Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 16

OPINIONS TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 201 1 B9 The built-in disincentives of 'Obamacare' YOUR VOICE COUNTS E-mail: opinionsarizona republic.com. Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Arizona Republic, P.O. Box 1950, Phoenix, AZ 85001. Online: Current and past editorials, letters and Benson cartoons are available at arizonarepublic.comopinions. A recently released survey of employers says 30 percent will drop health insurance after "Obamacare" takes effect in 2014.

The result of "economically rational" decisions, given the law's incentives. The White House argues just 7 percent will drop coverage. But given the president's oft-stated preference for a single-payer system, it seems economically rational that the administration is being disingenuous. "The compelling narrative that marked the Obama presidential campaign is absent when it comes to explaining the economy." Albert Hunt Join "The good news is that they already found a replacement for Anthony Weiner. The bad news is that it's Brett Favre." Jay Leno Quick Hit DOUG MACEACHERN, Editorial writer the conversation at aztalk.azcentral.com Cain has flawed view of U.S.

Constitution THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC 'TI'W'V'l'MJ'T A WASHINGTON On the issue of Muslims serv- ing in public office, every explanation by presidential candidate Herman Cain becomes a complication. In three instances Cain affirmed, that Muslims would not be allowed to serve in his Cabinet or administration. "Many of the Muslims," he explained, "they're not totally dedicated to this country." Cain then amended his remarks to say that, a loyalty oath to the Constitution. It continues: "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." After Charles Pinckney of South Carolina proposed this language at the Constitutional Convention, a delegate to North Carolina's ratifying convention objected that it would allow "pagans, deists and Mahometans" to seek office. It was ratified anyway even though many state constitutions at the time contained religious tests.

In urging ratification, James Madison dismissed these state restrictions as "less carefully and properly defined" than the federal document. Government service, he argued, should be "open to merit of every description, whether native or adoptive, whether young or old, and without regard to poverty or wealth, or to any particular profession of religious faith." Imposing a modern religious test is neither likely nor defensible. It is remarkable than any liberal advocate of an evolving Constitution should wish it to evolve in this way. It is equally inexplicable that any conservative defender of constitutionalism should advocate so clear a violation of the Constitution itself. cal expressions of Islam and conservative Christianity that are inconsistent with pluralism either Wahhabi Saudi Arabia or John Calvin's Geneva.

There are also traditions consistent with pluralism. Shariah law may be interpreted as the replication of seventh-century Medina. It may also be viewed as a moral norm or conception of justice that is variously applied in systems of human law. The CainSoros view rests on the assertion that the most radical expression of a religion is also the most authentic. "Based upon the little knowledge that I have of the Muslim religion," Cain says, "you know, they have an objective to convert all infidels or kill them." Part of this statement is correct.

It represents very little knowledge of the vigorous debates among 1.2 billion Muslims a few violent, the vast majority not. For the purposes of this debate, it only matters that a diversity of views on Shariah exists a point beyond question. Determining the genuine, or correct version of a religious tradition is beyond the competence and authority of a candidate or the U.S. government. The Constitution addresses this directly.

Article VI requires legislative, judicial and executive officials to take while Muslims would be al-. lowed to serve, they should be subject to "extra precautions" not applied to Catholics or Mormons. It is unclear what this would mean in practice. Presiden MICHAEL CERSON Washington Post Writers Group tial appointees already swear an oath of the loyalty to the Constitution. I took mine in 2001 in the East Room of the White House.

High-ranking officials are subject to an extensive FBI background check, including the disclosure of every place one has lived and every country one has visited. Cabinet secretaries are given the added scrutiny of a Senate 1 three instances that Muslims Cabinet or administration, ap clearly undermined by having a born-again president. Our concern about Islamic fundamentalism is that there's no separation between church and state, yet we are about to erode that here." A president, in this view, must not only be born in the U.S. but born only once. The intolerant certainty of ethical monotheism is itself a disqualification.

Cain and Soros make the same error. There are, of course, theologi K3 Many too quick to fly into rage on road and i ft 1 .1 -T, A real-life drama at a gas pump show that, at a stressful moment, we can be civil with each other or we can fly into a rage and be rude, ap UN 1 Republican Herman Cain has said in wouldn't be allowed to serve in his hearing, based on endless pages of intrusive, written questions. So what additional level of scrutiny should be imposed on Muslims? A requirement to forswear Shariah law? But what definition, what interpretation of it? Cain's statement is reminiscent of another made by liberal financier George Soros in 2004 a similarity that would presumably disturb Cain. "The separation of church and state," Soros said, "is hospital and would pay for the damage to his pump. He could not have been nicer, more sympathetic, more understanding.

We got through the paperwork in just a few minutes, and he kindly wished me luck with the rest of my day. Not so the woman who was waiting to get gas at the now-broken pump. She wouldn't stop" honking her horn and screaming at me. Dressed in her finest exercise wear, facing about a three-minute wait until one of the other cars pulled off, she exploded. How dare I make her late for her exercise class? She didn't let up until I told her the pump was broken.

When I was 16 years old, I drove my father's car into the planter that was next to our driveway. When I got the courage to tell him, he said to me what his father had said to him the first time he banged up my grandfather's car: "It's only metal." It is. A few years ago, a woman rear- ended me. Rear-enders are, we all know, always the other person's fault. The woman got out of the car; we asked each other if we in on talks with Obama because "there was an honest dialogue between the mayors and the president." Smith said the participants discussed how to expand infrastructure under tough economic conditions.

Mayors from Los Angeles to Philadelphia and from Orlando to Burnsville, were invited to the meeting, according to the White House. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa pushed for an emphasis on job-training development and infrastructure. White House off icials declined to comment. deal to purchase the Coyotes, said Monday that he might be interested. Westgate has played a major role in Glendale's economic aspirations.

Ellman worked with the city a decade ago to build a sports and entertainment district. The city paid $180 million to build Jobing Arena for the Coyotes, a team that Ellman owned at the time. Ellman built Westgate, which the city depends on for sales-tax revenues to make annual $8 million to $10 million debt payments on the arena. Westgate opened in 2006, behind schedule and behind in the size of the promised develop J. elsewhere Road rage? Have we really been reduced to the point that we forget that traffic ultimately moves, the pumps will be free in a few minutes and cars are just cars? I'll pay for the pump.

I need a new gas cap. It's only metal. a tax increase from people whose children can never participate in this education system," said Bustamante, a Phoenix attorney. Board President Randolph Lumm was the only member to vote against the out-of-state tuition increase in March. Last week, he voted for the tax increase but said: "I feel for the immigrant students.

They Randolph Lumm rent houses so they pay taxes. They own houses so they pay taxes." The meeting will be in the governing-board room of the District Support Services Center, 2411 W. 14th Tempe. were all right; she apologized. I told her not to worry about it, and she gave me her parents' number, saying that would be the best way to get in touch once I had an estimate.

When I called a week or so later, her mother told me she had died. She was dying when she hit me. Her mother thanked me for having been gracious and kind to her daughter at a time when she was distracted and terrified. I told her mother it was her daughter who had been gracious and kind, that the cars were just metal, that I was so sorry for her loss, and that there was, in fact, no damage to pay for. I thought of that brave and decent woman as the woman in gym clothes screamed at me, this morning.

What was so important that she would scream at a person who, as it turned out, was on her way to the hospital? Didn't she understand that you never know, that a car is just a car, that five minutes is not a lifetime, not a delay you scream about? She did not. We live in an age in which rudeness and cruelty are staples that have slipped into everyday life, VALLEY STATE Immigrants Continued from B1 board members to reverse their decision. The 10-college system has been required to charge the out-of-state tuition rate for undocumented students since Proposition 300 passed in 2007. But Maricopa, along with most other community-college districts in the state, hasn't been charging that rate to students who took six or fewer credits. This has allowed illegal-immigrant students, and anyone who's not a resident of Maricopa County, to earn their degrees at a lower cost by taking one or two classes per semester.

Undocumented students in Maricopa County were able to ment. The complex boasts Bella-gio-style fountains, a movie theater, more than a dozen eateries and night spots like Saddle Ranch Chop House. Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs said Ellman assured her Westgate would stay open and visitors would notice no changes. "We're disappointed to hear the news," she said, but "it really isn't surprising. Steve Ellman has poured tens of millions of dollars into the project.

But just like all other properties, his valuation has dropped so low in comparison to what is owed on the property." Glendale issued a statement that Westgate businesses "will be open as usual." I was on my way to the hospital this morning to sit in the waiting room for six or eight hours while a family member was having surgery when I realized I had no gas. Running out of gas while you are taking someone to the hospital is not good. I stopped at the gas station to fill up. While doing so, I realized I didn't have cash, which is also not a good thing when you are headed into the uncertain world of hospitals (not to mention hospital parking lots). So I headed to the ATM, got some cash, SUSAN ESTRICH Creators Syndicate looked at my watch and jumped into the car so I wouldn't be late.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take the gas nozzle out, meaning I drove away with it, pulling the cord right out, along with my gas cap. stopped. The gas station attendant came out. I told him it was my fault, that I was headed to the Mesa mayor on economy By Anthony DeWitt Cronkite News Service Mesa Mayor Scott Smith came away from a White House meeting Monday satisfied that he and other mayors had an "honest dialogue" with the president about the economy. Smith was one of 14 mayors from around the country who met with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden for about an hour to discuss the economic climate and its effect on their cities.

Smith, a Republican, said he felt the meeting was successful Westgate Continued from B1 The Coyotes have been without a permanent owner for two years, hurting the number of visitors to hockey games and to Westgate shops and restaurants. The situation has several potential outcomes: Developer Steve Ellman could negotiate a deal with lenders to keep the property; new buyers could purchase the complex at auction; or lenders could take over the complex if no buyer is secured. At least one potential investor has already expressed interest. Matthew Hulsizer, working on a staples that allow people who should know better to scream at others on the road and almost everywhere else, taking no responsibility for the impact of their words, not even stopping to wonder what it might be like to walk in the other person's shoes. pay the "unclassified student" rate of $96 per credit hour.

In March, the board closed that loophole, and starting with the fall 2011 semester, everyone who is not a legal resident of Maricopa County including undocumented students will pay $317 per credit hour, no matter how many credits are taken. Last week, the board approved a 3 percent increase in the property-tax levy to raise $11.3 million in revenue. Of the'dozen people who spoke against the tax increase during the public hearing, half tied their opposition to the tuition change. Antonio Bustamante told the board that the tax increase amounts to taxation without representation. "It's a form of theft to demand Eric Bennett, Saddle Ranch's acting general manager, echoed that, saying that "who we write our check to is a moot point." He said Westgate and Saddle Ranch would continue to be a destination for Valley residents.

The complex is owned by subsidiaries of Ellman Entertainment Center Development LLC and Coyote Center Development LLC. Records of the trustee sale were not immediately available from the Maricopa County Recorder's Office. Ellman Cos. spokesman Jason Rose said the auction should take place in 90 days or more. Rose said the developer was current with all payments on in terest, vendors, services and staff salaries, but that a lead lender found the developer and other lenders in default for missing payment1 on the balance of the loan when it recently came due.

Hulsizer, who has been working with the city for a year on an arena lease agreement for the Coyotes, said the foreclosure process will not deter him from trying to purchase the team. Hulsizer said he even would be interested in buying or partnering in the purchase of Westgate. "We're investors, and we be- lieve in Arizona long-term," he said. "There might be some interest in purchasing Westgate if it came for sale.".