u.s. news weekly, april 20, 2012 issue

April 20, 2012

Volume 4 Number 16

This Week in WashingtonWASHINGTON WHISPERS 3Jeopardy! comes to D.C.; Bidens rockstar reception; Geithner on tax reform

WeeklyCommentary and FeaturesQUIZ The end of a space era 12 TWO TAKES 16

TAKING ON CHECKS AND BALANCES 5In this harsh political climate, the separation of powers is being questioned

Should people be allowed to carry guns openly?COMMENTARY | STEVEN S. FISCHMAN AND DAVID M. ABROMOWITZ 18

PLAYING TAX POLITICS 7Both parties offer proposals without real hope of passage

Refinance for a better economyCOMMENTARY | MARY KATE CARY 19

The secrets behind the gender gapWASHINGTON BOOK CLUB 20

PRIMARY FOCUS: INCUMBENTS 8A new super PAC targets old hands

Van Joness Rebuild the DreamBLOG BUZZ 22 | LETTERS 23 MORTIMER B. ZUCKERMAN | EDITORIAL 27

CAMPAIGN DOG DAYS 9Mans best friend has taken a prominent role in the presidential contest

How America can cure its labor woesTHE BIG PICTURE 30

THE PRESIDENCY | KEN WALSH 11Recent allegations against Secret Service agents tarnish a storied reputation

News You Can UseSTAY ACTIVE AND BE SOCIAL 25There may be no way to prevent Alzheimers, but these tips may help

SPECIAL REPORT | THE UNSUNG ROUTE TO A CAREER CHANGE 13Community colleges are gearing up to get workers where employers need themL.M. OTEROAP

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U.S.NEWS WEEKLY | APRIL 20, 2012

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WashingtonWhispersED WEXLER FOR USN&WR

By Kira Zalan

The Capitals Big BuzzersThey may know politics, but how will they handle history? The periodic table? Shakespeares plays? This weekend, 15 political figures, journalists, and media personalities will face off on Jeopardy! as the game show of answers and questions tapes a special Power Players Week in Washington. Its only the third Power Players contest in the shows 28-year run. This years roster leans heavily on journalists, but also includes an eclectic bunch of other celebrities: former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, surgeon and TV host Mehmet Oz, former professional basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and comedian Lewis Black. CNNs Anderson Cooper, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, MSNBCs Chris Matthews, NBCs Chuck Todd, and Fox Newss Dana Perino and Chris Wallace are also among the competitors. Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek says that even though these celebs may carry impressive credentials and be comfortable on camera, they dont necessarily have an edge over other contestants. The celebrities are familiar with the show, but theyre not into it the way the regular players are, Trebek told Whispers. Theyre probably more nervous than the regular folks. ... And quite often celebrities are worried that theyre going to lose face and embarrass themselves. That might also help explain why there are no current politicians competing on the shows, though leaders of both parties

The beltways power players take a turn on Alex Trebeks famed Jeopardy!3U.S.NEWS WEEKLY | APRIL 20, 2012

Keep up with the latest Washington buzz at www.usnews. com/whispers


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WASHINGTON WHISPERSstill might not be safe, particularly with the notoriously prickly Black manning a buzzer. Hes a free-enterprise comedian, Trebek says. Hell attack both Republicans and Democrats. And good for him. Abdul-Jabbar, Cooper, and Matthews have each played on Jeopardy! twice before, and each holds a 1-1 record. Kareem was very eager to come back this time, Trebek says. In his last appearance he missed a clue about himself, so hes looking for redemption. The winners will earn at least $50,000 for the charity of their choice, while the runners-up will receive $10,000 for their causes. The shows are scheduled to air May 14-18. crowd of about 1,000. This guy means it, he feels it, he tastes it. Its the reason why hes engaged. Recent polls indicate that young voters, 66 percent of whom supported Obama in 2008, just arent that inspired by the president anymore. A Harvard University poll found that 36 percent of voters ages 18 to 29 thought the president would lose his re-election bid in November. The Obama campaign is now trying to rally that base. You showed up before. ... Im confident your generations going to show up again, Biden said.

MOUTHING OFFNow that the Republican nomination is pretty much settled, who should Mitt Romney choose as his running mate?Everyone has an opinion. Send yours to [email protected].

tax reform. I think tax reform is coming, its inevitable, its necessary. Its just all about the shape of it, Geithner said at the Brookings Institution on Wednesday. Spending plans should align with tax reform plans, he added. Were going to have to find a framework for doing those things at the end of the year. Judging by the timeline, another thing appears certain: A national conversation on tax reform is unlikely to happen until after the November elections.

George Washington, the EnemyIn the 229 years since the end of the American Revolutionary War, the United States and the United Kingdom have fought numerous conflicts as allies, including two world wars. But last weekend, the Brits revealed that some wounds never heal. Britains National Army Museum voted George Washington as the greatest military enemy the country ever faced. The American Revolutionary War was the worst defeat for the British Empire ever, says historian Stephen Brumwell, so its no surprise that its leading American general is still one of Britains most despised historical figures. l With Michael Morella, Lauren Fox, and Brian Greene

Chinese Goodies for GSAersThere was no shortage of outrage at the House Oversight Committee over the General Services Administrations circus-like 2010 conference that cost taxpayers $823,000. At a hearing this week, Ohio GOP Rep. Michael Turner pointed out that many of the trinkets guests walked away with werent even made in the United States. This is one of those examples of spending under your leadership, Turner said firmly, holding up a vest for former GSA Administrator Martha Johnson to see. All of these items are being purchased and made in China, so we are stimulating China, not the United States. Some of the conferences extras were outsourced, including vests and bags adorned with the conference logo. Compared to past gatherings, the 2010 regional conference reached a historic level. In 2004, the conference cost taxpayers just over $400,000. Thank God this time what happened in Vegas didnt stay in Vegas, said Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Mike Kelly.

Bidens Rock-Star ReceptionThe Obama campaign sent 69-year-old Vice President Joe Biden to appeal to the millennial generation at a fundraiser this week in Washington. In a far cry from the usual stuffy dinner events, the veep was ushered to the podium under flashing blue and white disco lights to tunes by pop star Rihanna and hip-hop group Salt-N-Pepa. Im telling you folks, not only do I know this guy, weve become close, Biden said of President Obama as he addressed the

Some Certainty on Tax ReformIn this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes, wrote Benjamin Franklin in 1789. This week, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said there is something else thats certain:

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This Week In WashingtonTaking On Checks and BalancesIn this harsh political climate, the separation of powers is being questioned By Susan Milligan

Playing Tax Politics Primary Focus: Incumbents The Campaign Dog Days Tarnish on a Storied ReputationCHARLES DHARAPAKAP

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resident Obama is angry with the Supreme Court for allowing rich people to make unregulated donations to campaign super PACs and says it would be unprecedented if the justices throw out his healthcare reform law. A federal appeals judge got angry right back and directed an executive branch lawyer to submit a paper saying the Justice Department understood the authority of the judiciary. Some members of Congress want to bypass judicial review; others want to force the Supreme Court to let cameras in to record oral arguments. And presidential candidates are promising to spend the first day in office aligning executive orders to undo what Congress has done. The separation of powers, the revered system of checks and balances that junior high school students are taught form the keystone of the nations democracy, is showing signs of tension. The system is meant to operate like a Venn diagram, with each branch of government connecting in overlapping circles of authority to maintain accountability. Instead, the executive, legislative, and judicial branches are looking more like the old childrens game of rock, paper, scissors, with each branch asserting its power over the others. And its not clear how the feuds will turn out, especially in an election year and at a time when the high court is preparing to rule on the politically loaded healthcare legislation. The behavior by political and judicial officials does suggest a continued deterioration of [the balanced relationship] among the branches of government, says Harold Krent, dean and professor at Illinois Institute of Technol-

ogy Chicago-Kent College of Law. While power struggles among the branches have occurred throughout history, it does suggest that the bitterness or partisan show from Congress is spilling over to the court and the president. Its symptomatic of the deterioration of the parts of our body politic. Obama startled foes and some legal experts when he appeared to dress down the Supreme Court in advance of its expected summer decision on the Affordable Care Act, telling reporters in the Rose Garden April 2 that he expected

The current political climate is testing the balance of power.

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THIS WEEK IN WASHINGTONthe high court to uphold the law instead of taking the unprecedented, extraordinary step of reversing legislation approved by a democratically elected Congress. He also called the justices an unelected group of people. The verbiage was rattling, not only because the terminology has more commonly been used by his conservative opponents, who have complained about activist judges, but because Obama is a former constitutional law professor who presumably understands why the justices are appointed to life terms. In response, a federal circuit court judge in Texas, hearing a challenge to the healthcare law, instructed a government lawyer to produce a paperthree pages, single-spaced, no lessexplaining exactly how the administration views the role of the courts in judicial review. That move irked legal scholars as well. Obamas comment was a stupid one. Its not out of line with what politicians say when theyre running for re-election, but he should know better, says Seth Weinberger, associate professor of politics and government at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash., and author of a book on competing presidential and congressional powers. And the slapdown from the appeals court judge? The court probably should have been above that as well, Weinberger says. The missions of the three branches, of course, are described in broad terms: The legislative branch makes the law, the executive branch enforces the law, and the judicial branch interprets the law. But politics oversees the entire process, and at a time of heated politics officials are clinging jealously to their own powers and brandishing any overlapping authority over the other parts of government. Meanwhile, a bipartisan team in Congress has introduced the Cameras in the Courtroom Act, which would require the high court to allow televised coverage of its proceedings, with exceptions for cases in which the justices believe due process for the parties would be violated. While the bills House sponsors, GOP Rep. Ted Poe of Texas and Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, said it would make the peoples court more accessible to the public, several justices have been skeptical, concerned that it would affect both the lawyers and the court. Some members of Congress and legal experts also worry that the bill would unconstitutionally allow the legislative branch to dictate the dayto-day operations of the judicial branch. The court should be able to conduct its own affairs, says George Nation, a Lehigh University law and finance professor. Meanwhile, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, appears eager to use executive power, repeatedly pledging to undo Obamacare on his first day in office through executive order. But judges are people, too, notes Gregory Magarian, law professor at Washington University in St. Louis and a former Supreme Court clerk. While the justices are charged with interpreting the law according to the Constitution (which means ignoring the public protests in front of the courthouse steps), they are influenced by public mores, he says. The evolving positions on both civil rights and gay rights reflect that trend, Magarian adds. Nation says that justices, especially the chief, are also sensitive to the message that a plethora of 5-to-4 decisions sends, since closely divided decisions give the impression that an issue is not really settled. The government has survived interbranch squabbling before, experts note, including Franklin D. Roosevelts courtpacking plan in 1937. FDR had proposed adding as many as five new justices to a court that had been declaring parts of his New Deal unconstitutional. If you really zero in on checks and balances, theres a sense where all of this stuff is entirely predictable and normal, Magarian says. Whether its sociologically healthy is another question. Many of those issues could become clearer with this years court decisions and elections. l

What Do You Think? The balanceof power is being tested by all sides. Is all of the tension good for government? E-mail your thoughts to [email protected].

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THIS WEEK IN WASHINGTON

Playing Tax PoliticsBoth parties offer proposals without real hope of passage By Susan Milligan

T

heres nothing like Tax Day in an election year to provoke a robust political fight masquerading as a legislative battle. Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans approach to tax overhaul has any chance of becoming law this year, but lawmakers in both parties know thats not the point. The question is, which buzz phrase will resonate in the November electionsclass war, or tax fairness? Democrats, hoping voters will rebel against tax breaks for the wealthy, sought unsuccessfully to approve the socalled Buffett Rule, which would require millionaires to pay a minimum 30 percent federal tax rate. The moniker refers to wealthy businessman Warren Buffett, who hasJUSTIN SULLIVANGETTY IMAGES

People wait in a post office to mail their tax returns before the Tuesday midnight deadline.

lamented that because of legal dodges for the rich, his own secretary pays a higher tax rate than he does. Republicans blocked the measure on Monday, the day before federal tax returns were due. The GOP calls the idea a sham, noting that it would raise just $47 billion over 10 years, not enough to make a significant dent in the debt. Instead, House Republicans moved ahead with a bill, doomed to die in the other chamber, that would give businesses with fewer than 500 workers a one-year, $46 billion tax cut. Democrats label it debt-deepening and ineffective. Who wins the ultimate fight may depend on what voters believe is more plausible, that the wealthy need to pay up out of fairness, or that they need more cash to create more middle-class jobs. Were not saying this is the panacea for everything, because we want to see tax reform occur to bring down rates for everybody, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor told reporters, referring to the GOPs business tax cut proposal. And while there are some people who will buy the divisive strategy to cast Republicans as the party of the wealthy, most voters just want more jobs, says Rep. Dave Reichert, a Washington state Republican. And to charges that President Obama is starting a class war? Democrats say

that isnt playing in their districts and states. Every once in a while, I hear that phrase used back home, says Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat. But if you sit and talk to someone for a moment, it kind of goes away. Its the GOP thats causing a class divide, Democrats argue. Republicans first allegiance is to protect the very wealthy, says Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat up for re-election in the fall. Generally, if the House puts up a vote that is designed to send a political message without a high probability of becoming law, its often seen as a political message by voters, says GOP Iowa Rep. Steve King. The same goes for the Senate, he adds. And theres one wealthy man who was on Democrats minds as they fought for the Buffett Rule, and thats Mitt Romney, who opposes the tax increase. The presumptive GOP presidential nominee has consistently performed less well among lower- and middle-income voters during the primaries than among voters making $200,000 a year or more, a fact Democrats see as a potential vulnerability in November. Romney, who paid an effective tax rate of about 14 percent on the $42.5 million he made in the last two years, has filed for an extension on submitting his 2011 tax return. l

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THIS WEEK IN WASHINGTONCHARLES DHARAPAKAP

Primary Focus: IncumbentsA new super PAC targets longtime members of Congress By Tierney SneedRep. Tim Murphy is facing a tough primary challenger.

I

ts rare in Washington to find a group that targets both sides indiscriminately. But thats exactly what the Campaign for Primary Accountability does. The Texas-based super PAC doesnt represent an issue or espouse an ideology. Instead it focuses its spendingso far $1.3 million of $1.9 million raised as of April 9on ousting incumbents of both parties in primary elections. The group first piqued media attention when it helped Brad Wenstrup defeat Rep. Jean Schmidt, a four-term Ohio Republican, in early March, and since has gained a reputation as the anti-incumbent super PAC as it has intervened in other campaigns. Spokesman Curtis Ellis rejects the nickname, saying, We are not on an anti-incumbent jihad. Rather, he says, the group gets involved in a race only if it satisfies four criteria: it is taking place in a district dominated by a single party;

the incumbent has been in office for multiple terms; the primary opponent is a credible challenger, meaning he or she is campaigning seriously and is qualified to hold the office; and the groups research shows that constituents are dissatisfied with their current representative. Next week, the group will be in the spotlight again as Rep. Tim Holden, a 10-term Democrat of Pennsylvanias 17th congressional district, and Rep. Tim Murphy, a five-term Republican of Pennsylvanias 18th, try to hold off primary challengers. The PAC has supported opponents of both. The group was founded in September by Leo Linbeck III, a Houston construction mogul who, as Ellis explains, blames the electoral system for the state of politics today. He says congressional redistricting and Washington establishment support have allowed longtime politicians to coast through elections with little competition and sparse voter participation. Almost 90 percent of congressional seats are selected by fewer than .5 percent of people, says Ellis. Politicians can thus put special interests ahead of voters, perpetuating corruption, the group says. With new members we at least have the opportunity to effect real change, Ellis says,

while the incumbents they target are so bought into the system as it exists today it would be futile to expect them to enact any sort of reform. The PAC seeks to be the equalizer, Ellis says, informing voters both of their incumbents record and why the primary is the election that really matters. When more people vote in the primaries, members of Congress will be more representative of the population rather than the hyperpartisan section of the electorate, Ellis adds. So far, the group has helped freshman Republican Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger beat 10-term Rep. Don Manzullo in a race that followed redistricting, but failed to topple Democratic Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois and Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, and Republican Reps. Spencer Bachus and Jo Bonner of Alabama. Even when the incumbents do win their primaries, Ellis says, the organization has still met with success. Jesse Jackson campaigned really hard for the first time in many years, he says of the Illinois contest. Our goal is to have representatives answer to the voters rather than lobbyists. We feel we achieve that goal if the candidate engages in a competitive campaign. But win or lose, one thing message is clear: Incumbents, beware. l

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THIS WEEK IN WASHINGTONPETE SOUZATHE WHITE HOUSE

The Campaign Dog DaysMans best friend has taken a prominent role in the presidential contest By Aliyah Shahid and Jonathan LemirePresident Obama and his dog, Bo, in the presidential limo

F

orget wars, unemployment, and gas pricesthe presidential campaign has gone to the dogs. Rather than hold an enlightened debate about Americans struggles, the campaigns of President Obama and Mitt Romney barked at each other Wednesday for the alleged mistreatment of mans best friend. The long-simmering canine controversy, largely driven by two of the campaigns heavy-hitting operatives, culminated when Romneys top spokesman tweeted a picture of the president and his Portuguese water dog, Bo, and suggested that Obama may eat the First Pup. For months, liberals have slyly slandered Romney over a tale that he strapped the family Irish setter, Seamus, onto the roof of a car during a 1980s family road trip. That story reignited this weekin a clear sign that the political silly season had already arrived, more than

six months before Election Daywhen Ann Romney defended the practice, saying that Seamus loved riding on the roof. He would see that crate and, you know, he would, like, go crazy because he was going with us on vacation, she told ABC Newss Diane Sawyer. It was to me a kinder thing to bring him along than to leave him in the kennel for two weeks. The crate story had led David Axelrod, one of Obamas chief strategists, in January to tweet a photo of the president holding Bo inside the presidential limo along with the words how loving owners transport their dogs. The Republicans had their own dog day afternoon this week, after a conservative blogger dug up an excerpt from Obamas popular 1995 memoir, Dreams of My Father, about his childhood with his stepfather in Indonesia. With Lolo, I learned how to eat small green chili peppers raw with dinner (plenty of rice), and, away from the dinner table, I was introduced to dog meat (tough), snake meat (tougher), and roasted grasshopper (crunchy), wrote Obama, who lived in Indonesia from ages 6 to 10.

The excerpt, posted on the Daily Caller, prompted a stream of Twitter jokes with the theme #ObamaDogRecipes and Romneys top spokesman joined in. Eric Fehrnstrom posted Axelrods photo of Obama and Bo and added the wicked caption, In hindsight, a chilling photo. Outraged Democrats then slammed Fehrnstrom for poking fun at something from the presidents childhood, while the animal rights group PETA chimed in to say that a kid couldnt be held responsible for what is served for dinner. Romney, perhaps realizing that pets cant vote, tried to quell the mutt mayhem late Wednesday. This campaign is going to ultimately become about jobs, not dogs, he said during a campaign appearance in North Carolina. Meanwhile, Obama did not contribute to the dogfight during a speech at an Ohio community collegebut did land a subtle dig at Romneys privileged upbringing. I wasnt born with a silver spoon in my mouth, said Obama, stressing the need for government assistance to the less fortunate. l

Find more election coverage from the New York Daily News at www.nydailynews.com.

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The Presidency By Kenneth T. WalshWIN MCNAMEEGETTY IMAGES

Tarnish on a Storied Reputation

Over the years, agents of the Secret Serviceknown for their menacing scowls and their tough-minded professionalismearned a reputation for being models of rectitude, restraint, and discretion, intent on protecting the president no matter what and staying above reproach. No more. Now there are allegations that a number of agents consorted with prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia, last week while on assignment to guard President Obama during an international conference. The shock and disappointment around Washington run deep. Thats because the Secret Service was supposed to be different. The courage of its agents was indelibly stamped on the American psyche by their actions in trying to save John F. Kennedys life when he was shot in 1963, and their successful efforts to prevent the death of Ronald Reagan during the assassination attempt of 1981. Their willingness to throw themselves into harms way to protect the commander in chief garnered widespread respect and admiration. There may have been lapses, such as rumored affairs by married agents on the road, and the embarrassing mistake in judgment when agents allowed an uninvited socialite couple into a White House state dinner with Obama and his wife in 2009. But few imagined that there could be allegations of personal misconduct on the scale of what reportedly happened in Cartagena. Officials say that a number of agents, and some members of the U.S. military, brought prostitutes to their hotel rooms in Cartagena before Obamas arrival in Colombia.

The Secret Service is under scrutiny after reports of misconduct.

They were apparently off duty, but as members of Congress and others have pointed out, their behavior opened up the possibility of security breaches, such as disclosure of the specifics of the presidents itinerary or blackmail. And the incident was an embarrassment for the president and the United States. It made matters worse that some agents allegedly showed up at a Cartagena brothel and bragged about their role in protecting the president, which could have created even more security problems. There have already been repercussions. The agents who are under suspicion have had their security clearances revoked and they were placed on administrative

PLA Y

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THE PRESIDENCYleave while various investigations proceed. Subsequently, one supervisor was allowed to retire, another supervisor was told he is being fired, and a third Secret Service employee resigned. Agency officials indicate that other disciplinary actions are under consideration. Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney said that if the allegations prove to be true, Id clean house. us who work with him, is exemplary as a rule. And they put their lives on the line, and its a very, very difficult job. And he acknowledges that and appreciates it. But there is a broader problem. The Secret Service had been one of the last government agencies in Washington to enjoy almost universal respect, unlike the General Services Administration, which is undergoing its own scandal because of profligate spending on a staff trip to Las Vegas. The GSA has a mixed reputation as a bureaucratic agency charged with keeping track of government expenditures. But the Secret Service was seen in a better light. You always assumed the Secret Service was the best, says a former senior White House adviser to a Republican president. Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican and ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, called the Cartagena incident appalling. She told reporters, We dont know who these women are. They could be spies. They could be associated with hostile forces. If the allegations prove true, the Secret Service will have a credibility gap. And that would intensify the distrust that Americans already feel toward their institutions and their leaders. l

QUIZ OF THE WEEK

By Kira Zalan

The End of a Space Era1. When was space shuttle Discoverys

completed more flights than any other orbiter in NASAs fleet.

first mission?

A. B. C. D.

1981 1984 1987 1989

True False7. Discovery took the first sitting

member of Congress into space in 1985. Who was it?

2. True or false: Discovery was named

after British exploration ships.

The Secret Service had been one of the last government agencies to enjoy almost universal respect.The right thing to do is to remove people who have violated the public trust and have put their play time and their personal interests ahead of the interests of the nation. The presidents first public reaction when asked about the episode was to say that he would be angry if the allegations held up. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney added that Obama retains confidence in both Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan and the presidents official bodyguards, and he feels very strongly that the work the Secret Service does, the men and women who protect him and his family and those of

True False3. How long did it take to build the

A. B. C. D.

shuttle?

Sen. Jake Garn from Utah Sen. John Glenn from Ohio Sen. Bill Nelson from Florida Sen. Barry Goldwater from Arizona

A. B. C. D.

1 year 3 years 5 years 7 years

8. True or false: Discoverys last

mission, in 2011, was to transport items to the International Space Station.

4. True or false: Discovery was the last

True False9. Where will Discovery be displayed as

space shuttle added to NASAs fleet.

True False5. When did Discovery carry the Hubble

of this week?

Space Telescope into space?

A. B. C. D.

1989 1990 1991 1992

6. True or false: Discovery has

A. National Air and Space Museums Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia B. NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. C. Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York D. Kennedy Space Center in FloridaANSWERS ON PAGE 21

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MIKE ECKELKAMP FOR USN&WR

SPECIAL REPORT

The Unsung Route to a Career ChangeCommunity colleges are gearing up to get workers where employers need themBy Cathie Gandelhen the paper mill in Franklin, Va., closed in mid-2010, Al Faison lost the job hed held for 25 years, and the future suddenly didnt seem so bright. I didnt have a lot of choices, says Faison, whose responsibility had been to prepare orders to customer specifications. While he could have looked for work at a nearby shipyard, without transferable skills he would have had to start at the bottom in a more physically demanding job. I

After 23 years in the newspaper business and a return to school, Ron Jacobs is pursuing his passion: cooking.

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SPECIAL REPORTwasnt sure I could keep pace with that into the future, he says. Then representatives from Tidewater Community College came to talk to employees, and Faison found his answer. Today, while he receives special federal unemployment benefits for people who have lost jobs to foreign trade, he is partway through a threeyear retraining program in healthcareradiographyand is scheduled to graduate in May 2013. I was looking for a marketable skill set that I could carry anywhere, and that would not have the same potential as manufacturing to be outsourced overseas, says Faison, who is currently working a clinical rotation as an X-ray technologist at Maryview Medical Center in Portsmouth, a hospital affiliated with Tidewater. If I hadnt had Tidewater Community College, I dont know what I would have done. Heading back to campus for a costly graduate degree isnt the only wayor necessarily the best wayto switch direction in an uncertain job market. Providing a solution for men and women like Faison, who want to change careers or add or upgrade skills, has long been the bread and butter of the nations community colleges, says Norma Kent, a senior vice president of the 1,200-member American Association of Community Colleges. They can tailor their curricula and classes to local needs, whether its equine studies in Kentucky, turf management in North Carolina where there are a lot of golf courses, or training John Deere technicians in Nebraska, she says. San Jacinto College in Houston recently began offering Introduction to Ships and Shipping to train workers for the areas expanding international shipping industry. Thats the kind of program federal officials had in mind when, last September, they announced almost $500 million in grants to community colleges. This first round of 32 grants was part of a four-year, $2 billion program to help unemployed and displaced workers find new jobs in their local economies. Many of the grant proposals depend on a consortium of community colleges working in partnership with local employers to develop programs that meet specific needs.

When a career path dead-ends or the thrill just burns out, a class or two at a community college can inspire a whole new direction.Northland Community and Technical College in Minnesota, for example, received $4.8 million to train workers in analyzing images transmitted by unmanned aircraft, the fastest-growing technology in aviation. Although currently used mainly for military and security purposes, it may have future applications for science, agriculture, and the environment. Estimates are that between 2010 and 2025, more than 23,000 jobs will be created in the unmanned aircraft systems industry. This initiative is about providing access to training that leads to real jobs, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis said in a statement. Tidewater received one of the largest grants$24.1 millionto head a consortium of 23 Virginia community colleges focusing on health sciences education. We want to connect the dots between where the health-

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SPECIAL REPORTcare industry is going and what kind of workforce is going to be needed, says Deborah DiCroce, until recently the president of Tidewater. One of the planned strategies is to create a statewide E-Health Career Studies Certificate program that will prepare students for immediate employment and at the same time qualify them for placement in selective health sciences degree programs geared for high-demand, high-wage occupations. Practicality and passion. When a career path dead-ends or the thrill just burns out, a class or two at a community college can inspire, relatively cheaply, a whole new direction. Celeste Simmons, of Atlanta, trained as a medical assistant and nurse and then started teaching CPR and first aid. But I didnt want to work in a hospital, and I couldnt find steady employment in the training field, she says. So in 2009, it was back to school at Chattahoochee Technical College for a general associates degree. Id heard community colleges were good if you wanted to switch fields, she says. She took a class in technical writing and was hooked. Today, Simmons works for PlayNation, a manufacturer of swing sets, writing copy for the corporate website, brochures, and pamphlets. Going back to school was a great experience, and Im so glad I did it, she says. So is Ron Jacobs, who, when laid off from the job he had held for 23 years in the circulation department at the San Francisco Chronicle, decided to take the experience as an opportunity to follow a long-denied passion. He had always been drawn to cooking, but years earlier had run from what I loved for the security of a regular paycheck. Within a few months of his June 2009 layoff, he entered the two-year culinary arts program at City College of San Francisco. I was told by industry professionals that I would get more bang for the buck at a community college, he says. (Cost is $36 per unit; he needed 60 units to get his degree plus a certificate from the American Culinary Federation.) Now, having graduated in December, Jacobs is working as a prep and line cook at a restaurant in the San Francisco airport. Its never too late to go for what you love, he says. Not only will community college coursework not break the bank, but its also very easy to access. Student bodies include the entire mix, from recent high school graduates to riffed or retired people looking for what comes next. Nationwide, community colleges accommodate anyone who walks through the door, says Joe Dunlap, president of Spokane Community College. Spokanes $20 million grant will allow it to lead a consortium of community colleges developing curricula, with Boeings help, to train maintenance technicians, component and electrical assemblers, hydraulic technicians, and repair workers for the aerospace industry. Boeing has forecast that the worlds airlines will need to add 650,000 maintenance personnel over the next two decades; the grant initially requires the college to train 2,617 workers. Programs range from an 11-week course for aircraft assemblers to a two-year degree as an aviation maintenance technician; in composite manufacturing, students will learn new

Student bodies include the entire mix, from recent high school graduates to riffed or retired people looking for what comes next.engineering techniques required to make aircraft from carbon fiber and Kevlar instead of aluminum. One goal of the overall program is to provide a seamless transition for military veterans seeking a civilian aerospace career, says Dunlap. To that end, the school has hired a coordinator to direct veterans through the appropriate studies and connect them with aerospace jobs. Our goal is to be proactive, DiCroce says of the Tidewater program, and to work arm in arm with business and industry so there is not a workplace crisis or shortage. Employers signal the need, and community colleges deliver the goods. l

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TWO TAKESShould People Be Allowed to Carry Guns Openly?With gun laws in the spotlight, Oklahoma legislators are debating a measure that would allow people to openly carry firearms. Proponents say the government cant restrict citizens from protecting themselves. Opponents say open-carry laws would give way to more violence. Edited by Kira ZalanThe debate over how some may carry a firearm for protection can only be discussed when the foundation for the carry provisions has been fairly set. Most conceal and carry laws restrict a right that is guaranteed by the Constitution. To say that you may only carry a firearm if you have paid a certain amount of money to the government for a licensing fee and then submit to regulation would be equivalent to telling the press that they must abide by certain rules and pay for the right of free speech. I recently had a debate with a friend who told me that everyone has the right to defend themselves and that gun control does nothing to infringe on that. The issue this brings up is a very simple one. If you are attacked by an unarmed assailant, and you are yourself unarmed, then for the most part you have the right to self-defense. However, if the assailant is armed or is otherwise stronger, bigger, or faster than you, then the government has guaranteed through regulation that you are not only unarmed but also an easy target. The right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. It seems like this should be easy enough to understand. Lets assume, however, that the carry provisions we are talking about are fair in their access to READ MORE

KAREN BLEIERAFP / GETTY IMAGES

YES

By Ralph ShorteyOklahoma State Senator, Republican

By Constance JohnsonOklahoma State Senator, DemocratOKLAHOMA STATE SENATE

OKLAHOMA STATE SENATE

The proposal to allow open carry in Oklahoma is unnecessary, redundant, not well thought out, and will lead to dire unintended consequences for Oklahoma citizens and visitors to the state. Oklahoma already permits concealed carry, with a brief course of instruction. To now allow open carry (one proposal would even allow unlicensed open carry), i.e., to put more guns into the hands of more people, is an invitation to chaos, especially given the disparity in who will be armed and who wont. The baseline question is whether those who will be armed will be trustworthy with their advantage over the unarmed. Open carry is unsafe, intimidating, and potentially dangerous, especially given that there are no provisions for proper administration, controls, and protections for the public. Many first-time toters will also be untrained in retaining control of their own weapons and may make it possible for others to grab their guns and use them against innocent bystanders. Guns kill the innocent and the guilty equally. When the smoke settles, the dead have no voice. Open carry predicates a well-balanced and rational society in an era when reality suggests dif- READ MORE

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TWO TAKES

every citizen. The first question that must be answered is, Why does the government think it has the right to tell a law-abiding citizen how they may go about protecting themselves? Some may feel that the best way to defend yourself is by letting the criminals know that you are not an easy target. Most criminals look for the easiest and quickest route to their goal. There is nothing that will slow a criminal down faster than seeing a loaded gun at the ready. We have seen this principle supported by those who often carry goods such as door-to-door salesmen or jewelry peddlers. Street vendors who have the option to show their firearms see fewer attempts at their goods. If it works for these groups of people, then whats to say that it wont work for otherwise defenseless-looking people who would appear that way if not for the hand cannon attached to their hip. Another practical application illustrating the benefit of a citizen to openly carry would be that of disassociation. It takes little recognition to verify that most criminals want to conceal their intentions and their desires. An argument has been made that openly carrying fire-

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arms gives criminals the same ability. The reality is that criminals, even those who are not committing crimes, do not want to do anything that draws attention to them. However, because of the negative connotations associated with firearms, born mainly of unjustified fear of the unknown, law-abiding citizens feel it necessary to conceal so that others feel more comfortable around them. Ideally it would be great to see a situation where an openly carried firearm would not associate one with fear but rather with personal responsibility. When I think about a world full of so much violence I wish for many things. I wish that there werent people who take advantage of the weak. I wish I could tell my two little girls that they dont need to worry about bad guys in the world. I wish that I could trust my life in the hands of a police officer who is 10 minutes away. I wish that I did not feel the necessity to carry a firearm. But my true sentiments are summarized in the little quip: I carry a gun because a cop is too heavy, and hopefully where everyone can see. l BACK TO PAGE 16

ferently. Guns consistently factor into these equations in Oklahoma, where domestic violence is epidemic (we rank third in spousal abuse deaths); where there is a history of racially motivated violent actions against people of color, the most notable of which have taken place in Tulsa, where five African-Americans were shot and three died recently, and thousands were killed or made homeless in the 1921 burning of Greenwood; and where there are significant numbers of unanswered and unresolved questions about AfricanAmerican shooting deaths at the hands of law enforcement. But even law enforcement is fearful of the consequences of allowing people to open carry, out of a concern about not knowing who is the good guy or the bad guy in the midst of a violent encounter. Law enforcement and communities at large view the carrying of any type of weapon, openly or concealed, as a threat to their well-being and public safety. Oklahoma is no longer and should never again become a venue for old-

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What Do You Think? Do people have a fundamental right to openly carry guns? Ordoes this pose a danger to society? E-mail your thoughts to [email protected].

style, wild, wild West activities. We have enough rodeos in which to seek to recapture that era. The Second Amendments guarantee of the right to bear arms being uninfringed evolved early in our countrys history over concerns about subjection to rule by another country. The popularity of Second Amendment rights today appears to evolve from activists concerns about violence and wanting to be able to defend against violence. They cite their Second Amendment rights, but people who choose to live in peace also have the right not to be exposed to weapons and violence. Legislation must balance protection of the rights of all. The solution to concerns about violence is better and more effectively achieved through policy initiatives that address the sources of our woundspoverty, obesity, smoking, addiction, mental illness, and health disparity, to name a few. When we focus on and get these areas right, we will have achieved great strides toward reducing the conditions that perpetuate violence in society. Open carry will pass in our Republican-controlled state unless citizens who strongly oppose this proposal begin to engage their elected officials about more people carrying more guns not being the solution. l BACK TO PAGE 16

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COMMENTARY

Refinance for a Better EconomyExpanding Obamas mortgage program would boost bottom lines for business By Steven S. Fischman and David M. AbromowitzFischman is the president and COO of New England Development. Abromowitz is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

T

he recent overwhelming passage of the JOBS Act proves that when the business community unites behind legislation, even a bitterly divided Congress can join hands and act. So next up on the business agenda should be something less obviously a business issue but arguably more beneficial to the economypushing to unleash the spending power of millions of U.S. households by clearing away barriers to refinancing for homeowners current on their mortgage payments. Thats the single biggest step Washington can take to kick-start anemic consumer spending and boost businesses bottom lines. A broad-based refinancing program could allow as many as 25 million households to refinance from interest rates exceeding 5.5 percent to todays rates of around 4 percent, according to estimates by Glenn Hubbard, Columbia Business School dean and George W. Bushs former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. That would free up a collective $70 billion per year for stronger consumer spending, according to Hubbard and his colleagues. Making it possible for even a portion of this market to refinance would be a meaningful economic boost. Indeed, the potential annual savings of $2,800 per household is far larger than any tax cut proposal for the middle class being debated in Washington. Yet such well-grounded ideas continue to falter in the political arena when dismissed as being bailouts for irresponsible homeowners or big government. This is where the business community can help point out more vocally that they are neither: The vast majority of eligible hom-

eowners are people who invested significant money in their house and werent underwater when they borrowed. The Obama administration last year revamped its existing Home Affordable Refinance Program to expand the eligibility for refinancing. The rules were modified to let borrowers with loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac who hadnt missed higher payments save an average $220 per month. Thats a step in the right direction, but breaking the refinance logjams will require both congressional action and greater pressure on lenders to accelerate the pace. One problem is that the program is only available to borrowers with Fannie- or Freddie-backed mortgages, leaving as many as 2 million other households who happen to have purely private loans unable to refinance, according to the Federal Reserve. President Obama earlier this year proposed a new program to help these homeowners refinance into new mortgages made by private companies and guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, a government-run mortgage insurer. Congress has yet to put that program to a vote, though, and it is even unclear how strongly the administration is still promoting it. Businesses would be natural advocates for such policies. Companies are accustomed to improving their balance sheets and taking advantage of lower interest rates. And when households do the same, businesses benefit. The business community would be well served to become vocal with members of Congress about how helping responsible homeowners lower their debt payments is critical for the economy. l

Breaking the refinance logjams will require both congressional action and greater pressure on lenders to accelerate the pace.

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COMMENTARY By Mary Kate Cary

The Secrets Behind the Gender Gap

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he gender gap is all over the news lately. Here are five aspects of it you may not have known about: Its not just Republicans who have a problem with women. The recent comments by Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen reminded everyone of a similar Hillary moment back in the 1992 race, when Hillary Clinton insulted stay-at-home moms on 60 Minutes, saying that she wouldnt be some little woman standing by my husband like Tammy Wynette. She later explained: I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was fulfill my profession. Most women still remember the outrage over that one. The fact that President Obama, Vice President Biden, the first lady, the head of the Democratic National Committee, and the senior campaign leadership all moved quickly to lower the boom on Rosen shows how fluid the Democrats believe the womens vote to be. They knew immediately that this was a highly polarizing issue, perhaps more so than this springs earlier debate over contraception, because while times have changed since 1992, the rhetoric coming from the left sounded nearly the same. It was di-

visive and disrespectful to a huge voting bloc, as it was in 1992, and the campaign knew it had to act quickly. Subsequent events let us see how quickly the Romney campaign can pivot. When an opportunity presented itself, strategists put the campaigns greatest asset, Ann

Poll after poll shows that the top issues women care about are the economy and the deficit.Romney, front and center. She was on Twitter quickly responding to Rosen graciously but firmly, with a no-hard-feelings tone thats unusual these days. In the days that followed, Romney himself was able to talk about the number of women who have lost jobs in the second half of the recession, about the fact that he is actually in favor of equal pay for women, and about pocketbook issues such as rising prices for gas and groceries. If hes smart, Romney will keep that conversation going all fall, as poll after poll shows that the top issues women care about are the economy and the deficit. The poll numbers are more volatile than youd think. Get ready for a roller coaster ride between now and the election

when it comes to the gender gap. In the days since Rick Santorum dropped out, gender gap numbers have fluctuated, as have the preferences of the largest segment of the electorate, independent voters. Historically, more women have voted Democratic than Republican in presidential races. But that may no longer be true, since women voted Republican in droves for the first time in 2010, during the midterm elections. Democrats shouldnt take the womens vote for granted anymore. Conservative womens groups such as SmartGirlPolitics and ShePAC realize that the womens vote is not monolithic, and they are aggressively pursuing female voters and supporting female candidates. There are some poll numbers that are not fluctuating much: the number of Americans of both genders who believe our country is on the wrong track and disapprove of the presidents job performance, despite the fact that many people like Obama personally. The biggest secret in town: Theres a male gender gap, too. Slate writer Libby Copeland recently explained how the male vote can change dramatically as well: Voters still shift along the political spectrum a good bit, and when they

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C0MMENTARYdo, men appear to move more dramatically. Studies have shown that Americans tend to act as a counterweight to the size of government. When government spends more and enacts bigger programs, Americans tend to become more conservative and to want a smaller government. When government shrinks, Americans want it bigger. Based on the large majorities of Americans who believe the country is on the wrong track, and the high levels of concern about the deficit, Id say most Americans, both male and female, are leaning toward smaller, not bigger, government. Todays stay-at-home moms are different. The conventional wisdom is that stay-at-home moms are wealthy, older, out-of-touch women who never spend a day in the workforce, which was what Hilary Rosen implied about Ann Romney. Times have changed. Most stayat-home moms I know work part time from home, many as consultants, brokers, designers, writers, and small business owners. Theyve worked in various situations according to their needs at the time. For example, what worked for me when my girls were toddlers was very different from what Im doing now that they are teenagers. According to the most recent census data available, the profile of stay-at-home moms is also very different than it used to be: They are more likely to be younger than most working moms, and more likely to be Hispanic, foreign-born, and lacking a college degree. Theyre not necessarily the ladies who lunch the left makes them out to be. Weve got a long summer ahead of us, now that the primaries are virtually over and the debates have ended. Theres plenty of room between now and the conventions in late August for more gaffes by both campaigns, their staffers, and their friends in the media. But theres also plenty of room for a constructive, civil case to be made about whats most important to women and how to achieve it: a strong, growing economy that allows them to afford to do whats best for their families, and a smart, efficient government that doesnt bankrupt the next generation. Until that happens, large majorities of women will continue to believe were on the wrong track as a nation. l

The Washington

BOOK CLUB

Pushing for Hope and ChangeBy Kira Zalan

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oon after taking office in 2009, the Obama administration tapped green economy pioneer Van Jones for the newly created position of special adviser for green jobs. Six months later, attacked for his political past by conservative pundits and accused of signing a controversial petition about the September 11 attacks, Jones resigned. In Rebuild the Dream, the founding president of the organization Rebuild the Dream tells his side of the story, explains why Obamas grass-roots base is disenchanted with the president, and provides a blueprint for the progressive movement. He recently spoke with U.S. News about the problems he says Americans are facing, who should take the blame, and what he thinks needs to be done to effect change. Excerpts:

How do you define the dream?

Ordinary people should be able to work hard and get somewhere. Unfortunately, the American Dream has been turned upside down and inside out recently. It used to be that the pathway out of poverty into the middle class was going to college and buying a home. Today, with the crushing student debt and underwater mortgages, those aspirations are trapdoors to fall out of the middle class into poverty.Who are the dream killers, as you call them?

Which party has a better chance with women? Weigh in at [email protected].

Well, I think the main culprits today are the worst of Wall Street. I think the financial sector is bleeding the country dry. Wall Street got a big bailout for itself but then wont turn around and help out Main Street, let alone the side streets and the back roads. When our bankers were flat on their back, the American people stretched out a hand,

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THE WASHINGTON BOOK CLUBpulled them back up, and got them on their feet. Now theyre pushing us down with exorbitant credit card rates, payday lending that is very exploitative, underwater mortgages that they wont renegotiate, and private student loans that they are using to really crush a generation.What do you propose?

hope, can give some guidance to what might be effective. After all, I am in a unique position. I was a grass-roots outsider, became a White House insider, and then became a grass-roots outsider again. And so I have a 360-degree view on what has happened to the movement for hope and change, and how we got off track.

be as effective in my position if I were becoming a distraction in the White House.How has the administration done on green energy policy without you?

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www.usnews.com/usnewsweeklyLETTERS TO THE EDITOR

We think that until the people stand up and insist that the bankers help America and use their power in a productive way, rather than a predatory way, we wont get the economy going.Is there a role for government?

Congress has failed to pass cap and trade, or any legislation that would cut carbon pollution.What happened to that movement?

The Obama administration could do a very important thing of having Fannie [Mae] and Freddie [Mac] reduce the principal owed on homes that have underwater mortgages. That could create a savings of $90 billion for the American people, which would have a great stimulating effect on the economy.Is there still momentum in popular protest?

Certainly Occupy [Wall Street] rang a chord on this concern about income inequality, Wall Streets recklessness, and the lack of jobs. And also too much big money influencing our politics. These issues are not going away. The book, we

The book spends a lot of time explaining the ways in which the White House fails to understand the grass-roots movements that elected the president. It also points out that the grass-roots movements did not and do not understand the limits and the functions of the White House. I think that the movement expected the president to move mountains just by giving speeches and using executive authority.Do you regret your decision to resign?

I give the administration probably a good B-plus. I give Congress a D. Congress has failed to pass cap and trade, or any legislation that would cut carbon pollution. The administration included $80 billion in clean and green spending in the 2009 stimulus bill. Unfortunately, those public investments needed to have been followed up immediately with a change in the public rules. Cap and trade rules would have sent a signal to the markets that clean energy was going to become the more profitable form of energy in America and you would have seen a tidal wave of private capital flow into our solar sector, our smart battery sector, our wind sector. And you would have seen hundreds of thousands of jobs created right away.What would Obama learn from your book?

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Answers to Quiz1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. B. 1984 True. C. 5 years False. B. 1990 True. A. Sen. Jake Garn True. A. National Air and Space Museums Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia

I think it was the right decision for me and my family at that time. We were getting death threats and I didnt feel that I would

How would you grade Obamas green energy policy? Weigh in at [email protected].

Well, I think he would learn how to better sell the good things that came out of the stimulus package. He saved the jobs of countless teachers, firefighters, and cops, and he never took credit for that. The book includes ads on that topic that could be used. I also include a speech on how he could defend himself from charges that hes a socialist. l

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BLOG BUZZRecent chatter from the Thomas Jefferson Street bloggers, who weigh in on current events at usnews.comLESLIE MARSHALL SCOTT GALUPO JAMIE STIEHM

The Commander in Chief Deserves RespectI am seeing a growing number of Americans disrespect not only the man in the Oval Office, but the office of the president. It seems the older I get, the less respect Americans have for our commander in chief. This week alone we have seen two examples, and where is the outrage? Secret Service agents were allegedly being serviced by prostitutes in Colombia. Then, rock musician Ted Nugent made violent anti-Obama statements at the National Rifle Association. I feel that the Secret Service and Ted Nugent, consciously or otherwise, feel it is OK to disrespect the president because of his skin color.

Romneys High TideFormer Gov. Mitt Romney bested President Obama in the first Gallup daily tracking poll this year. Romney has been able to retreat to the challengers Rose Garden. But will he be able to endure an assault from a competent, wellfunded opponent? Anyone who predicts this will be a landslide, for either side, is crazy. The fact remains that Romney is carrying a heavy load of unfavorability. His low ebb might not ultimately look all that much different from his high tide.PETER ROFF

Stay-at-Home Mom ProblemStay-at-home mom has entered our political lexicon with a vengeance because of the Hilary Rosen-Ann Romney cable brouhaha. What the term does, in four easy pieces, is throw flowers on the grave of the womens movementand then give it a good kick. My generation was the first to have all the doors open to the Ivy Leagues, to the military academies, to the professional schools, and other single-sex institutions. Im afraid we took all that too lightlyfor granted.

Obamas Buffett Rule Is a Tax on the Middle ClassPresident Obama says its unfair that those who are described as the wealthiest among us are taxed at a lower rate on the money they make from investments. He neglects, purposefully, to point out that even under the current system the tax on capital gains and dividends constitutes a form of double taxation. The returns being taxed are produced by money that was already taxed when it was earned as income. The fact that its taxed again at a lower rate is a reward for investing it in the marketplace at considerable risk. The Buffett Rule is a tax on the middle class, on retirees, on philanthropic institutions, and on success.More wit and insight from Thomas Jefferson Street are at www.usnews.com/opinion.CHAN LOWETRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES

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LETTERS @ USNEWS.COMAugustas ChoiceShould the Augusta National Golf Club open its membership to women? Absolutely not [Mouthing Off, April 6]. It is a private club and not subject as such to rules imagined by talking heads and pointy-headed editors. Of course, if the membership should by secret ballot decide otherwise, that is their prerogative. Jim Hamilton Tulsa, Okla. The Augusta National Golf Club, home to the Masters, should let women become members. If they dont, then the PGA should move the Masters to another location and the club can stay all men. Unfortunately, the PGA probably lacks the fortitude to make this type of historic move, probably due to the big-money politics involved. Randy Toth Pittsfield, Mass. Augusta National is a private club. To me, private indicates the very definition of the word. Are you questioning my right to gather a group of friends or associates that I want to socialize with? The very idea that you or anyone else would want to force me to associate with those that I choose not to is appalling. There are groups of people called activists just waiting for something to oppose or find a reason to interfere. MyANDREW REDINGTONGETTY IMAGES

private circle of friends is none of your business and you or anyone else are not welcome unless there is reason to believe you would be compatible with the rest of us. We do not have to have a reason, although we may have one, to exclude you. If there is no such thing as private, then lets get rid of the word. Just because you have press credentials does not give you the right to pry into my private affairs or anyone elses. The very arrogance of your question is what prompted my reply. Bill Cobb Oklahoma City If the membership wishes to admit a member (who happens to be female), yes. Its a private club. The members decide. Paul E. Kent Issaquah, Wash. Augusta National Golf Club can do whatever it wants, but no one who believes in the United States Equal Rights Amendment should attend or sponsor an ad for the Masters. One year of protest would end their discrimination. Kathryne Stelzer Le Mars, Iowa The fine reputation of Augusta will be maintained if they allow membership to females. The very fact that this issue is now in the mainstream media makes it essential that membership rules be addressed. To deny membership, or even worse, not to even address it, is a recipe for losing members, funding, and tarnishing a stunning history. All aspects of membership should now be thoroughly reviewed and modifications made where necessary. Where membership to females is concerned, that affirmative decision seems to me to be a no-brainer.Donald P. McCabe

Making the Rich Pay MoreEnactment of a Buffett Rule, without comprehensive tax reform which eliminates loopholes and broadens the base of taxpayers, is a purely political act [Mouthing Off, April 13]. The funds to be raised are minuscule compared to our fiscal problems and are therefore only meant as a distraction, and a cynical one at that. The president would be better served by embracing a Simpson-Bowles type of approach and force the electorate to face the very real fact

New Smyrna Beach, Fla.

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LETTERS @ USNEWS.COMthat we must all sacrifice for the benefit of the nation. I think the president, and his opponent, would be surprised at how accepting the majority would be of hearing the truth for a change. Bruce Goren Los Angeles The Buffett Rule is nonsense. The government gives tax breaks to people for using their money in ways that please the governmentcharity, investment, etc. For President Obama to demonize taxpayers for complying with the wishes of the government, which he himself does, is hypocritical. The Buffett Rule proposal is a cynical, political gimmick designed to exploit the emotions of people who envy the rich.Christopher Zimmerman

ly, a majority of the 99 percent feel the mega-wealthy are too highly benefited because of tax loopholes, etc. If President Obama is re-elected, I would hope the 30 percent tax rate for the wealthiest Americans would be a precursor of major tax reform. Unfortunately, from what I have read and heard, the Buffett Rule will be dead on arrival in Congress. If nothing else, it will help define the chasm between the current leadership in Washington and the Obama administration. Laurence Wittig Phoenix Indeed, I do support this. This is not asking for muchsupported secretly by everyone, yet opposed publicly by some (particularly Republicans) because it may be the foot in the door to undoing the Bush tax cuts. Jeff Shivnen McLean, Va. Yes, I support a rate of 30 percent or more on incomes of a million dollars or more. This should be the first step in comprehensive tax reform that leads to

us paying for what we want the government to do. Its time that we halt our borrow and spend ways while we leave it to our heirs to figure out how to pay the bills weve incurred. Dave Stafford Milford, Mich. Am I in favor of the Buffett Rule? Absolutely. And I think that rate is too low, as are the rates on lesser incomes. If this nation is ever going to rise out of the depths of its current national debt, it has to combine increased revenues with the current drive to cut expenditures. The nation has prospered nicely on higher rate schedules in the past and can do so again, despite the whining we hear from the folks who can most afford it. Austin Stibbe Nevis, Minn. It often seems that the wealthier a person is, the more determined to avoid taxes he or she is. The rich often forget that the government and the rest of society enabled them to become rich in the first place. Why

shouldnt they pay a higher tax rate than their fellow Americans of lesser means? Steve Obersinner Mt. Angel, Ore. The Republican Party is making a grave mistake in not supporting the Buffett Rule. In an election, they should be trying to appeal to the huge swath of people that is the middle class. Whether Obamas timing is coincidental or not, I dont know, but he is a shrewd politician who understands that the Buffett Rule, if passed, can be an important tool to win the middle-class vote and to promote an oft-missing feeling of equality and fairness. The Republican Party should, to put it bluntly, suck it up and pass the legislation (taking the hit to their pocketbooks and their campaign donation funds) because stonewalling the Buffett Rule has the potential to have far more negative consequences than passing it does. President Obama has the Republican Party in check. Your move, Republican Party. Dont sacrifice your queen to save a pawn. Aaron Shaum Rittman, OhioHave something to say about the stories or topics in this weeks issue? Join the discussion by sending your thoughts to [email protected].

Whetstone, Ariz.

Yes, I do support the Buffett Rule, but not for the small financial return it will yield. Rather, I support it because the government needs to prove it is interested in the welfare of the middle class. Current-

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Health NewsYou Can UseStay Active, Eat Well, and SocializeThere may be no way to prevent Alzheimers, but these tips may prove helpful By Angela Haupt

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JEFFREY MACMILLAN FOR USN&WR

lzheimers disease unleashes a devastating, sometimes unmanageable burden. It is a leading cause of disability and death, with numbers poised to explode in coming years as the population grows older. (Symptoms typically first appear after age 60.) By 2050, an estimated 16 million people will be diagnosed with Alzheimers, the most common type of dementia, and roughly 5.4 million Americans are living with the condition, according to a March report by the Alzheimers Association, a nonprofit advocacy group. One person develops the disease every second. Its the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, and the fifth for those age 65 and older. And theres no cure. We should be very worried, says Reisa Sperling, director of the Center for Alzheimers Research and Treatment at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston. In 2011, President Obama signed the National Alzheimers Project Act, a law aimed at raising Alzheimers profile, increasing funding for research, and fighting Alzheimers with an intensity equal to that in the war against cancer and heart disease. The hope: to wipe out or at least better treat Alzheimers by 2025. Officials are frustrated that, while death rates from stroke, prostate cancer, breast cancer, heart disease, and HIV declined between 2000 and 2008, the death rate from Alzheimers jumped by 66 percent. Unfortunately, theres no concrete evidence that any protective stepbe it brain games or dietary supplementslowers the chances of Alzheimers, according to a 2010 report by the National Institutes of Health. Al-

though observational and animal studies show promise that the disease can be sidestepped, theres a lack of robust clinical studies involving humans, the gold standard in clinical research. Can I say that exercise or diet will reduce your risk of Alzheimers or delay onset so you get it at a later age? No, because we dont know for sure at this point, says Laurie Ryan, program director of Alzheimers Disease Clinical Trials at the National Institute on Aging. But the data we do have suggests that healthy living promotes healthy aging, which can only be good for you, even if it doesnt prevent or slow down onset. Says Sperling: It comes down to keeping the brain

A healthful diet can promote healthy aging, even if it doesnt necessarily prevent or delay Alzheimers.

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HEALTH NEWS YOU CAN USEactive mentally, the body active physically, and staying active socially. That combination is important. Heres what science suggests may help, and certainly wont hurt: Keeping your brain sharp. People who challenge their brains throughout their lifetime by reading, writing, or playing games might be less likely to develop beta-amyloid plaques, abnormal protein deposits that are a hallmark of Alzheimers. Thats according to a small study published in January in the Archives of Neurology. The findings, based on brain imaging, hint that people who stay mentally engaged from childhood on may lower their risk of Alzheimers. Study participants who had only recently taken up crosswords or other mental exercises did not see much benefit, suggesting that early engagement is key. Its interesting data, Sperling says. It shows that theres no relationship between current activities and protectionit has to do with early life engagement. Eating a healthy diet. To thrive, your brain needs the right combination of nutrients. Diet seems to play a role in Alzheimers risk: A brain-healthy diet is low in fat and cholesterol, reduces the risk of heart disease and diabetes, and encourages good blood flow to your noggin. Maintaining an appropriate weight may count, too. One study of 1,500 adults found that those who were obese in middle age were twice as likely to develop dementia in later life as their normalweight peers. Study participants with high cholesterol and high blood pressurewhich are both influenced by diet had six times the risk of dementia. Certain foods may play a role in protecting brain cells: Dark-skinned fruits and veggies, like kale, spinach, broccoli, prunes, raisins, blueberries, and red grapes, are rich in antioxidants thought to protect cognitive function while aiding in the reversal of cognitive decline. Cold-water fish, such as halibut, mackerel, salmon, trout, and tuna, contain healthy omega-3 fatty acids, which slow the accumulation of brain-clogging plaques. Other smart choices: almonds, pecans, and walnuts, which contain vitamin E, an antioxidant thought to preserve brain health. Whats unclear is how much of these foods you would have to consume to see a benefit. Socializing. Social interaction stimulates connections between brain cells. When people talk with one another, they use parts of the brain that otherwise remain idle. Even better? Physical activity coupled with social engagementa combination thats been associated with a lowered risk of dementia. When people ask me if they should do crossword puzzles or Sudoku, I suggest ballroom dancry loss and keeping skills like vocabulary retrieval strong. In a 2011 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, Canadian researchers analyzed the energy expenditure and cognitive functioning of 716 elderly adults over the course of two to five years. Most of the participants werent gym rats; their activities included short walks, cooking, gardening, and cleaning. Still, compared with their sedentary peers, the most active participants scored significantly better on tests of cognitive function, and they showed the least amount of cognitive decline. By studys end, roughly 90 percent of them could think and remember just as well as they could when the study began. Keep in mind that no matter how many changes you make, or how many steps you take in the right direction, there are no guarantees. Science is unlocking many of the mysteries of the brain, but we dont have all the answers yet, says Heather Snyder, senior associate director of medical and scientific relations with the Alzheimers Association. You can do everything rightstay physically active, eat a low-fat and low-cholesterol diet, remain socially and mentally active, and still not prevent Alzheimers disease. We need more research before we can answer these types of questions. l

Physical activity coupled with social engagement is a combination associated with a lowered risk of dementia.ing or taking a tai chi class, says Sperling. Its perfectyoure learning something new, theres social interaction, and theres at least some physical activity. Adjusting your lifestyle. Smokers have a higher risk of cognitive decline as they age. The story is similar for heavy drinkers. Research presented at a 2008 conference of the American Academy of Neurology found that people who had more than two alcoholic drinks a day developed Alzheimers almost five years earlier, on average, than lighter drinkers. Exercising regularly. Get moving to keep your body and your brain fit. Even mild activity like a leisurely walk helps keep your brain sharp, fending off memo-

Find more health and wellness advice at www.usnews.com/health.

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EDITORIAL By Mortimer B. Zuckerman

How America Can Cure Its Labor Woes

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merica has long been a country where almost everyone, including the poor and unskilled, could get a job. Given the will to do a reasonable days work, a job was a passport to economic and social well-being; it was the fount of self-esteem and the foundation of family life. Indeed, work was Life. More than 15 million Americans no longer have that passport to Life. Think of it as roughly the entire population of the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Arkansas, Iowa, and Oklahoma, all standing idleevery man, woman, and child. The traditional breadwinners, namely men between the ages of 25 and 54, are among those hardest hit. According to an Investors Business Daily/TIPP poll, some 25 percent of households include someone who is unemployed and looking for work. As well as laying waste to work, to the equivalent of losing every job created in the last decade, the Great Recession has visited us with reduced incomes, declining home equity, and a growing contraction in credit. For the 80 percent of Americans born after World War II, this is their Depression. They have 5.5 million fewer jobs than at the recessions start in 2008, de-

spite the most stimulative fiscal and monetary policy in our history. Employment has been below the pre-recession peak for over 50 months. Its the longest time since the Great Depression that payrolls have not made a new high. The 120,000 new jobs for March make no dent (and adjusted for the peculiarity of warm weather, the number of real net jobs created was 76,000); we need at least 125,000 jobs each month just to provide for new entrants in a rising population.

The anemic recovery has not yielded job vacancies. Hiring is only about 70 percent of the 2006 level.Discouraged workers dropping out of the labor force make the unemployment rate look fractionally better, but the 8.2 percent headline masks the misery. It is a reflection of the U-3 statistic, which counts only people who have applied for a job in the last four weeks. Among the jobless army, a staggering 42 percent of them are long-term unemployed, without jobs for six months or longer. Look instead at the more relevant U-6 statistic, which counts the number of people who have applied over

the last six months. U-6 also includes those who are involuntarily working on a part-time basis. That U-6 unemployment is now in the range of 15 percent. Since 2008, some 3 million people have dropped out of the job market. If they hadnt, the unemployment rate would be about 10.8 percent. In March, the unemployment rate seemed to fall a tenth of 1 percent, yet the number of people who are actually employed dropped by 31,000. Why? Because the number of people who looked for a job dropped by 164,000 and they are not considered unemployed. Not to mention that half the new jobs are in temporary help agencies. Americas great job creation machine is sputtering badly. It is now estimated that structural unemployment has risen from 5 percent before the crisis to close to 7 percent today. This means that one third of the rise in American joblessness may be impervious to the business cycle; it represents lost jobs that cannot be restored by boosting demand. The problem now is not that people are being laid off by the millions. When an economy has reached bottom, as it did, it has already shed much of its labor, and layoffs slow. But the anemic recovery has not yielded job vacancies.

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EDITORIALHiring today is at about 70 percent of the 2006 level. Given the increase in unemployed totals, job seekers are only about one third as likely to find work as in 2006. Compare that to the fabled Great Depression of the 1930s. In the three years after 1933, the economy rebounded with growth rates of 11 percent, 9 percent, and 13 percent. But in 2010, months into our recovery, growth was about 3 percent, followed by 1.7 percent growth in 2011. The rate for 2012 could be about 2 percentbelow the 3.4 percent throughout the postwar period. What has happened? The process of making stuff fosters innovation, leading to new products. When companies go from prototype to mass production, they scale up, figure out where they can build factories affordably, and hire people by the thousands. But many enterprises in America have discovered they cannot compete in engineering or manufacturing with their Chinese or Indian counterparts, which are equally, if not more, productive with workers willing to accept significantly lower wages. In turn, they gain the skills, knowledge, and experience to innovate. Hence our loss of 6 million blue-collar manufacturing jobs. The paradox is that the low labor costs which attract work abroad are now being visited on the American worker. In the past six months, according to a Bloomberg study, 70 percent of job openings have been in mostly low-wage sectors, including healthcare, leisure, hospitality, and retail. And some 7.7 million workers are stuck in part-time jobs, their pay inadequate for entry into the middle class. Why so much temporary employment? Because companies do not wish to pay for healthcare and retirement in a very uncertain economy, so they hedge their bets with short-term help. Remarkably, as David Rosenberg, chief economist of Gluskin Sheff, has reported, two thirds of the employment growth rate has been in the 55 and older age cohort. Since the recession began in December 2007, employment in this age group is up 4 million, even as total employment for everyone else is down. Whats going on here? The boomer population, Rosenberg notes, has seen its wealth destroyed by the bear market in equities and housing, and these people are now recalculating the date when they can retire with some sense of financial confidence and dignity. They know that if they quit without another job they face the real prospect of never working again, certainly not at their former pay levels, and that being without work means that they will receive lower retirement benEach month more Americans lose hope, permanently alienated from the workplace, their savings exhausted. The gradual expansion of the economy is too little to hope the cavalry is riding to the rescue. Real, authentic job creation will not come from Washington. It has to come out of the energy and spirits of the private sector. Two thirds of our employment is concentrated in 6 million small and medium-size businesses. We are not going to create jobs until they are in a state of mind to do so. They are not yet, and in part thats because of policy uncertainty that has depressed or confused them. According to the Heritage Foundation, private sector hiring through June 2011 was 10 times slower following the passage of President Obamas healthcare bill compared to the prior 16 months. Economists at Stanford University and the University of Chicago estimated in the fall of 2011 that policy uncertainty has cost more than 2 million jobs since early 2010. These estimates reflect the small business communitys reluctance to make new hires until employers know exactly what the law means in practice. The high level of temporary employment is a reflection of the same uncertainty. Businesses hedge

Real, authentic job creation will not come from Washington. It has to come out of the private sector.efits from Social Security. So much for job mobility in America. This creates a bottleneck for younger workers, especially young minorities. The jobless rate for workers ages 20 to 24 is over 13 percent; teenagers, 25 percent; Hispanic teenagers, 30.5 percent; and black teenagers, 37.9 percent. Even people with a college education face unemployment rates of about 4.2 percent, which is about double the norm for this group. Those with a certificate from a community college or at least some college coursework have a jobless rate of 7.5 percent, again about double the norm; and people who did not finish high school have it worst at almost 13 percent.

What else can be done to create jobs? Send your thoughts to [email protected].

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EDITORIALtheir bets with short-term help. We need 1 million new businesses every year to keep us on the right track. Instead we have only about 400,000 firms starting up. We need a labor market that creates over 400,000 jobs a month. We havent seen anythin

u.s. news weekly, april 20, 2012 issue

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