09/17/2008

Associated Press

Here are excerpts from recent editorials in Missouri newspapers:

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Sept. 15

Southeast Missourian, on highway memorials:

An idea for honoring fallen soldiers from our area has merit and deserves further consideration. State Sen. Jason Crowell of Cape Girardeau says he plans to introduce legislation when the Missouri Legislature reconvenes next January that would allow interstate interchanges to be named in honor of military men and women who lose their lives while serving their country.

In June, Ross Gartman, a mortgage loan officer with Bank of Missouri, proposed naming Exit 101 in honor of Cpl. Jeremy Shank of Jackson, who died in September 2006 while serving in Iraq. Gartman served with Sgt. Bradley Skelton of Gordonville, who was killed by an explosion in Baghdad in February. Crowell expanded the idea to honor other area soldiers by putting their names on other interchanges near their hometowns.

Others from this area who would be honored by having interchanges named for them are Staff Sgt. Charles Sanders Jr. of Charleston who died in April 2005 in Afghanistan, Sgt. Robert Davis of Jackson who died in August 2005 in Afghanistan, Spc. Blake Hall of East Prairie who died in August 2005 in Afghanistan and Sgt. Adam Kohlhaas of Perryville who died in April in Iraq.

Crowell's legislation would allow soldiers in other parts of the state to be similarly honored. Names of other soldiers who die while serving could be added to the interchange memorials.

Many stretches of Missouri highways have already been named to honor individuals who have made significant contributions or have been killed in the line of duty, such as highway patrolmen. And Missouri officials have long tolerated makeshift roadside memorials that honor loved ones who have lost their lives in highway accidents. Legislation specifying how these individuals can be honored makes good sense.

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Sept. 15

St. Joseph News-Press, on the 139th Airlift Wing:

The future of the 139th Airlift Wing at Rosecrans Memorial Airport is secure for now.

How's that for a confidence booster?

One day last week, a top military leader acknowledged that the notion of moving the wing's command structure to Whiteman Air Force Base near Knob Noster, Mo., was under discussion.

The next day, another gave this assessment: "It was just an option to consider and now it's a dead issue. It's off the table."

Those are the words of someone who should know, Brig. Gen. Craig McCord, commander of the Missouri Air National Guard and director of the Missouri National Guard's joint staff.

Let's call this a readiness test for St. Joseph and the surrounding area, a measure of how quickly and effectively civic and political leaders can respond when our important military assets are threatened with relocation or closure.

Make no mistake: The 139th Airlift Wing and the Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Center at Rosecrans are important to this community. Together they generate an estimated $75 million annually in local economic impact. And that's to say nothing of the deep pride we have in hosting these outstanding operations and how much we benefit from the military staff who call this region home.

It's difficult for people in this part of the world to imagine, but there are places where the military is simply tolerated or taken for granted — a sharp contrast to the longstanding support that the 139th Airlift Wing has enjoyed in the Midland Empire.

We extend appreciation and thanks to each of the local and area leaders who responded to last week's concerns promptly and with passionate advocacy in support of the military operations here.

We passed this readiness test, but there is sure to be another tomorrow.

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Sept. 14

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, on Gov. Sarah Palin:

In the two weeks since Sen. John McCain of Arizona named Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate, billing her as a sister "maverick," the Alaska governor has been revealed to be something less.

Instead, she appears to be a conventional statehouse politician, a quicker study than many but less experienced than most, a politician more than willing to exploit the perks of her office, abuse its powers and fudge her record in the pursuit of her ambitions.

This is not change. This is politics as usual. This is George W. Bush in red patent-leather, peep-toe Naughty Monkey pumps.

Worse, perhaps. Mr. Bush, at least, would have known what the "Bush Doctrine" was when questioned about it by ABC's Charlie Gibson. ...

Alas, Ms. Palin seemed all too willing to go to war to defend Georgia if that nation is allowed to join NATO (which she supports) and to stand by Israel if it decides to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities.

The Gibson interviews amply demonstrated why the McCain campaign kept Ms. Palin away from the press for a week. She had a lot of cramming to do. ...

Ms. Palin survived her coming out party, but not well enough that the McCain campaign seems willing to trust her on her own. The campaign indicated Friday that the GOP ticket will campaign together for the next few weeks, the better for him to bask in her reflected glow and the better for her to avoid unscripted moments.

That decision speaks volumes about the fundamental cynicism of the Republican campaign, built around image and distortion, not the reality of the candidates' qualifications or ideas. It screams "politics as usual." If Sarah Palin is ready to be president of the United States, she should be willing to campaign on her own.

At some point, Palin must face questions without scripts and without chaperones. Voters must hear her talk not in vague bromides and generalities, but in specifics. ...

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Sept. 14

The Kansas City Star, on accountable government:

Excessive secrecy makes government less trustworthy and the public less safe. But it's on the increase in Washington.

The accelerating push to hide government workings from the public is detailed in the "Secrecy Report Card," produced by a coalition of more than 70 groups that advocate open government.

Among the highlights:

_ Competitive bidding of federal contracts has dropped by almost 25 percent since 2000. More than $114 billion worth of contracts were given out without competition in 2007.

_ Secrecy is especially acute in the Department of Defense, where 18 percent of the acquisition budget is classified.

_ Scientific and technical advice is increasingly hidden from the public. A 1972 act of Congress required that federal advisory committees meet in the open. But last year the government used exemptions to close 64 percent of the advisory committee meetings.

This kind of secrecy in government encourages cronyism, drives up costs to taxpayers and worsens the national debt.

But it's becoming harder for the press and watchdog groups to ferret out abuses.

At 25 key federal agencies, the government spent $7 million less in 2007 to process Freedom of Information Act requests.

Overall, last year saw a continuing trend of the federal government classifying more information, keeping patents secret and invoking the "state secrets" privilege.

Some confidentiality is necessary. But the administration's insistence on executive power and secrecy has eroded public confidence in government.

Fortunately, some in Congress acknowledge the problem.

The House has passed a reform bill called the Over-Classification Reduction Act. Among other things, it would require more justification for classifying documents, and create a process to reward employees and contractors for challenging improper classification decisions.

Senate passage of the act would be a step forward.

But the public and press must keep up the pressure for a more open government.

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Sept. 14

Jefferson City News-Tribune, on economic woes:

The national economic downturn veered dramatically into Mid-Missouri last week.

On Thursday, employees at Johnson Controls learned that the company planned to close its Jefferson City plant. The manufacturer employs 120 people at the local facility.

A day earlier, ABB Inc. announced plans to lay off between 75 and 80 members of its work force at the manufacturing company located north of the Missouri River.

Both actions were consequences of widespread economic woes.

Johnson Controls — which opened its local plant in 1985 as Hoover Industries — makes vehicle seats for U.S. automakers.

Problems facing U.S. auto industry have been well-documented. Despite the industry's talk of innovation, it has been slow to retool plants to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles now in demand by consumers in response to increased fuel prices.

Manufacturing is vulnerable to the ripple effect. ...

The decrease in housing starts has precipitated a slowdown in the construction of strips malls and other commercial developments that require the type of transformers made at ABB.

Central Missouri was fortunate to withstand these national economic pressures for as long as it did. We credit the productivity and work ethic of Mid-Missourians for this resilience.

The force of national trends, however, is beginning to intrude, and there is little local governments or chamber of commerce can do to keep them at bay.

What we must do is redouble efforts to assist existing businesses and lure new companies.

Last week's opening of the National Biodiesel Board's new environmentally friendly building is an encouraging development. So were the words of Chamber President Randy Allen, who said some local manufacturers now are competing for projects that would add jobs.

Mid-Missourians must remain optimistic and continue to cultivate an environment that is eager to embrace new employment opportunities.

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Sept. 9

The Joplin Globe, on hard work and weight:

Grandma and Granddad would have laughed at the notion of conducting a study that essentially tells us hard work will keep us from getting fat.

Especially since their generation often remarked that there were few things in this world that a "hard day's worth of work" wouldn't cure.

But study we do. This latest study focuses on a common genetic variation that makes people more likely to gain weight. About 30 percent of white people of European ancestry have this variant. According to a report Sept. 8 by The Associated Press, the variant can be blocked by several hours a day of physical activity.

Researchers studied 704 members of the Amish community of Lancaster County, Pa. Among those with the variant, those who worked three or four hours a day weighed up to 15 pounds less on the average than the least active people.

Wow. Wait, there's more.

"These findings emphasize the important role of physical activity in public health efforts to combat obesity," authors wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

We hope there was a lot more gleaned through this study than the fact that the Amish fight the fat gene by working hard. Certainly, if we think back to the days of the pioneer, we would quickly realize that obesity was rarely an issue.

So, while most of us aren't plowing fields and raising barns, we still should have enough common sense to know that sitting on our behinds all day isn't good for us.

If being impressed by these latest findings of science persuade you to walk a few miles a day, then that's great.

We think our grandparents said it just as well: Get off your backsides and do something.