Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 170, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 19, 2017 Page: 4 of 23
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OPINION
4A
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Denton Record-Chronicle
Denton Record-Chronicle
New president
could flout
Constitution
on trade deals
Published by Denton Publishing Co.,
a subsidiary of A.H. Belo Corporation
Founded from weekly newspapers,
the Denton Chronicle, established in 1882,
and the Denton Record, established in 1897.
Published daily as the Denton
Record-Chronicle since Aug. 3,1903.
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City Editor
Mariel Tarn-Ray
News Editor
PAST PUBLISHERS
William C. “Will” Edwards
1903-1927
Robert J. “Bob” Edwards
1927-1945
Riley Cross
1945-1970
Vivian Cross
1970-1986
Fred Patterson
1986-1999
resident-elect Donald Trump’s threats
against American companies looking
to relocate in foreign countries have
won favorable review from many quarters.
Support comes from those alarmed about
trade deficits, those who want a ‘level playing
field” and those who call for “free trade but
fair trade,” whatever that means.
Some American
companies relocate in
foreign lands because
costs are lower and
hence their profits are
higher. Lower labor
costs are not the only
reason companies
move to other coun-
tries.
P
&
M Ml.
I—I
d L
Editorials published in the Denton Record-Chronicle
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Politicians don’t make
great art critics
*"7
L
Walter E.
Williams
life Savers, a candy
manufacturing compa-
ny, was based in Hol-
land, Michigan, for decades. In 2002, it
moved to Montreal. It didn’t move because
ahbelo.com NYSE symbol: AHC
ongress has a lot of touchy issues to
deal with these days, including one
that boils quite literally beneath their
that police should only be depicted in a re-
spectful way.
Pulphus’ painting expresses a vision that,
right or wrong, is closer to that of protestors
in the streets of Ferguson. His vision is more
negative than my own.
Yet I find the picture to be less “disgust-
ing” than the social problems that it is trying
to critique, social problems that we Amer-
icans need help from Congress to solve.
Civil unrest in Ferguson made national
headlines after the 2014 shooting of black
18-year-old Michael Brown by white police
officer Darren Wilson. Although Wilson was
found not guilty of wrongdoing in the death,
which he said was in self-defense, Ferguson
has become an important — if imperfect —
rallying symbol for crusaders against police
misuse of deadly force.
One might take Pulphus’ painting as a
wake-up call to attack the root causes of our
racial, social and political divides. Instead,
some people want to hide the art. But law-
makers should be cautious about that. At-
tempts to censor can come back to bite you.
I am reminded of another art-vs.-politics
dispute in which the racial roles were re-
versed. In 1988, a group of angry black Chi-
cago aldermen marched into the esteemed
School of the Art Institute of Chicago to take
down a painting of the late Chicago Mayor
Harold Washington only months after his
death.
C
Editorial: Our View
feet.
A painting, titled Untitled ?1, by former
Missouri high school student David Pul-
phus, has been on display in the busy under-
ground walkway between the Cannon
House Office Building and the Capitol since
June 2016.
But as the new year
arrived, the painting
touched off a cultural
tug-of-war after some
Republican lawmak-
ers noticed what was in
it. In a montage of im-
ages, the painting
shows a street protest
in Ferguson, Mo., con-
fronting police. Some
of the people have the
heads of animals, including the heads of ra-
zorback pigs on the police.
The unflattering depiction of police was
too much for some members of Congress to
take. Three times, Republican lawmakers
(Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, Doug
Lambom of Colorado and, as a team, Dana
Rohrabacher of California and Brian Babin
of Texas) have taken the painting down and
delivered it to the office of Rep. William Lacy
Clay, a Missouri Democrat whose district in-
cludes Ferguson.
And each time Clay promptly returned
the painting to the wall.
“I do not agree or disagree with this
painting,” Clay told reporters at one rehang-
ing. “But I will fight to defend this young
man’s right to express himself because his
artwork is true for him and he is entitled to
that protection under the law.”
Clay is right, although Speaker Paul Ryan
weighed recently, saying in a radio interview
that he would take steps to have the paint-
ing, which he called “disgusting,” removed.
The painting was one of more than 400
entries approved for year-long display by the
nationwide Congressional Art Competition.
Since 1982, the contest has asked students in
each congressional district to submit art-
work which is judged by a panel of judges in
each district, not the congressmen.
Yet I expected that, sooner or later, a
dust-up like this was bound to happen. Art
and politics don’t always mix well.
Art thrives on free expression of different
points of view. Politics gives us political cor-
rectness in various forms, such as the belief
Canada had lower wages. Canadian wages
are similar to ours.
The mayor of Holland offered Kraft, the
parent company of life Savers, a 15-year tax
break worth $25 million to stay. But Kraft’s
CEO said it would save $90 million over the
same period because sugar was less expen-
sive in Canada.
Congress can play favorites with U.S. sug-
ar producers by keeping foreign sugar out,
enabling them to charge higher sugar prices,
earn higher profits and pay their employees
higher wages.
Our Congress has no power to force the
Canadian Parliament to impose similar sug-
ar import restrictions.
One of the unappreciated benefits of in-
ternational trade is that it helps reveal the
cost of domestic policy.
For example, the Occupational Safety
and Health Administration can impose high
costs on American companies, but it has no
jurisdiction elsewhere. Our Environmental
Protection Agency can impose costly regula-
tions on American companies, but it has no
power to impose costly regulations on com-
panies in other countries.
Congress can impose costly tax burdens
on American companies, but it has no power
to do so abroad. Restrictions on internation-
al trade conceal these costs.
My argument here is not against the cost-
ly regulations that we impose on ourselves. I
am merely suggesting that we should appre-
ciate the cost of those regulations. The fact
that a good or service can be produced more
cheaply elsewhere helps.
Trump’s threats to impose high tariffs on
the products of companies that leave ought
to be a worry for us — namely, whether we
are going to have another president who
flouts the U.S. Constitution.
Here’s how Article \ Section 7 of our Con-
stitution reads: ‘All Bills for raising Revenue
shall originate in the House of Representa-
tives; but the Senate may propose or concur
with Amendments as on other Bills.”
President Barack Obama has circum-
vented the Constitution and Congress
through executive orders. His success in do-
ing so has put too much power in the hands
of the executive branch.
One wonders whether Trump plans to
broaden that power by implementing trade
tariffs through executive order.
In early December, Masayoshi Son, CEO
of SoftBank, a Japanese telecommunica-
tions company, pledged, after meeting with
Trump, to invest $50 billion in the United
States, a move that would create 50,000
jobs. I wonder whether Trump would sup-
port Japanese domestic interests that might
want to prevent so many jobs from moving
away from Japan.
A few weeks ago, when it was announced
that Peter Navarro was appointed to lead the
new White House National Trade Council,
Trump said Navarro will work to “shrink our
trade deficit.” Yet more foreign investment
would put upward pressure on America’s
trade deficit.
Some Americans support trade restric-
tions because they think there is a problem
with having a trade deficit, i.e., buying more
from foreigners than they buy from us. But
when foreigners sell us goods and take home
U.S. dollars, what do they do with those dol-
lars?
Detective makes
ultimate sacrifice
%
orth Texas is mourning the loss of Little Elm po-
lice Detective Jerry Walker. He was among the
officers who responded Tuesday afternoon to a
report about a deranged man yelling and waving a rifle
around in his backyard.
Walker was mortally wounded during the gun battle
with the suspect and was declared dead several hours
later at Medical City Denton hospital.
This is an appropriate time to ponder the sacrifices
police officers and their families make to pursue a career
in public service. Starting salary for a police officer in
Little Elm and similar North Texas suburbs ranges from
$50,000 to $55,000. For sure, the cops aren’t in it for the
money. They simply want to help people.
Walker, who was 48, leaves behind a widow and four
children. He had worked at Little Elm Police Department
since 1998. His chief described him as “a model officer.”
Walker now holds the unenviable distinction of being the
first officer in the department’s history to be killed in the
line of duty.
Statistics gleaned from the National Law Enforcement
Officers Memorial Fund tell us that 64 officers were killed
in firearm-related incidents last year —a 56 percent in-
crease over the 41 officers who died in 2015. Those num-
bers don’t constitute a trend, however. The tally was 73 in
2011
N
7
Clarence
Page
The painting, titled Mirth and Girth, was
painted by David K. Nelson, a student with a
reputation for outrageously irreverent work,
according to news reports.
Those were tense times along racial fault
lines in Chicago politics. Washington was re-
vered in many black Chicago households as
much as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Yet barely a day after the painting was
taken down it was put back up, an acknowl-
edgement of how freedom of expression
should never lose out to politics.
Ironically, one of the leading aldermen in
that protest was Bobby Rush, a former Black
Panther leader who has since became a pop-
ular Democratic congressman — and mem-
ber of the Congressional Black Caucus,
which has been supporting fellow member
Clay and the display of Pulphus’ painting.
The moral of this story: Don’t rush to
censor someone else’s expression; you might
want to use your own freedom of expression
someday.
CLARENCE PAGE writes for the Chica-
go Tribune. His column is distributed by
Tribune Content Agency.
Bloodless statistics are irrelevant at times like this.
They don’t tell a human story about what it’s like to put
on the uniform every day, bid the family goodbye and hit
the streets in a high-profile patrol car that doubles as a
rolling office.
Conventional wisdom is that policing in Little Elm,
Frisco, Allen and other suburban enclaves is not danger-
ous. Detective Walker’s death gives the lie to that belief.
Law enforcement is dangerous no matter where it’s prac-
ticed — Dallas, Houston, Chicago or Krum, Sanger and
Aubrey.
The person accused of killing Detective Walker is dead.
As of this writing, investigators have not publicly identi-
fied him. Hopefully, their findings will lead to a full report
of exactly what happened Tuesday afternoon in that quiet
Little Elm neighborhood, and why.
In the meantime, Detective Walker’s family and his
police brothers and sisters go about the sad task of plan-
ning his funeral.
Letters to the editor
Bad idea
SUBMISSIONS
This day in history: January 19
Repealing Obamacare without passing a
replacement at the same time virtually guar-
antees that any so-called replacement will be
either extremely weak or nonexistent.
As a result, more than 20 million Amer-
icans will not have health care coverage (that
is, health insurance or the Medicaid expan-
sion).
Letters for publication must include the writer’s
name, address and telephone number. Au-
thorship must be verified before publication.
The Record-Chronicle reserves the right to edit
letters for length. Letters should be typed or
legibly handwritten and be 250 or fewer words.
We prefer email submissions.
Send to: drc@dentonrc.com.
Otherwise, fax to 940-566-6888, or mail to:
Letters to the editor
P.0. Box 369
Denton, TX 76202
Today is Thursday, Jan. 19,
the 19th day of 2017. There are
346 days left in the year.
On Jan. 19,1977, on his last
full day in office, President Ger-
ald R. Ford pardoned Iva Toguri
D’Aquino, an American convict-
ed of treason for making Eng-
lish-language radio broadcasts
from Japan aimed at demoraliz-
ing Allied troops in the Pacific
Theater during World War II.
(Although she was popularly re-
ferred to as “Tokyo Rose,” D’A-
quino never used that name,
and was believed to be one of a
group of female broadcasters.)
In 1807, Confederate Gen.
Robert E. Lee was bom in West-
moreland County, Virginia.
In 1861, Georgia became the
fifth state to secede from the
Union.
In 1867, the song “The Dar-
ing Young Man on the Flying
Trapeze” by Gaston Lyle, Alfred
Lee and George Leyboume was
first published in London.
In 1915, Germany carried
out its first air raid on Britain
during World War I as a pair of
Zeppelins dropped bombs onto
Great Yarmouth and King’s
Lynn in England.
In 1937, millionaire Howard
Hughes set a transcontinental
air record by flying his mono-
plane from Los Angeles to New-
ark, New Jersey, in 7 hours, 28
minutes and 25 seconds.
In 1942, during World War
II, Japanese forces captured the
British protectorate of North
Borneo. A German submarine
sank the Canadian liner RMS
Lady Hawkins off Cape Hatter-
as, North Carolina, killing 251
people; 71 survived.
In 1955, a presidential news
conference was filmed for televi-
sion and newsreels for the first
time, with the permission of
President Dwight D. Eisenhow-
Coverage will be denied to people with
pre-existing conditions, the unemployed
and the poor will get their health care (if any)
in hospital emergency rooms, and the doc-
tors, hospitals and insurers who benefited fi-
nancially from the increased health care cov-
erage will lose a substantial amount of in-
nuclear weapon and further destabilize the
Middle East.
■ He allowed Russia to annex Crimea by
force and invade the Ukraine with no retali-
ation.
come.
Repealing without replacement is a bad
er.
idea.
In 1960, the Treaty of Mutu-
al Cooperation and Security be-
tween Japan and the United
States of America was signed by
both countries in Washington,
D.C.
The answer to that question lies in the
fact that ultimately, dollars are only good in
the U.S. They can go from country to coun-
try, but they sooner or later wind up in the
U.S. as claims on what we produce.
By the way, all trade is fair in the eyes of
the parties trading, or else they would not
trade. It’s third parties who seek to interfere.
WALTER E. WILLIAMS is a professor
of economics at George Mason Universi-
ty. His column is distributed by Creators
Syndicate Inc.
Bob Michaelsen,
Denton
■ He stood by and watched Bashar A1
Assad slaughter thousands of his own peo-
ple, and ultimately let Russia and Iran in-
tervene.
■ He lied about the murders in Bengha-
zi, clinging for weeks to a bogus story about
an anti-Muslim video being the catalyst for a
spontaneous attack.
■ He has presided over the largest in-
crease in the U.S. national debt in history.
■ He turned the Justice Department,
FBI and IRS into political weapons to im-
pede political rivals, and ignore or cover up
scandals.
■ He presided over the largest loss of
Democratic seats of any president in history.
We’ll see how Mr. Obama explains his
failures. No doubt none of this is his fault. It
Obama’s actions
Let’s set the record straight with a few
facts that define Obama’s presidency:
■ He presided over the weakest, slowest
post-recession economic recovery in history.
■ He misrepresented and squandered
$8.4 billion in “stimulus” money he prom-
ised to spend on infrastructure. Only about 7
percent of the money was spent on infra-
structure.
■ He signed the Dodd-Frank bill into
law, designed to punish the banking indus-
try for the housing bust.
■ He ruined the health insurance market
with Obamacare. What a disaster.
■ He withdrew our troops from Iraq and
Afghanistan with no plan to avoid ISIS and
the Taliban filling the vacuum left behind.
■ He paved the way for Iran to develop a
In 1966, Indira Gandhi was
chosen to be prime minister of
India by the National Congress
party.
In 1970, President Richard
M. Nixon nominated G. Harrold
Carswell to the Supreme Court;
however, the nomination was
defeated because of controversy
over Carswell’s past racial views.
In 1987, Guy Hunt became
Alabama’s first Republican gov-
ernor since 1874 as he was sworn
into office, succeeding George C.
Wallace.
REACH US
Managing Editor
Scott K. Parks.....
...... 940-566-6879
sparks@dentonrc.com
never is.
City Editor
Mark Finley .
D.J. Anderson,
Bartonville
........940-566-6884
mfinley@dentonrc.com
— The Associated Press
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Parks, Scott K. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 170, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 19, 2017, newspaper, January 19, 2017; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1131801/m1/4/: accessed July 2, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .