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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2011 > March > 03
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Martin Gottlieb: Ohio GOP in 2011 mirrors ways of Obama Democrats
Setting aside the merits of the collective bargaining bill just passed by the Ohio Senate, let’s talk about the process in Columbus.
First, some background. Process has been part of American political debate forever, but notably in the past few years. The parties try to outdo each other in commitment to openness, deliberation, debate, fair play, honesty, democracy and generally to practices that are not embarrassing.
Accordingly, when the Democrats took control of Washington via the 2006 and 2008 elections, they portrayed themselves as a new breed, more committed to all good procedural things than their predecessor Republicans.
But they passed their stimulus package far too fast for the public or even legislators to have a good idea what was in there, much less what the pros and cons were.
They cut embarrassing deals to get their health care bill passed (some so embarrassing they had to be undone). They made last-minute changes in the health care bill so fast that few in Congress were able to keep up with them.
They achieved no buy-in from the other party, despite the president’s talk of bipartisanship.
The ugly process led not only to a general freaking out among the president’s political enemies, but probably also to a loss of passion on the president’s side. The fruits of embarrassment.
The opponents sarcastically reprised the Obama campaign promise of “Change You Can Believe In.” And they adopted the war cry “Read the Bill! Read the Bill!”
The charge was not simply that the Democrats were corrupt in some non-legal sense, but that any legislation passed through such dubious means must not be any good and was tarnished.
So now we come to Ohio in 2011. The Republicans find themselves in the Democrats’ national position two years ago, with total control. And, in racetrack terms, they’re off, much like the 2009 national Democrats.
And, like the Democrats, they’re doing whatever it takes.
To get the collective bargaining bill passed, they moved two independent-thinking Republicans off crucial committees at the last minute. Deliberation had revealed schisms.
Nobody is disputing the legal right of the Republicans to do this. But it undermines the whole idea of a legislative committee. It’s supposed to be the place where a bill gets focused on in detail and acted on by the most expert members.
Republican Sen. Bill Seitz of Cincinnati said he supported 85 percent of the bill. That was not enough to keep him on the committee.
A partner in a pro-management law firm, he had problems with specific provisions. He was replaced by somebody who didn’t. A similar change was made on the Rules Committee, which schedules what happens on the Senate floor.
Before all that, a wide-ranging 99-page amendment was put forth and adopted in committee in 24 hours.
Then — remarkably — the full Senate voted the same day as the committee on the larger bill, as if there is some emergency. Heaven forbid the full Senate should actually take some time to debate an important measure that divided the Senate in half.
The 644-page bill — complex and wide-ranging — was adopted less than a month after being introduced. Referring to the point when real action started, one Democrat called the process a “three-week sprint.”
Confronted with such points, committee Chairman Kevin Bacon notes how many hearings were held (six), how many opponents were heard (39) and how many proponents (31).
That’s exactly the way the national Democrats responded when criticized for their process on the health care bill, except of course that the numbers were bigger in Washington, as the bill was bigger.
Even aside from procedure, the similarities between the 2009 Washington Democrats and the 2011 Ohio Republicans are almost eerie. Both confronted crisis situations — the national economic collapse and the looming state budget shortfall.
Both got accused of taking advantage of those crises to do what they had wanted to do all along — adopt a bunch of spending programs (under the stimulus) and change Ohio’s collective bargaining law.
Both seemed to be proceeding from the premise that they must act fast, because they might never again have the same combination of legislative control and public support.
When you see that the similarities extend to process, you realize what a tight band of brothers and sisters they really are. The passions that polarize them also make them alike.
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Editorial: When Will Dayton VA give answers?
The probes of the Dayton VA Medical Center aren’t going to go away. Nor should they.
The dental clinic was temporarily closed in August after an employee complained about a dentist who allegedly wasn’t sterilizing equipment, changing his gloves between patients or following even the basic hygiene rules that you would demand of your kids — never mind what you’d expect of someone who was probing in your mouth with sharp objects.
The situation potentially became more explosive this week when VA officials announced that nine patients who were seen at the clinic have tested positive in preliminary tests for hepatitis B or hepatitis C. More tests have to be done, and it may be impossible to ever confirm if they contracted the diseases at the clinic.
But patients are entitled to wonder. There’s also concern about exposure to family members and sexual partners.
Here are just some of the myriad questions that need to be asked:
— How is it that a dentist, now 81, allegedly could be able to conduct himself so unprofessionally going as far back as 1992 (according to the Dayton VA’s internal probe) without other medical practitioners screaming about the problem?
— Who knew about the alleged behavior, and when did they know about it?
— Who and what stood in the way of confronting a problem that apparently was on full display?
A former dental service chief told investigators that the dentist in question “was not trainable. He wouldn’t take direction. And given the circumstances — that I had not really any avenue to get him out of the service — there wasn’t a lot I felt I could do at the time.”
— The dental clinic was a busy place, with some 3,000-plus patients in fiscal year 2010 making 11,400 visits. Is it woefully understaffed? Was it a physical impossibility to operate the facility well?
— How is it that the clinic could close Aug. 19 for three weeks out of concern for patient safety, but the public was only alerted in mid-November? Where was the urgency to let people know that they may have been harmed?
—The Dayton VA’s internal report suggests that one unnamed individual attempted to “intimidate” two witnesses, who were presumably employees. If that’s true, whose head has rolled?
— How could Dayton VA Medical Center Director Guy Richardson not know about the stunning problems that were described by the internal probe? Isn’t not knowing as damning as knowing and not acting?
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown has called for Senate hearings on the matter. Sen. Brown and Rep. Mike Turner want copies of important internal documents and want the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association to assist in informing the public.
That’s another way of saying that they’ve lost all confidence in the local VA’s willingness or ability to be forthcoming.
In 2007, The Washington Post exposed scandalous conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and Congress and the public went ballistic. That facility, a short drive from the White House, is widely thought of as a premier health care institution. Many of its patients are veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and have paralyzing physical wounds, not to mention tremendous psychological injuries.
The conditions that The Post exposed were no way to treat veterans who had been heroically saved in battle — only to come home to discover that they would have to fight to get the care they need to live a permanently compromised life.
Of course, the politicians have the responsibility and authority to be all over this issue, but the Walter Reed controversy is also a backdrop to their thinking.
Moreover, there’s also the fact that having a VA medical center in Dayton — its storied existence dates back to right after the Civil War — is supposed to be an asset, a point of pride.
Things are not right. Transparency about what’s wrong has been awful. And accountability for the mess hasn’t been laid out.
Now there’s evidence that real harm may have occurred. Do you think the patients could get some satisfying answers?
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Guest column: Peace Corps aims to unite world with understanding
This commentary was written by Julius Amin, who was born and raised in Cameroon and is chair of the history department at the University of Dayton.
Thirty years ago, Peace Corps volunteer Alvin Blake and I were colleagues at the Government High School in Limbe, Cameroon, where he taught economics and I taught history.
Blake, an African-American, was inspiring to students, and they flocked to his side. He absorbed the local culture, ate the food, shopped at the market, enjoyed the music and frequented the bars.
Always unselfish with his time, Blake volunteered at different places, including teaching evening school. I talked to him many times about my plans to leave Cameroon and pursue graduate work in the United States.
Privately, I wondered why he really came to Cameroon, why he left the comfort of his home to come and live so far away. Years later, those answers would come to me as I became immersed in Peace Corps research.
In fact, Blake’s Peace Corps experience is typical of many of the volunteers I have studied in my more than 20 years of researching the topic. Themes of friendship, fulfillment, transformation, service and social responsibility dominate Peace Corps stories and offer a glimpse into an aspect of the American character often underemphasized these days.
It was 50 years ago that John F. Kennedy tapped into that part of the American character and launched the Peace Corps. Thousands of young people answered his challenge. Today more than 200,000 American volunteers have served — and are serving — in nations across the globe.
Over the years, volunteers have served in education, health care, community development, small-business enterprise and HIV-prevention programs.
At the same time, they have acted as bridges of cultural understanding, offering to their hosts a picture of the promise, as well as the challenge, of American life.
Once they’ve come home, they’ve reflected back to fellow Americans their experiences living in the wider world.
Indeed, the Peace Corps’ most enduring significance is its role as a pioneer and facilitator in today’s great challenge: globalization.
In host countries, volunteers examine themselves and their values. Peace Corps volunteers discover a world beyond the stereotypical tourist sites depicted in casual reading and postcards and learn to appreciate the merits of living in a global village.
They learn that globalization is not just about economic imperatives; it is also about human dignity, understanding and respect.
Several organizations have been founded by returning volunteers to carry on the work and sustain the bonds formed in their experience. They carry names such as Friends of Pakistan, Friends of Kyrgyzstan and Friends of the Dominican Republic.
Those organizations provide information to Americans and suggest ways to foster understanding between the people of those nations and the people of the United States.
To date, the half-century track record of the Peace Corps speaks for itself: In the U.S., there are thousands upon thousands of Americans, spanning three generations, who are more knowledgeable of the world and more engaged with its problems, thanks to some direct or indirect experience with the Peace Corps.
Across the planet today can be found thousands of instances of Peace Corps initiatives, not only in the countless physical structures such as schools, health clinics and agro-forestry programs, but also in the warm memories and appreciation of the people who have come to know the volunteers and their work first-hand.
As Americans strive to understand and master the challenges of the global era, it is important to remember the legacy and promise of the Peace Corps. Indeed, the agency shines as one of the best expressions of American ideals and the volunteers as examples of some of the best qualities of American character.
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