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Opinion ‘Gifted Hands,’ Foot in Mouth “Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now” B ERNIE F OSTER Founder/Publisher B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER Executive Editor T ED B ANKS Advertising Manager J ERRY F OSTER Account Executive L ISA L OVING News Editor H ELEN S ILVIS Multimedia Editor B RUCE P OINSETTE Reporter D AVID K IDD Graphic Designer M ONICA J. F OSTER Seattle Office Coordinator J ULIE K EEFE S USAN F RIED Photographers The Skanner Newspaper, established in October 1975, is a weekly publica- tion, published each Wednesday by D r. Ben Carson became the darling of conservatives earlier this year by stri- dently attacking the Affordable Care Act with President Obama sitting just a few feet away. Car- son, who was serving as the keynote speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast at the White House, said, “Here’s my solution: When a person is born, give him a birth certificate, an electronic medical record, and a health sav- ings account to which money can be contributed – pretax – from the time you’re born ’til the time you die. When you die, you can pass it on to your family members, so that when you’re 85 years old and you got six diseases, you’re not trying to spend up everything. You’re happy to pass it on and there’s nobody talking about death pan- els.” Predictably, the Right wing rushed to embrace him. Rush Lim- baugh, Sean Hannity and the crew at Fox News were ecstatic that a prominent Black neurosurgeon shared their world view. Jonah Goldberg, a columnist for the Right-wing National Review, compared Carson to racial apolo- gist Booker T. Washington. David Graham, writing in The Atlantic, called him Herman Cain without the “personal skeletons.” And the conservative Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed under the headline, “Ben Carson for President.” Professionally, Carson is no dumb man. He earned his under- graduate degree from Yale book, starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. Ben Carson. In 2008, George T HE C URRY as W. Bush presented Carson with R EPORT the Presidential Medal of Free- dom. Carson has made several contro- George E. versial remarks after his Curry appearance at the White House. In March, he said on Fox TV: “Mar- riage is between a man and a woman. No group, be they gays, University and his M.D. from the be they NAMBLA [North Ameri- University of Michigan. At the age can Man/Boy Love Association], of 33, he became director of pedi- be they people who believe in bes- atric neurosurgery at Johns tiality, it doesn’t matter what they Hopkins University in Baltimore, are. They don’t get to change the the youngest major division direc- definition.” Under pressure, Carson with- tor in the school’s history. In 1987, he led a 70-member drew as commencement speaker Any idiot knows that having access to healthcare is not worse than slavery surgical ream that separated twins who had been joined at the back of the head. After the successful 22- hour surgery, Carson gained national recognition. His autobi- ography, Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, was published in 1992. The book recounts how his mother, Sonya, reared him and his older brother, Curtis, after she and her husband, Robert, divorced when Ben was 8 years old. In 2009, TNT released a television movie with the same title as his for the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He also apologized for “not the best choice of words,” called his critics racist, and then apologized again. Of all of his outrageous com- ments, his latest one ranks among the most egregious. Speaking at a Voter Values Sum- mit, Carson said, “I have to tell you that Obamacare is, really, I think, the worst thing that’s hap- pened to this nation since slavery. It was never about healthcare, it was about control.” First, the Affordable Care Act does what its proper title implies – it makes health care affordable to millions of people, including the uninsured. If making insurance more affordable, not allowing insurance companies to reject peo- ple with pre-existing conditions and allowing children to remain on their parents’ insurance policies until they are 26 years old isn’t about healthcare, the esteemed neurosurgeon doesn’t know the definition of healthcare. Second, any idiot knows that having access to healthcare is not worse than slavery. Enslaved Africans had no rights, as the Supreme Court ruled in its 1857 Dred Scott decision, “which the white man was bound to respect.” They were brutalized, degraded, whipped, killed, and raped at the whim of the slave master. Marriage was not recog- nized and the slave codes in various states made it illegal to teach Blacks to read or write. The Affordable Health Care Act is worse than that? It’s a ridiculous comparison. At the rate he is going, Carson’s pho- tograph will be slapped on boxes of rice. Dr. Ben will be more appropriately known as Uncle Ben. George E. Curry, former editor- in-chief of Emerge magazine, is editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Associa- tion News Service IMM Publications Inc., 415 N. Killingsworth St., P.O. Box 5455, Portland, OR 97228. Telephone (503) 285-5555. E-mail: info@theskanner.com World Wide Web site: http://www.theskanner.com Fax: (503) 285-2900 The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Associ- ation and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re - spon sible for lost or damaged photos Don’t Play Politics with the Debt Limit “I n the event that a debt limit impasse were to lead to a default, it could have a catastrophic effect on not just financial markets but also on job creation, consumer spending and economic growth—with many pri- vate-sector analysts believing that it would lead to events of the mag- nitude of late 2008 or worse, and the result then was a recession more severe than any seen since the Great Depression.” — U.S. Treasury either solicited or unsolicited. © 2013 The Skanner. ALL RIGHTS RE SERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED. To see The Skanner News on your smart phone go to theskannermobile.com or scan this QR code with your app. • • • • • • • • Local news Opinions Jobs, Bids Sports Entertainment Music reviews Bulletin board RSS feeds Page 4 The Portland Skanner On September 21, one week before the first government shut- down in 17 years, President Obama addressed the 43rd annual Congressional Black Caucus Leg- islative Conference in Washington. He told the 43 mem- bers of the Caucus and thousands of its supporters the same thing he has been telling the nation ever since, “We will not negotiate whether or not America should keep its word and meets its obliga- tions. It’s time for these folks to stop governing by crisis.” It is also time to set the record straight about the debt limit – what it is, what it does and why it should never be a political pawn in an ideological game (yes, game) of who will blink first. The Treas- ury Department defines the debt limit as “the total amount of money that the United States gov- ernment is authorized to borrow to meet its existing legal obligations, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, military salaries, interest on the national October 16, 2013 T O B E E QUAL Marc Morial debt, tax refunds, and other pay- ments. The debt limit does not authorize new spending commit- ments. It simply allows the government to finance existing legal obligations that Congresses and presidents of both parties have made in the past.” In other words, raising the debt ceiling is not a license for unchecked partisan spending. It the damage to the American peo- ple and to federal employees is mounting – with almost 1 million federal workers furloughed and “essential” workers reporting to work but not being paid. In addi- tion, government agencies and organizations that provide critical services to millions of Americans – and that are still reeling from the detrimental effects of the “sequester” – have been forced to suspend needed services, putting both the economic health of the nation and the physical health of our people in jeopardy. But, as bad as all of this may be, it pales in comparison to what could happen if Congress creates another manufactured crisis by We must never become so irreconcilable that rigid ideology is valued above the needs of American citizens does, however, ensure that our nation continues to pay our bills and abide by previously reached agreements. Adding to the crisis is that as of the time of this writing, the gov- ernment shutdown has entered its second week. With each passing day, new burdens are added to already hard-pressed communities across the country. Even with the recent House vote to guarantee back pay for furloughed workers, failing to raise the debt limit by October 17. Throughout our nation’s history, our government has never default- ed on our legal obligations. In fact, the debt limit has been permanent- ly raised, temporarily extended or has undergone a revision of its definition 78 distinct times since 1960 (49 times under a Republican president and 29 times under a Democratic president). According to the Treasury Department, if America defaults on our global financial obligations, it would likely send our economy back into a deep recession – with high inter- est rates, reduced investment, higher debt payments, and slow economic growth – that could last for more than a generation. This issue is not one to manipu- late for political power plays or to use as a stick to force repeals of passed legislation. With the world watching and China – our largest creditor – using this as an opportu- nity to remind us of “the lessons of history” from our 2011 credit rat- ing downgrade attributable to Congressional deadlock, the stakes are high and the conse- quences of inaction are even more dire. Political grandstanding isn’t worth it for anyone, and in the end, it will be the American people – not one party or political figure – who lose if we continue down this path. Let’s be clear – principled, parti- san fights are a part of democracy. But we must never become so irreconcilable that rigid ideology is valued above the needs of American citizens. Our message to Congress is clear: Don’t play with the full faith and credit of the Unit- ed States. Act now and demonstrate to our nation and the world how democracy can be – at its best. Marc H. Morial, former mayor of New Orleans, is president and CEO of the National Urban League.
