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State Debate: Obama not a new kind of politician on campaign finance reform
a 6/20 roundup of editorials and columns in state papers
Obama not a new kind of politician on campaign finance reform, says the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Barack Obama is rejecting public financing, not out of principle but because he knows he will do better without it. He says the system is broken and that his opponent, John McCain, is already gaming the system.
This step hobbles campaign finance reform, which Obama has said he supports.
During the primary, Obama had said he would take the public money -- more than $84 million -- if McCain did. McCain has taken the first steps to do so. Forget the spin; this is called breaking a promise.
True, Obama has instructed both his campaign and the Democratic National Committee to not take lobbyist or political action committee money. McCain and the Republican National Committee do both, with the RNC better at raising money generally than the DNC.
McCain, who has billed himself as pure on this matter of campaign finances and freedom from special interest influence, also should reject the lobbyist and PAC money. But it's clear what has happened here. Obama surprised even himself with his fundraising prowess. So public financing be damned. We expected more of a "new kind of politician."
Tackle substance abuse problem head-on, says the Appleton Post-Crescent.
Kaukauna school administrators are rightly concerned about a spike in drug and alcohol use among its high school students. During the past school year, officials recorded 56 drug- and alcohol-related violations -- at least three times higher than in previous years.
A School Board member said the district has not done a good job telling parents how stringent the rules are. For instance, a student can be expelled for a year or more for exchanging drugs or alcohol at school and a semester for possession.
While we understand the intent, expelling a teen is not the best approach. A student who gets behind may not return to school when the expulsion period is up. Is that what we want?
It seems more effective to keep the student in school but monitor his or her activities closely and provide counseling. Random drug testing wouldn't hurt, either.
Americans should have affordable health care, says Rudolph farmer Larry Davis in a column in the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune.
How many times have I heard the statement that the Canadians don't like their health care system and would prefer to have the American system because of wait time for care? I suspected this was propaganda but who takes the time to check these things out?
Canadian union leader James Clancy was on Wisconsin Public Radio talking about Canadian opinions about their health care and the truth about their health care system.
As I suspected, the misinformation is spread about by those who would lose money if America went to a universal government-run system (socialized health care). Seven times Canadians have been asked to vote on whether they would like to keep their system of health care. Canadians prefer their health care system and vote to keep it every time.
Why can't Americans have what the rest of the industrialized world has -- affordable health care available to all?
File photo
Barack Obama is rejecting public financing, not out of principle but because he knows he will do better without it, says the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
