans,Waxman said, threatening to have the bill bypass theEnergy and Commerce Committee he chairs if the bluedogs didnt accept the deal before them. I dont see whatother alternative we have, because were not going to letthem empower Republicans on the committee, he added,in case his point had been lost on anyone.

That position, however, didnt last long. House Speak-er Nancy Pelosi, who has cultivated a generally positiverelationship with the blue dogs, said she would not sup-port a move to bypass the committee. Waxman back-tracked shortly afterward, striking a decidedly more con-ciliatory tone and offering up a package of concessions to



Blue DogsFlex TheirMuscle The conservativeDemocrats try tocorral healthcareand more

By Anna Mulrine

Rep. Baron Hill, an Indiana Democrat, is ablue dog who has been central to thehealthcare reform debate.



in the budget. It is a measure for whichthe blue dogs had been fighting for 15years, said Rep. Baron Hill, a Democratfrom Indiana. The bill also represents anunprecedented step forward in the bluedogs fight to restore fiscal responsibilityand accountability to the federal govern-ment, he said.

But both liberal and conservativebloggers are fond of arguing that the fis-cal conservatism of the blue dogs is over-rated. They cite defense appropriationsas one illustration. Despite a WhiteHouse victory with the Senates vote lastweek to kill the F-22 fighter jet program,the House defense appropriations billcontained no shortage of big weaponssystems and planes with hefty price tags.This, critics note, is in direct oppositionto Obamas military spending prioritiesand comes after Defense SecretaryRobert Gates has explicitly stressed thathe doesnt need the systems.

But the big defense contractors thatbuild them offer jobs in districts hit hardby the recession. In other areas, too, fel-low lawmakers have noted that the bluedogs have not been immune from the in-fluence of big lobby groups. They arewalking a fine line, says Thomas Mann,an expert on Congress at the BrookingsInstitution. They love to talk of fiscal

responsibility, but they are the first tofight for higher Medicare reimbursementfor providers in their districts and oftenthe first to support higher agriculturalsubsidies. Their commitment to fiscalresponsibility is limited.

A recent report from the Center forPublic Integrity found that the Blue DogPolitical Action Committee is on track toshatter all its fundraising records thisyear, filling its coffers with $1.1 million inthe first six months of 2009. The PACreceived about half a million dollars fromthe healthcare industry. Thats up 90 per-cent from the 2005 to 2006 cycle, CPInotes. Financial services and energy firmsalso contributed hefty sums in the hope ofinfluencing upcoming votes on bankingindustry oversight and energy legislation.

PAC contributors are well aware thatthese large packages will be tough votesfor the blue dogs because of their cost-conscious constituents. Some, for exam-ple, hail from coal-mining districts thatworry about how the cap-and-trade billslimits on emissions from fossil fuels willaffect them. But because they have votedwith the party on the energy bill, some-times under heavy pressure from Demo-cratic leadership, blue dogs have held firmon issues like healthcare reform.

And so, as this week drew to a close

and the congressional recess approached,Rep. Mike Ross, a blue dog fromArkansas who has emerged as a leader ofthe seven holdouts on Waxmans com-mittee, enumerated the concessions thathis coalition was able to coax from thecommittee. These included exempting

businesses earning less than $500,000per year from providing employee healthinsurance and cutting $100 billion incosts from the plan. He and his colleaguesalso were successful in delaying a vote.We were able to reach an agreement thatensures that every member of Congresswill have the entire month of August andthe first week in September to read thebill and to visit with their constituentsabout it, Ross said.

Equally important, the healthcaredust-up allowed the blue dogs to touttheir conservative credentials. Look,theres no secret here that Henry Wax-man is much more to the left than I am,Ross took pains to point out.

But Mann notes that despite requisitepolitical theater, the blue dogs are aware

that they have a vested interest in seeingthat healthcare reform ultimately passesafter the August recess. They know, hesays, that if they hold out for too muchand this goes down, then they go down.

Thats because they are the most politi-cally vulnerable of the Democrats. Sim-ply voting against healthcare reform,Mann adds, isnt going to insulate themfrom the downward draft if this thingblows up. The administration has put somany chits on this one program that if itgoes down, [Democrats] really look likewere not fit to govern, says one party op-erative. In the end, the blue dogs and theliberals have the same calling here.

But by creating a choke point in theinfluential House Energy Committee,were getting to see how the blue dogsarguably can be influential, saysLoomis. This influence will continue asObama begins outlining some of hisefforts to cut the deficit later this year.One congresssional staffer says that thepresident will try to give somethingback politically to the blue dogs afterwhat will be a series of tough votes onenergy and healthcare reform for them.It is a nod, many add, to their growingclout as majority members workingalongside a Democratic president witha highly ambitious agenda. l


The blue dogs are awarethat they have a vestedinterest in seeing that

healthcare reform passes.




petitions, called the U.S. Cyber Challenge,to identify up to 10,000 patriotic geeksand then nurture them to become topguns, as the Cyber Challenge organiz-ers call them, at the Pentagon, the Na-tional Security Agency, and elsewhere.

The Department of Defense trainsonly about 80 cybersecurity experts ayear, far fewer than what are most like-ly needed. People in the Pentagon knowthat the guy who looks good in a flightsuit and can do 100 push-ups isnt nec-essarily the guy who will be the worldsbest hacker, says Noah Shachtman, ed-itor of Wired magazines Danger Roomblog, who has briefed Pentagon officialson cyberwarfare. So they know they haveto reach out beyond traditional militaryrecruiting models to find the top people.Theyre not sure exactly how to do it,though, and this is one attempt.

President Obamas announcement inMay of a new cybersecurity initiative, in-cluding a cybersecurity coordinator whowill report directly to the president,showed that the administration recog-

nizes the threat from foreign hackers.In todays world, acts of terror can comenot only from a few extremists in suicidevests but from a few keystrokes on acomputera weapon of mass disrup-tion, Obama said in announcing theprogram. But two months on, the coor-dinator has yet to be named, and thereis no information about the budget theoffice will have. There are still hugequestions about what its going to do,Shachtman says.

And the Cyber Challenge only high-lights a huge handicap Washington facesin its fight against cyberattacks: The hack-ing culture is antiestablishment, and theUnited States is the establishment, theMicrosoft of geopolitics. Thats a boon toRussian and Chinese government effortsto recruit hackers to their side, but it willhurt the United States, Carr says. A hack-er wants to align with the underdogagainst the big, bad U.S., and its going tobe hard to reverse that, he says. And thereare signs the United States doesnt quiteget it yet. The Cyber Challenge Web pagesare laden with the kind of massive Power-Point presentations that plague the Pen-tagon, the most conventional, staid wayto try to recruit innovative people,Shachtman says. Clearly, Washington islikely to face an uphill battle. l

The potential threats against the United States frommalicious foreign hackers are as poorly understoodas they are scary. Chinas military has trained morethan 60,000 information troops, and its official

doctrine calls for pre-emptive strikes on networks of na-tions it sees as a threat. Russian hackersprobably withKremlin supporthave attacked Internet sites in pro-Western Estonia and Georgia. And a mysterious worm,Conficker, infects an estimated 5 million computersaround the world. Authorities dont know who controlsit; cyberintelligence expert Jeffrey Carr calls it theequivalent of a nuclear bomb that could shut down theentire Internet.

Its the kind of shadowy, nonstate threat that the U.S.defense and intelligence bureaucracies are traditional-ly ill equipped to fight, but a new initiative announcedthis week aims to try. A consortium of government agen-cies and private organizations has set up a series of com-

With a few clicks, a foreign hacker becomes a huge threat.

GETTY IMAGES

Calling AllGeeksThe governmentrecruits hackers toblunt threats fromabroad

By Joshua Kucera

The Department of Defensetrains only 80 cybersecurity

experts a year, far fewerthan are most likely needed.



Switzerlands strict bank secrecy laws. Re-leasing the names could also threaten a pil-lar of the Swiss economy, the tradition ofstrict secrecy that has made its banks a toprepository for global deposits.

Earlier this month, the Swiss govern-ment threatened to seize the records ofthe American clients, rather than allowUBS to violate its laws by handing themover to U.S. officials. The situation setsup a dilemma for the banking giant: IfUBS complies with U.S. demands, thebank and its officers could face sanctionsand prosecution in Switzerland. On theother hand, not doing so would run thebank afoul of U.S. courts.

As a result, the case has created a diplo-matic imbroglio for Barack Obamas ad-ministration, which didnt initiate the pros-ecution but has been as determined as theBush Justice Department to compel UBSto disclose the information. Cracking downon tax cheats and offshore havens was acampaign issue for Obama and has becomea priority for his administration. Even asthe case winds through the courts, diplo-mats in Washington and Bern are franti-cally trying to come up with a last-minutecompromise to head off a legal clash.

The IRS prevailed in the criminalphase of the case, with the aid of formerUBS officials who allege that the com-

pany systematically helped wealthyAmericans conceal money. In February,as part of a deferred-prosecution agree-ment ending the criminal prosecution,UBS disclosed to U.S. investigators thenames of 250 to 300 American clientswhom the bank suspected of tax fraud,an evidentiary standard UBS contendshas not been met in the request for theadditional names. The company alsopaid a $780 million fine to avoid crim-inal prosecution for aiding tax cheats.Last week, a New York toy dealer plead-ed guilty to filing false tax returns andconcealing more than $8 million in ac-counts at UBS and a second Swiss bank.He is the third American UBS clientsince April to plead guilty to filing false returns, according to the Justice Department.

Meanwhile, in anticipation of thecase being resolved, hundreds ofwealthy Americans are turning them-selves in to the IRS, which has offeredleniency, though not amnesty, for thosewho come clean before the end of Sep-tember. The voluntary disclosure formsalso ask cheats to provide detailed de-scriptions of who may have helped con-ceal the funds, in turn giving the IRSmore ammunition to challenge bankslike UBS in court. l

Early next month, a U.S. district court judge in Flori-da will begin hearings in a civil case with the po-tential to undo Swiss traditions of bank secrecythat date to the Middle Ages. U.S. and Swiss offi-

cials say that some deal resolving the case is likely andcould come as early as the end of next week. The case pitsthe Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department,seeking to recoup taxes from Americans with $14.8 bil-lion squirreled away in secret offshore accounts, againstSwitzerlands largest bank, UBS.

The IRS is seeking to force UBS to disclose the namesof 52,000 American account holders suspected of tax eva-sion. U.S taxpayers are required to annually report incomegenerated by foreign accounts, but bank secrecy laws inforeign countries help would-be cheats hide those earn-ings. Both the Swiss government and UBS contend that di-vulging the information to U.S. authorities would violate

IRSTargetsSwissBank Government cracksdown on offshore tax havens

By Alex Kingsbury A federal case could shake the pillars of Swiss banking.

FABRICE COFFRINIAFP / GETTY IMAGES




As president of the Human Rights Campaign, thenations largest gay rights group, Joe Solmonese isthe lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender com-munitys top liaison to the Obama White House.

The job comes with huge powerand pressure. Byputting off campaign promises to reverse the militarysdont ask, dont tell policy and the Defense of MarriageAct, President Obama has let some gay rights advocatesdown. Some of those same activists accuse Solmonese ofgoing easy on Obama to maintain his access. In a con-versation with U.S. News, Solmonese explains why he still

trusts Obama, why he believes dont ask, dont tell willbe reversed next year, and why he doesnt buy the presi-dents stated opposition to gay marriage.This summer marks the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall

uprising in New York City, which launched the gay rights

movement. How successful has the movement been?

Enormously, most notably when weve confronted issuesthat have impacted all LGBT people, whether it was theviolence and harassment that we were reacting to atStonewall or the AIDS epidemic or the fight for marriageequality. Those are the moments when we have drawn onour collective power and made the most significantadvances.But dozens of states have constitutionally banned gay

marriage since 2003, when Massachusetts became the first

one to legalize it. Was the Massachusetts court decision

legalizing gay marriage counterproductive?

No, because I dont think there ever would have been thesense that we were, quote unquote, ready. The spark of so-cial change on any issue comes well before the country isready for it. We are six years from that decision in Massa-chusetts, and weve got six states that support full marriageequality. In 2013, a decade after Massachusetts, Id ventureto guess it would be as many as 10, including New York, NewJersey, and California. Thats a pretty successful decade.President Obama hasnt moved on promises to overturn

dont ask, dont tell or the Defense of Marriage Act. Has he

fulfilled his pledge to be a fierce advocate for gay and

lesbian Americans?

There have certainly been some glaring moments of in-

Q&A

Why GaysCan TrustObamaBy Dan Gilgoff

Weve got sixstates thatsupport fullmarriageequality. In 2013,a decade afterMassachusetts,Id venture toguess it would beas many as 10,including NewYork, New Jersey,and California.


Joe Solmonese



sensitivity. The choice of Rick Warren, thelanguage in the administrations courtbriefing defending DOMAthat has beenincredibly disappointing. Having saidthat, this administration has worked sideby side with us to get the hate crimes billon his desk. They are laying groundworkon everything from expanding the feder-al governments nondiscrimination pol-icy to cover transgender employees toending the ban on HIV-positive peoplecoming into the country.How confident are you that Obama will

overturn dont ask, dont tell?

Im certain. The president has made thecommitment, and people working for thepresident that we work with have madethe commitment. I have no doubt it willbe overturned.So whats the holdup?

The administration views this in thecontext of the broader issues agendathey are working with Congress on,everything from the economy andhealthcare to hate crimes. They see theoverturning of dont ask, dont tell alongthat spectrum as something that willlikely happen next spring. I see a roadmap of six-month windows: the hatecrimes bill, then the EmploymentNondiscrimination Act, then dont ask,dont tell. And the administration is

building a case in the military leader-ship and Congress and the rank-and-filemembers of the military. So you think LGBT complaints of White

House foot-dragging are unfair?

I dont see them dragging their feet. Butwhere the LGBT community is feelingfrustration is that the road map andtimetable have not been made as clear tothem. Sometimes there is simply theneed for reassurance from the president.Ive seen a great deal less frustrationsince the president spoke on June 29[the Stonewall anniversary] and recom-mitted to [our] issues. And the presi-dent signed the memo expanding thenondiscrimination policy for federal em-ployees and calling on Congress to givehim a bill extending healthcare benefitsto domestic partners. Its probably asfrustrating to him and his administra-tion that things are not moving as quick-ly as we would like.How do you respond to gay activists who

say youre carrying the presidents water?

With a community as diverse as theLGBT community, there is little one cando that isnt going to be met with crit-icism from somebody. A lot of that hasto do with frustration of being woeful-ly behind in securing a fundamental setof benefits and a fundamental sense of

equality. But I also have a very clearroad map and a plan of how this is goingto get done.Youve gotten to know the president

personally. Have you talked to him about his

opposition to gay marriage?

Ive had the chance to visit with thepresident personally both during thecampaign and since hes been in theWhite House. I dont really know whatsat the heart of his opposition. Its hardfor me to believe that in his heart hestruly opposed to same-sex marriage.Maybe its something hes working toget his head around. When you look atwho he is and what his life experiencesare and who he surrounds himself byand the transformative political figurehe is, its hard to imagine he genuinelyopposes it.Whats the status of the effort to overturn

Proposition 8, Californias recently adopted

gay marriage ban?

There is absolutely no question that wewill overturn Proposition 8. We lost by4 points, so its only a matter of time. Thequestion being debated now is how wemost effectively do that. Who in Califor-nia is likely to turn out to vote in 2010versus 2012 can be significantly different.The question is: When does the turnoutwork best for us?

What do you think of the tactic of some gay

activists who out purportedly gay politicians

who are working against gay causes?

Any closeted gay person who votes againstthe interests of gay people and is outed be-cause of it is getting what they deserve. Myonly concern is that sometimes the sen-sational aspect of outing somebody getsus to lose sight of just what it is that was so bad about them. And they getdrummed out of office and are replacedby somebody who is just as bad. Some prominent Republicans, like John

McCains 2008 campaign manager, back gay

marriage, while the likely 2012 Republican

presidential field is dominated by social

conservatives. Whats the state of GOP-

LGBT relations?

You essentially have two Republican par-ties: the far-right base and the more mod-erate side. Unfortunately, the names [oflikely 2012 presidential contenders] aregenerally more popular with the base.Michael Steele has been laughable at bestas chairman. His rhetoric has been, de-pending on the day of the week and theissue, a little bit more pro-gay or a littleless. But the vast majority of lobbying workwe do on Capitol Hill is working with Re-publican members. And thats because wesee more and more moving in the direc-tion of LGBT equality every day. l

Q&A: JOE SOLMONESE



TheSummerSlump

The Presidency By Kenneth T.Walsh

consensus on fundamentals such as whether to providea government-sponsored alternative to private insur-ance, whether to mandate that employers offer healthinsurance to their workers, and how to pay for ex-panding coverage.

More generally, public doubts are rising aboutwhether majority Democrats in Congress and PresidentObama can get their act together and govern effectively.And Obama sometimes seems more of a bystander thana leader in shaping the details of legislation. The latestGeorge Washington University poll found that 51 per-cent of Americans believe the country is on the wrongtrack, and Obamas job-approval rating is now at 53 per-

President Obama got some good newsthis week. His nomination of Sonia So-tomayor to the Supreme Court was ap-proved by the Senate Judiciary Commit-tee on a 13-to-6 vote, suggesting that shewill easily be endorsed by the full Senate,

probably next week. She would be the first Latina on thehigh court, and her confirmation would be a definite vic-tory for the new administration.

But the likely Sotomayor approval masks some seri-ous problems for Obama. In short, he is in a summerslump.

His first priority, legislation to overhaul the health-care system, is still running into trouble on Capitol Hill.The House Energy and Commerce Committee achieveda shaky compromise on one version of the bill this week,and the Senate Finance Committee appears to be mak-ing progress in reaching agreement between a smallgroup of Democratic and Republican negotiators on itsversion of reform. But Congress is far behind the sched-ule that the president optimistically set earlier this year.He wanted the full House and Senate to approve massivehealthcare bills by early August. That wont happen. Infact, the House and Senate are moving in different di-rections as they hammer out separate measures, and thefate of reform remains in jeopardy.

White House spokesman Bill Burton says that con-gressional negotiators agree on 80 percent of health-care overhaul. But even if that sunny assessment turnsout to be accurate, finding agreement on the remaining20 percent presents a formidable obstacle. There is no

Obama has faced a number of challenges so far this summer.

PLAY

CHIP SOMODEVILLAGETTY IMAGES



cent, a substantial drop from over 60percent a few weeks ago. One big reasonis that the recession continues to hithard. The unemployment rate is 9.5 per-cent and likely to increase to over 10percent later this summer.

Equally important, Obama stumbledover the issue of race in mid-July whenhe criticized the Cambridge, Mass., po-lice for acting stupidly in arresting his

friend, Harvard scholar Henry Gates Jr.,for disorderly conduct at Gatess home.Faced with a firestorm of criticism fortaking sides prematurely, Obama pulledback two days later and said that boththe police and the professor had overre-acted. He admitted that he had ratch-eted up the controversy and offered amea culpa to the country. He met pri-vately with Gates and arresting officerJames Crowley over beers at the WhiteHouse yesterday in what appeared to bea Kumbaya moment designed todemonstrate a spirit of conciliation. Theepisode showed that Obama, who placesgreat stock in his choice of words, is ca-

pable of making embarrassing verbalstumbles.

Still, Obama presses on. Its so obvi-ous that the [healthcare] system we haveisnt working well for too many peopleand that we could just be doing better,he told retirees at an AARP forum thisweek. He also told a town meeting inNorth Carolina that he inherited a hor-rendous economy from George W. Bushsadministration and that it will take awhile to set things right.

White House aides say his currentdifficulties amount to little more thana bump in the road caused by Congresssnormal balkiness at making tough deci-sions. The aides say Obamas agenda willbe on track again this fall when theDemocratic majority in Congress getsback to healthcare after the August con-gressional recess. He will have plenty oftime to continue arguing his case beforethe public and to twist some more armson Capitol Hill.

But Obama is now facing somethinghe hasnt had to deal with in his firstsix months: the prospect of massivefailure. The presidents task is to figureout how to jump-start his agenda andfulfill the promise of change thathelped him win the White House in thefirst place. l

THE PRESIDENCY

State Nicknames and Mottoes QUIZ OF THE WEEK

ANSWERS ON PAGE 22

White House aides sayObamas difficulties

amount to little more thana bump in the road.

1. Which state is nicknamed the

Sunflower State?

A. KansasB. NebraskaC. VirginiaD. Wisconsin2. Which states motto is ltoile du

Nord (the star of the North)?

A. ConnecticutB. MichiganC. MinnesotaD. Washington3. Maines motto, Dirigo (Latin),

translates to what in English?

A. I seekB. I makeC. I doD. I lead4. True or false: Californias motto,

Eureka (Greek), translates to

I like it.

5. Which state is nicknamed the Bay

State?

A. DelawareB. MarylandC. MassachusettsD. Rhode Island

6. Which states motto is Montani

Semper Liberi (Mountaineers Are

Always Free)?

A. ColoradoB. MontanaC. South DakotaD. West Virginia7. True or false: Alabama does not have

an official nickname.

8. What is New Yorks state motto?

A. HallelujahB. ExcelsiorC. Semper FiD. Industry9. Which states motto is Fatti Maschii,

Parole Femine (Manly Deeds,

Womanly Words)?

A. AlabamaB. MarylandC. PennsylvaniaD. Oklahoma10. What is Oregons official state

nickname?

A. Peace Garden StateB. Beaver StateC. Ocean StateD. Equality State

By Debra Bell



On June 26, the House of Representativespassed comprehensive energy legislation thatincluded, for the first time in U.S. history, a

cap on global warming pollution. The bill, called theAmerican Clean Energy and Security Act, would alsoboost investments in energy efficiency and renewable en-ergy, like wind and solar, to jump-start the transition toa clean energy economy. New investments in the cleanenergy technologies of the future would slash globalwarming pollution and reduce the use of foreign oil whilealso creating jobs and increasing our economic competi-tiveness vis--vis China and other nations.

The so-called ACES Act would implement a cap-and-trade system to reduce global warming pollution and spurinvestment in clean energy technologies. Today, corpo-rations can freely dump global warming pollution intothe atmosphere while society foots the bill for the ill ef-fects. The act would limit the amount of global warm-ing pollution that corporations could freely release intothe air. Congress would set steadily declining emissionslimits, and polluters would have to obtain permits forevery ton of pollution they producedin essence, adumping permit for the sky. Corporations that reduceglobal warming pollution below their

In 1984, the late historian Barbara Tuchmanwrote The March of Folly, in which shechronicled the phenomenon of governments

throughout the ages pursuing policies directly at oddswith their self-interest. Tuchman used the term wood-en-headedness to describe the tendency of leaders to as-sess situations using preconceived notions while ignor-ing or rejecting any contrary signs.

History may be repeating itself. Our leaders in Wash-ington are exhibiting signs of green wooden-headed-ness as they fight to pass a climate bill that most law-makers have not read and even fewer understand.

In spite of growing evidence that cap-and-trade legis-lation is economically, technologically, and environmen-tally counterproductiveimposing high costs to deliver, atbest, minor reductions in greenhouse gas emissionstheHouse of Representatives recently passed legislation to im-plement such a program. Now, the Senate is marchingdown a similar road, with Majority Leader Harry Reid ofNevada indicating that he intends to pass an emissionstrading bill before years end. This cap-and-trade approachrequires major producers and users of traditional energysources to obtain permits to continue their production and consumption of these fuels. These

TWOTAKESIs Cap-and-Trade the Answer to Global Warming?

YES NO

The House recently passed a version of a plan that would sell emissions credits to polluters. Now theSenate will debate its own bill. Meanwhile, opponents raise red flags and push ideas they say arebetter and more understandable. Would cap-and-trade work? Edited by Steve St. Angelo

By John PodestaPresident and CEO ofthe Center forAmerican Progress;former chief of staff toPresident Clinton

By William OKeefeChief executive officerof the George C.Marshall Institute andlongtime energyindustry consultant

READ MORE READ MORE

ETHAN MILLERGETTY IMAGES THE MARSHALL INSTITUTE

J. D. POOLEYGETTY IMAGES



allotment could then sell anequivalent value of permits

back to the open market. This systemthus empowers individuals, entrepre-neurs, and businesses to determinewhere necessary emissions reductionsare most efficiently found.

The cap-and-trade concept itself is aproduct of American ingenuity. TheUnited States pioneered it in the 1990Clean Air Act to force power plants to re-duce sulfur dioxide pollution, whichcauses acid rain. The program, devel-oped during the first Bush administra-tion, was a complete successmeaningit achieved total compliance in reducingsulfur dioxide pollutionand cost as lit-tle as one fifth of the Environmental Pro-tection Agencys original $6 billion fore-cast. Both the gross domestic productand total electricity generation contin-ued to rise at a steady clip after the pro-gram began. And despite claims that thelimits on sulfur dioxide pollution wouldcause electricity bills to rise, rates arelower now (in constant dollars) than in1990. Finally, the success of our first cap-and-trade program means that, today, wedont have to worry aboutor pay forthe negative health effects, damaged in-frastructure, and poor crop yields that

acid rain would have caused if wedchosen to do nothing.

We stand at a similar crossroads today,but weve cleaned our environment whiledriving economic growth many times be-fore. The Congressional Budget Office es-timates that the House legislation willcost the average household only $175 an-nuallythe equivalent of a postage stampa day. It will cost even less when efficiencymeasures are factored in, which would

save families about 7 percentor $84annually on their electric bills. The actalso includes provisions to protect low-income families and farmers from anypotential cost increases.

But the bill is designed to do muchmore than reduce global warming pol-lution at an affordable cost. It will alsocatalyze clean energy innovation on a re-markable scale. Allowing the market toset a price on pollution will shift invest-ments toward clean technologies and im-proved efficiency, while unleashingAmericans unique talent for problem-solving and technological ingenuity. The

United States will join Europe andChinaalready bounding aheadto cap-italize on the most significant economicopportunity since the United States dom-inated the information technology revo-lution in the 1990s.

To make sure the United States canlead the world during the coming era ofclean energy, the act creates a Clean En-ergy Deployment Administrationsim-ply put, a Green Bank. This programwould provide clean energy projects withsteady, low-cost credit to accelerate thedevelopment and commercialization ofnew technologies. It would use well-understood financial tools to work handin hand with the private sector to boostlending and investment in a diverse rangeof clean energy projects that would other-wise have difficulty accessing steady, af-fordable commercial financing. And itwould allow the United States to catch upto countries like China, which is alreadyinvesting more than 3 percent of its totalGDP in green programs, compared withAmericas current investment of less thanone half of 1 percent.

The innovation, development, andcommercialization of new clean energytechnologies will bring millions of newjobs for people at all skill levels to com-munities across the country. The act,

combined with the American Recoveryand Reinvestment Act, would yield a netincrease of 1.7 million new jobs in manu-facturing, construction, and other sec-tors. And we know that one dollar in-vested in clean energy creates four timesas many jobs as that same dollar invest-ed in the energy industries of the past.Clean energy jobs have already shown im-pressive growth, even during difficulteconomic times; they experienced annu-al increases of nearly 10 percent from1998 to 2007, more than 21/2 times therate of overall job growth.

Stories around the country already arebearing these statistics out. Retrofittinginitiatives, supported by the recovery act,are putting local communities to workmaking homes and office buildings moreenergy efficient; wind turbine manufac-turers in Michigan are hiring former autoemployees to build complex power-generation machinery.

The House of Representatives has al-ready done its part to make sure millionsof Americans will have similar stories totell. Now, its the Senates turn to supportcomprehensive energy legislation thatwill cap and reduce global warming pol-lution, create jobs, and put Americaseconomy on a smart, clean, and competi-tive path forward. l

FROM PAGE 14

TWO TAKES

YES

BACK TO PAGE 14

1990s Clean Air Act usedcap and trade to force power

plants to cut sulfur dioxidepollution, reducing acid rain.



allowancesthe availability ofwhich would be restricted by

an arbitrary, government-set limit over thenext 70 yearscould then be traded in amarket like a commodity, stock, or bond.

The main objective is to put a price onemissions, thereby creating an incentivefor all segments of the economyfromcorporations to consumersto switch toless carbon-intensive fuels and tech-nologies. But the bill now moving towardmarkup in the Senate doesnt showpromise of achieving that goal.

One cause for concern is that, by cre-ating a carbon trading market, Congresswould effectively be giving the very WallStreet traders responsible for much of ourrecent financial devastation a new trillion-dollar market to exploit. Consider that theEuropean Union carbon market has al-ready seen widespread fraud and abuse,as well as the development of securitizedfinancial products similar to the ones thatcontributed to our mortgage crisis.

Thats not the only component of thisplan at odds with our self-interest. The pro-jected impact on individual homeownerscertainly qualifies as counterproductive.

Lawmakers have talked a big gameabout sheltering U.S. homeowners fromthe inevitably large spikes in electricity

rates. Europes experience with cap-and-trade suggests that these promises are justtalk. Electricity prices for EU householdshave skyrocketed. If Congress tries to pre-vent this by restricting how much utilitiescan charge, these companies will have toabsorb billions of dollars in higher costs.That translates into less available for in-vestment in research and development.

Higher energy bills arent the onlydownside of cap-and-trade for Ameri-

cans. The House climate bill also includesexpensive energy-efficiency mandates.

The bill would mandate increases by2014 in home energy efficiency 50 per-cent above standards set under the 2006International Energy Conservation Code.That standard would increase by 5 per-cent in 2017 and every three years there-after until 2030. It would supersede stateand local building codes and impose civilpenalties for builders and homeownersdeemed out of compliance.

Since World War II, homeownershiphas played a significant part in the Ameri-can dream. But if this legislation becomes

law, that dream will become a nightmare.As William Glued, an editor at BigBuilder, warned, The big problem withthese targets is that while they may befeasible, they are impossible as a matterof practicality. Attaining the unprece-dented, high level of energy efficiencycalled for in the climate legislationwould prove prohibitively expensivemaking homeownership a luxury only thewealthy could afford.

Since the House has passed this bill bya narrow margin, all that stands betweenAmerica and this fate is a mere 60 votes.Fortunately, that means theres still an op-portunity for the Senate to improve itsversion of the climate bill before it comesto that. Congress needs to adopt a simple,transparent, and straightforward emis-sions policy that provides companies andhouseholds alike with a direct incentiveto meet tough but realistic environmen-tal standards. Though its unrealistic toexpect emissions to be reduced to a levelnot seen in a century or more, the rightlegislation can help us slow the growth inour emissions and help developing coun-tries significantly reduce theirs.

As the vast majority of economists havetestified, a simple tax on CO2 emissions,imposed on all users, is superior to cap-and-trade. By offering a predictable price,

this policy would provide an incentive forhomeowners to switch to more energy-ef-ficient technologies. A reasonable carbontax also would create an incentive for allsectors of the economy to invest capitalin more efficient energy sources. More-over, a stable price on carbon would affordbusinesses the opportunity to earn a return on investment in new energy tech-nologiesmaking the resulting new ener-gy sources and technologies widely avail-able and more affordable.

The bottom line is that the fiscal and en-vironmental benefits of a carbon tax offera refreshing contrast to the reckless spend-ing taking place in Washington. And thatsgood news for businesses and families.

Showing great prescience, Tuchmannoted at the close of her book, Persistencein error is the problem. It is not too lateto get on the right road, but that respon-sibility rests solely with our senators. As thelate Sen. Everett Dirksen once observed,they will see the light when they feel theheat of constituents.l

FROM PAGE 14

TWO TAKES

NO

BACK TO PAGE 14

As many economists havetestified, a simple tax on

CO2 emissions is superior to cap and trade.

What Do You Think? Is cap-and-trade the way to go? Weigh in at www.usnews.com/captrade. E-mail ideas to [email protected]. Selectedresponses will appear in a future issue.

mailto:[email protected]://www.usnews.com/subscribehttp://www.usnews.com/captradehttp://www.usnews.com/captrade


My first reaction to the tale ofHenry Louis Gates Jr.s arrestwas that we were seeing a Cam-bridge, Mass., community the-

ater version of Rashomon, the classic AkiraKurosawa film about how the same storycan seem dramatically different depend-ing upon the participants perspective.

But more than two weeks and onepresidential happy hour later, I see thatthe significance of what took place in andaround Gatess home lies less in how theparticipants viewed the incident than inwhat the rest of us perceive. Its a nationalRorschach test. So the story of Gates andSgt. James Crowley becomes a narrativeof race, how the fact of Barack Obamaspresidency cannot reverse the historictreatment of black men in America, es-pecially at the hands of law enforcement.Or it is seen as a tale of class, how the elit-ist, pointy-headed Ivy Leaguer lookeddown on and mistreated a hard-workingblue-collar type and then got preferentialtreatment from his buddy the president.

But theres one perspective that Iveheard disturbingly little of, especiallysince it seems to me the most indis-putable (if, perhaps, politically unpalat-able). This is a story of civil liberties andconstitutional rights. Because even if you

assume that Crowleys account of the in-cident is absolutely accurate and thatGatess version is a whole-cloth fabrica-tion, Crowley and his colleagues acted notonly stupidly, as President Obama sobluntly put it, but also wrongly.

Gates, by Crowleys account, behaved

obnoxiously. He opened with race: Toldby Crowley that he was investigating abreak-in report, Gates exclaimed, Why,because Im a black man in America? Hewas confrontational, yelled, and wasmanifestly uncooperative. He played theofficious, self-important jerk, picking upthe telephone to tell someone to get thechief (of police, presumably), he calledCrowley a racist, and he warned the of-ficer that he had no idea whom he wasmessing with. When Crowley, satisfiedthat Gates did in fact reside in the house,told the yelling professor that he was leav-ing but would answer any more questionsoutside, the response was: Ya, Ill speakwith your mama outside. (Youd thinkthat Harvards Alphonse Fletcher Uni-

versity professor and director of itsW.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African andAfrican American Research could comeup with something better than a yourmama crack.)

Gates, of course, did follow Crowleyoutside and eventually, unwillingly, allthe way to the clink. Arguably worse thanacting obnoxiously, Gates was acting stu-pidly, to use the word of the moment. Butacting stupidly is not a crime. Neitheris mouthing off to a cop or, for that mat-ter, breaking into ones own home. Peelaway the racial and class overtones, andwhat you have is someone being arrest-ed in his own home for being rude to apolice officer.

The professor at any time could haveresolved the issue by quieting downand/or going back inside the house,Crowley told a radio interviewer. True.But the police officer could also have re-solved the issue by rolling his eyes, wish-ing the cranky old professor a nice day,getting in his car, and going off in searchof an actual crime. And as the personwith greater powerin this case, thepower to arrest and incarcerateCrow-ley had more responsibility to defuse thesituation. As Colin Powell observed toLarry King this week, at some point, one

CAPITAL NOTIONS

Gates was acting stupidly.But acting stupidly is not

a crime. Neither ismouthing off to a cop.

Gates CaseIs AboutLiberty, Not Race

By Robert Schlesinger



would think, some adult supervisionwould have stepped in. Instead, ac-cording to published reports of a record-ing of the radio communications be-tween Crowley and a dispatcher, theofficer asked for backup, saying, Keepthe cars coming. This presumably todeal with the threat posed by Gatessacerbic tongue.

Policing is by definition dangerouswork. Those who do it deserve our re-spect, but that is a moral obligation, nota legal one; violation of it is punishableby derision or disappointment, nothandcuffs or jail time. And respectingsomeone does not mean you cannotquestion his behavior, any more thandoing an important or respectable jobimparts infallibility. After all, power doesnot bring the wisdom of when to use it(or not), as anyone can attest who hashad to deal with a petty bureaucrat or,yes, a testy police officer. Give enoughpeople authority, and some are bound tomisuse it. Its not a knock on the policeto say that they occasionally behavebadly; its a knock on human nature.

There are no doubt situations wherean unruly or uncooperative individual

genuinely poses a threat to the police, by-standers, or even himself. But no one canargue with a straight face that a ranti-ng Henry Louis Gates embodied such acase. President Obamas characteriza-tion of the police acting stupidly in thiscase was correct. Note the difference be-tween stupidly and stupid. He wasntsaying that the Cambridge police orSergeant Crowley is stupid, just that theywere wrong in this instance.

As a politician, of course, Obama washimself acting stupidly. A news confer-ence designed around and devoted tohealthcare will be remembered for thepresidents having answered an off-topicbut sexier question. He gave the mediathe opportunity to distract themselvesby asking whether this was a distrac-tion, and he gave Republicans a new lineof political attack (Obama hates cops).And the police kept the cars coming, is-suing outraged and offended statementsand holding news conferences to de-mand an apology.

And Obama quickly walked back hisstatement. It seems the deference we asa society extend to police can match eventhe power of a popular president. l

CAPITAL NOTIONS

Were the police wrong? Tell us what you think at [email protected].

Americas healthcare system is sick, Howard Deanwrites in his new book, Howard Deans Pre-scription for Real Healthcare Reform. Dean, aphysician and former governor of Vermont who

unsuccessfully sought the 2004 Democratic presiden-tial nomination and then served four years as chairmanof the Democratic National Committee, recently spokewith U.S. News about the politics and policy of health-care reform, as well as about Republican National Com-mittee Chairman Michael Steele and his own politicalfuture. Excerpts:Whats the most important part of your prescription for

healthcare reform?

That Americans should have a choice. That the choiceshould not be up to Congress, it should be up to theAmerican people, about what kind of reform they wantand how fast they want it. And that means a public op-tion must be part of the bill that passes the Congress.In the book, you write that the public plan could outcompete

the private insurers and drive them out of business. If thats

the case, are you taking choice away from Americans?

No, no, no. Because the American people would make thatchoice for themselves. Really, in fact, it will be the healthinsurers that drive themselves out of business. Because ifthey continue to cut people off who have already been pay-ing their insurance premiums, if they continue to deny peo-ple coverage, if they continue to have bureaucrats betweenthe doctors and themselves, then people will choose thepublic plan. In fact, most of the Republican rhetoric aboutthe public plan actually applies to the private plan. Its kind

Makingthe Casefor a PublicOption

BOOK CLUBThe Washington

By Andrew Burt

mailto:[email protected]://www.usnews.com/subscribe


of a Kafka-esque rhetoric on their part.And people are sick of it. Is healthcare a right?

I dont use that kind of rhetoric in general. I think its certainly a moral imperative. What mistakes did President Clinton make in

his healthcare push that President Obama is

avoiding?

The process was relatively closed underPresident Clinton. And it was complicat-ed. This isthe choices are pretty clear topeople. You can keep what you have if youlike it, or you can have something likeMedicare. Your choice.What would Obama take away from your

book?

That the public plan is absolutely essen-tial to reform. Although I think he be-lieves that. He was the one who suggest-ed the public plan. Its his plan that Imsupporting in the book. Healthcare spending has grown faster than

the economy . . .

Two and a half times the rate of inflationsince World War II. Medicare has goneup at 2 percent over the rate of inflation.Private health insurance has gone upmuch faster.Isnt this due, at least in part, to medical

innovation?

Yes and no. Its partly due to that. But lets

not forget that some innovation has ac-tually saved money. For example, most ofthe new drugs reduced hospital stays. So,yes, its partly true. But part of the prob-lem is that the innovations can be in-credibly overused, and fee-for-servicemedicine gives us doctors enormous in-centives to do that.Couldnt waste in the healthcare system be

solved by limiting lawsuits against doctors?

No. Some could. But not a hugeamount. The huge amount is the insur-ance companies that take 20 to 40 per-cent of the premiums . . . for other rea-sons. But certainly, the tort system isnot helpful.Have you had any role in the negotiations

regarding the healthcare reform bills?

No. If I did, I wouldnt tell you.What do you say to the GOP objection that

government should not come between the

patient and the doctor?

The only place where people stand be-tween a patient and a doctor is in the pri-vate health insurance industry. Thatdoesnt happen in government.Can you elaborate on that?

Sure. I practiced for 10 years. Lots oftimes insurance companies refused pay-

ment after the fact. No such problem withthat in Medicare. Republicans are justfrankly making that up.Whats the worst possible result of the

current push for healthcare reform?

Wasting all this money on a good politi-cal solution which is a bad medicalsolution.Do you think healthcare reform will pass?

I do.What role do the Republicans have in this?

Does Obama need them?

No. And right now they have no inter-est, obviously. Theyre using it as a political cudgel against Obama, butthey have no interest in the substanceof the bill. The Republicans arent interested in this. They werent inter-ested in Medicare 45 years ago. Andtheyre not going to be interested in this. We should just pass it and do theright thing.

So will Democrats be blamed if nothing

passes?

Well, obviously the Republicans are doingeverything they can to kill it. I mean, look,the Democrats are ultimately responsiblebecause we have huge majorities, and ifyou cant get a program through whenyoure a huge majority, thats a big prob-lem. And thats not going to be very help-ful to the Democrats in 2010 or 2012.What do you think of Republican National

Committee Chairman Michael Steele?

I like Michael Steele personally. Hesprobably not suited to be chairman be-cause he wasnt able to stand up to RushLimbaugh. And you cant be pushedaround by a talk show host if youre goingto be the chairman of the RepublicanParty. Or the Democratic Party, for thatmatter. How would you take on Steele if you were

still head of the DNC?

I would ignore him.What does the future look like for you?

Who knows? I really want to do every-thing I can to get a decent healthcare billpassed. And then who knows whatsnext?Might you run for office again?

Probably not.But the option is open?

All options are open in politics. l

THE WASHINGTON BOOK CLUB

Most of the Republicanrhetoric about the public

plan actually applies to theprivate plan. Its kind of a

Kaf ka-esque rhetoric.

Is Dean right about healthcare reform? Give your thoughts at www.usnews.com/dean.

http://www.usnews.com/deanhttp://www.usnews.com/subscribe


Those who wish the U.S. government to play a larger role in healthcarepoint to Canada as an example the United States should follow. A lookat the data suggests otherwise. Working off data compiled by the FraserInstitute, a Canadian think tank, the GOP staff of the congressional

Joint Economic Committee assembled a chart showing how long Canadianpatients wait to receive essential services. The data show Canadians wait almostfour months (121 days) or more before they can receive treatment. As the reportindicates, the grass may not be greener over the northern U.S. border.

Ten dogs have shared my life. Duffy was evil. Talleyrand, easily thedumbest. Ben, hands down the best. I miss him still. The point is, I ameminently qualified as a dog lover. And I still think Michael Vick should begiven a chance to play in the National Football League. The reason has to

do with that old, largely forgotten word: redemption. There used to be a time whensociety actually tried to rehabilitate lawbreakers. Not so much, anymore. Vick did areally lousy, hateful thing. And it is good that he was penalized as harshly as he was,since it sent the message that cruelty to animals is a terrible crime. But if Vick were aplumber jailed for such a felony, would we ban him from resuming work as aplumber when he was let out on parole? Not likely. Indeed, his parole officers wouldprobably encourage him to seek work in his old profession. So with Vick.

Now that the Senate has postponed resolving healthcare reform until thefall, one thing we know will not be included is a provision to reverse theinfamous Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funds from being usedfor poor womens abortions. Rich and even middle-class women can

always get them from OB-GYNs or private hospitals. But poor women are deniedabortions by a combination of economics and the Christian right. Now, oursupposedly pro-choice president is signaling that federal funding for abortion is notthe kind of issue over which hes willing to wage a fight. President Obama is aboutas pro-choice as he is antiwar, pro-environment, and pro-womens rights, which isto say, not so much or hardly at all when it comes to action versus rhetoric.

BLOG BUZZRecent chatter from the Thomas Jefferson Street bloggers, who weigh in on current events at usnews.com

CHAN LOWE / TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES

PETER ROFF

The Faulty Canadian Healthcare SystemJOHN ALOYSIUS FARRELL

Vick Was a Dog, but He Can Earn Redemption

BONNIE ERBE

Obama Is All Rhetoric and No Fight

More wit and insight from Thomas Jefferson Street are at www.usnews.com/opinion.

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Congress has agreed to step awayfrom its promise to pass expansivehealth bills before its August recessas the president wanted. It would

have bordered on legislative malpracticefor the House to have rushed to pass its billthis week as its leadership hoped to do, con-sidering that most members still have notread the 1,017-pager, known as H.R. 3200.John Conyers, chairman of the House Ju-diciary Committee, during a speech at theNational Press Club that can be seen onYouTube, derided members for harangu-ing their colleagues to read the health billbefore voting, saying, What good is read-ing the bill if its a thousand pages and youdont have two days and two lawyers to findout what it means after you read the bill?Now a slew of negative TV spots are askinglawmakers, Have you read the bill? Goodidea; maybe the public should, too.

Reading H.R. 3200 is not like curlingup with Harry Potter. But you can down-load it free from a government website,thomas.loc.gov. I advise everyone to takea stab at it. You will see confirmation thatthe bill reforms insurance so it cant be can-celed or denied for a prior illness and willbe widely accessible. But many detailscloaked in its off-putting legalspeak bringsurprises that should stimulate more pub-

lic discussion before September, when Con-gress restarts its reform efforts.

Here are just four things that promiseto radically change some peoples health ex-periencesand everyones relationshipwith the governmenteven if you are nowamong the happily insured.

Health choices commissioner. Congressproposes a new, independent federalagency called the Health Choices Admin-istration, whose commissioner would cre-ate standards for insurance that you and

some 285 million Americans (15 millionwould still not be covered) would be re-quired to have. The commissioner wouldalso qualify plans that meet federal re-quirements and determine which individ-uals are eligible for subsidies.

The Health Choices Administrationwould establish and operate the Health In-surance Exchange, where those withoutcoverage would sign up with private in-surers or get new government-establishedpublic insurance. (The Senate is rumoredto have abandoned this option in favor of

nonprofit cooperatives seeded with feder-al money, but its bill isnt finished.)

The commissioner of health choiceswould ensure that deadbeats who did notseek out insurance would be randomlyassigned to an exchange plan or to an ex-panded version of Medicaid, which thebill provides. The bill anticipates thateveryone will walk away with a stand-ardized, electronic health identificationcard, making it easy for hospital staff toquickly figure out whether an individualis eligible for a specific service with a spe-cific physician at a specific facility.

Health Benefits Advisory Committee.Recommendations for the essential ben-efits your insurance would cover, whichwould change with new knowledge andtechnology, would rest largely with the sec-retary of health and human servicesHealth Benefits Advisory Committee. Thisgroup of up to 27, more than half of whomwould be appointed by the president,would come up with lists of treatments andservices that must be covered and set yourcopayments for any of the covered services.This will be a tough job, as weve alreadyseen during the recent dust-up in Congressover whether a government plan wouldcover abortions. Imagine battling overthose $50,000 drugs for cancer patients.

Details buried in the 1,017-page House health reform

bill would radically changepeoples health experiences.

Health ReformDemandsLawmakersWho Read Bills

ON HEALTH By Bernadine Healy, M.D.



Defining essential health benefits willfigure into the real long-term cost ofhealth reform. With new advances and anaging population, costs could easily swellbeyond the trillion dollars the Congres-sional Budget Office calculates. Or costsand patients optionscould shrink if thedefined essential benefits constrain cov-erage of more-expensive services. Costs toindividuals could in turn rise if they choseto pay on their own.

Federal penalties. The commissioner ofhealth choices would perform random andtargeted audits of health plans across thecountry and fine or shut down any thatflunk federal requirements. And Americancitizens found lacking in federally accept-able insurance would be fined 2.5 percentof their income for that period, up to thecost of the national average premium.

The Internal Revenue Service would as-sist enforcement by making taxpayers filea new IRS form detailing the status of theirfamilys insurance coverage. To complywith President Obamas promise, thosewho have insurance they like when the lawis implemented would be allowed to keepit for a while, even if it doesnt meet gov-ernment specs. That does not mean com-panies could not decide to cancel what areotherwise unacceptable plans.

In the House bill, companies would

have to cover workers with federally com-pliant plans or pay the feds 8 percent of anypayroll that exceeds $500,000. All em-ployers would face federal audits and heftypenalties for each day of noncompliance.

Money from the young and the old. Onesqueeze on the young: H.R. 3200 legislatesthat they pay premiums that are no less

than half of what older people would pay.Now, kids out of school can buy health poli-cies for a small fraction of what their par-ents can, but that wont be allowed.

Medicare faces the biggest squeeze ofall, providing more than a third of themoney needed to make reform pay for it-self. Its hard to figure that from the bill,which speaks in formulas, so go toCBO.gov, the budget office website, to seethe dollars. But the program will stillkeep giving. The secretary of health andhuman services is charged with contin-uing efforts to decrease elders hospital-ization. The focus has been on hospital

readmissions within 30 days, but this billleaves that time open ended. This is nosmall consideration: Currently, 56 per-cent of Medicare recipients who need thehospital go back in within one year.

The bill adds a new benefit toMedicare called advance care planningconsultation. Offered free every fiveyears, or more frequently if the patienthas a chronic, progressive, life-limiting,or terminal disease or is in a nursinghome, it gives beneficiaries informationabout living wills and a range of end-of-life services like palliative and hospicecare. Some might say this is a not-so-sub-tle response to the fact that Medicare pa-tients consume tens of thousands of dol-lars during the last six months of life.Saving that money may be hard. As anydoctor knows, patients surprise you allthe time. Giving up on them calls for pret-ty sound and well-informed judgment.

And that is what we want of our law-makers. Before they cast what will be his-toric votes expected in the fall, Id suggestthat each member take a proctored, mul-tiple-choice test on these bills, with theirgrades posted on the Web. Those whoflunk, step aside. l

ON HEALTH

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1. A. Kansas2. C. Minnesota3. D. I lead4. False. It means I found it.5. C. Massachusetts6. D. West Virginia7. True8. B. Excelsior9. B. Maryland

10. B. Beaver State

Answers to Quiz

Copyright @ 2009 by U.S.News & World Report Inc. All rights reserved.U.S.News Weekly is currently published weekly by U.S.News & WorldReport Inc., 450 W. 33rd Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10001.

Double issues, when published, count as two issues.

BACK TO PAGE 13Read Bernadine Healys columns and blogs at health.usnews.com/healy.

To enforce the law, the IRSwould make taxpayers file a

new form detailing theirfamilys insurance coverage.

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Citizen Palin or Future Leader?No human being should take the kind ofabuse and harassment that Sarah Palinhas [Palins Exit Clouds GOP Plans, July10]. When she felt that it affected her ef-fectiveness as governor, she resigned.This is a testimony to her character andintegrity. Does she have a political future?I do not know, nor does she. For now, sheshould help Republicans take back theCongress. If successful, she can take cred-it. She has this innate, hard-to-definequality called charisma. She has enoughtime to prepare herself for 2012, study-ing national and international issues. Themore the elite media attack her, the moresympathetic a figure she becomes.

Manny Kahana Chicago

I think that ex-Governor Palin likes pol-itics, but not the work and resilience re-quired to keep on top of it. She likes star-dom and celebrity, not daily chores andpublic scrutiny. She will love the adula-tion of the speech circuit, book signings,and TV appearances. The GOP is tryingto create a leader instead of finding one.

Jan H. Wolfe El Paso, Texas

Palins resignation probably killed herchances for a 2012 presidential run, but

more power to her for taking the oppor-tunity to make a bunch of honest moneyfor herself and her family. They have alltaken a lot of undeserved flak since shecame on the national scene. Also, she willnow be free to help get some new mem-bers of Congress elected and get rid of thebunch of idiots in both parties who nowhold office.

Cliff Mooney St. Maries, Idaho

I would like to see Palin just disappearinto caribou country. She hasnt been ableto govern Alaska. How in the world couldshe govern the entire United States? Itwould be a disaster.

Ed Link Reeds Spring, Mo.

If Palin does run for president in 2012,shell be creamed. Itll be a continuationof the Republicans meltdown. Thatll bea good thing until they pull their headsout of the sand. Hypocritical, arrogant,blind, mean, selfish. Enough said.

Roy Marlowe Rexburg, Idaho

Quips on the Crossword I hope you have enough readers who arecrossword puzzle fans to make it worth-while to take up the space in your U.S.News Weeklybut I am not one of them

[Editors Note, July 17]. I read your pub-lication to be informed concerning the af-fairs of the world, not to be entertained.Are cooking recipes next in order? (Sorry,Im being sarcastic.)

E .H. Naylor Austin

You asked us to rate the first of a series ofcrossword puzzles. Well, I think they canbe harder. The one in this weeks offeringI finished in under 15 minutes. Pleasekeep them coming!

Bill Hektner Aloha, Ore.

One of the unique characteristics of U.S.News was that it did not have to use wordpuzzles to attract or keep its readership.I would rather see a thought-provokingessay than the crossword.

Richard A. Kabis Winston-Salem, N.C.

Id vote for more difficult rather thaneasier, but Im glad to have this new fea-ture. And I did print plus pen.

Edward J. Simon Des Moines

The crossword puzzle is a great idea. Justright in difficulty. Too bad you do not havea daily puzzle. Then I could cancel mysubscription to the New York Times.

Stephan Jay Gold Hyde Park, N.Y.

[email protected]

This weeks Big Pic-ture on Page 28 isimpressive: $100bills hot off thepresses at the Bu-

reau of Engraving and Printing.Each week, from our perch here inthe nations capital, we bring youan iconic glimpse of Washingtonfrom the Vietnam VeteransMemorial to the Smithsonian tothe Capitol Rotundaor a historicmoment in time, such as PresidentObamas first address to Congress.Hats off to photographers CharlieArchambault, Jim Lo Scalzo, andJeff MacMillan and photo editorAvijit Gupta for these stunningmementos.

Now back to that picture of BenFranklin and friends. Drop me anote at [email protected] and letme know some of the places youvealways wanted to peek insideagovernment agency, foreign em-bassy, tourist attraction, you nameit. Well do our best to get you in.

By Brian KellyEDITORS NOTE

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is not backed by either President Obama or Secretaryof Defense Robert Gates, retained congressional sup-port for years because it was economically important inseveral House districts. The CIA is small, is concen-trated in the Washington area, is not economicallyimportant, and is too controversial. As a result, it cancount on no such constituency.

There is debate over whether members of Congress ortheir staff leak classified information. I suspect the an-swer is not as clear as the public would like. However,members use the CIA to score domestic political pointsin ways that are frustrating to intelligence professionals.

The recent dispute over intelligence briefingswith members of Congress complaining that theywere insufficiently informed of reported plansby the Central Intelligence Agency to kill al

Qaeda leadershighlights the dysfunction hauntingthe CIA and Congress.

There are several sources for the tension plaguing therelationship. First, it is colored by American ambivalencetoward intelligence. Historically, our geographic isolationand freedom from invasion protected the country, and wehad limited need for the kind of information that intelli-gence should provide. That limited need resulted in a lim-ited understanding of the profession. We love the intelli-gence game as played by 24s Jack Bauer or James Bond,but when we see it in all its real-life messiness, our Puritansensibilities, derived from the Founding Fathers concernover European-style court intrigue, make us squirm.

Against this background, congressional support forthe CIA has waxed and waned and has at best been am-biguous. The requirement to brief is vague. Legally, theCIA has to ensure that Congress is kept fully and cur-rently informed of intelligence activities as well as sig-nificant anticipated activity. The requirement does not,however, specify the meaning of fully, currently, oranticipated. This latitude obliges the CIA to make de-cisions based on what Congress may think two, four, or10 years in the future, rather than on solid reasoning.

And unlike other elements of national security, thereis no constituency in Congress for the CIA. The enor-mously expensive F-22 fighter plane, for example, whichhas not been used in either of our two current wars and

SAUL LOEBAFP / GETTY IMAGES

PAST&PRESENT

Why theCIA andCongressClashBy Margaret Henoch


Few members of Congress were career in-telligence officers. And most of theirstaffers have little direct experience withthe real substance of human intelligence.Many of those who do have intelligencebackgrounds worked in necessary buttangential areas of the agency or left theprofession with less success than theymight have hoped and harbor deepgrudges they seek to redress. Congresscould significantly improve its assess-ment of intelligence questions and its re-lationship with the agency if it hired of-ficers with solid backgrounds and recordsof having been right.

The CIA, on the other hand, too fre-quently promotes officers based not onhow often they were correct but on other,easily visible factors. Being collegial ismore valued than being right. Officerswho have served in multiple posts areconsidered more experienced, regardlessof what they accomplished there. Thosewho brief senior administration officialsare likely to get ahead faster than thosewho work on complicated analytic as-sessments. Rapid feedback that they wereright is rare for CIA officers, just becauseof the nature of the intelligence product.

A promotion system that more often re-wards correct answers would benefit theCIA enormously.

Instead, there is little accountabilityat the agency. Officers with long, knownrecords of bad judgments are too rarelydisciplined and too frequently promotedto big jobs. At the same time, a highlyqualified, well-respected officer will beallowed to resign after shoddy securi-ty investigations based on inaccurate as-sum

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