‘Mr. X Agonistes’

Thanks for printing Mr. X’s delightful follow-up essay [“Mr. X Agonistes,” Opinion, April 27, 2005]. I, too, have followed a similar path from staunch Democrat to committed Republican. For me, the turning point was the realization of the many hypocrisies of Democrats. These positions include: claiming to support education while doing the bidding of the teachers’ unions to block improvements in the public schools; claiming to be the party of the “working man” while doing the bidding of the trade unions to restrict trade and block accountability of union leadership in the use of their funds; claiming to support the middle class while blocking tax and Social Security changes that would improve the lot of many others besides the “rich”; cloaking their association with the trial-lawyer lobby in claims of protecting the average person from the evils of big business, and, most serious and dangerous, claiming to support America while not aggressively siding with the forces of freedom and liberation at home and abroad.

None of this excuses any of the self-righteousness and venality of the Republicans, but the big difference is that I see little attempt by the right to cloak their programs in claims that are clearly at odds with the realities of their ambitions. At least with them, you pretty much get what you see – from being committed to faith to wanting to reform the United Nations.

This is by far the lesser of the two evils and allows a reasonable person to evaluate and accept or reject their positions on their merits. However, it appears that the left’s inability to win the war of ideas has now resulted in the hypocrisy, vitriol, and utter fury so many of us have experienced. This is the best indication of their powerlessness and frustration.

BRIAN ROM
Manhattan

‘Bush to Senate’

If Colin Powell is quietly undercutting the appointment of John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, it matters not just in the U.S., but also to America’s allies [“Bush to Senate: Put Aside Politics, Confirm Bolton,” Eli Lake, National, April 22, 2005].

For nearly 60 years, the U.N. has acted as a barrier to the spread of freedom. By granting dictatorships legitimacy and veto power, it has perpetuated an unsatisfactory status quo.

At last, there is a real and gathering movement for liberalizing bad regimes and establishing representative government as a norm. There is also a recognition that the threat of nuclear proliferation must be dealt with, particularly in Iran and North Korea. Blunt speech is a prerequisite for keeping the momentum going. In this department, Mr. Bolton is eminently qualified.

Mr. Powell’s era of consensus-above-all, while letting crises build, is over. Tomorrow’s diplomacy is about results, not appearances. We cannot afford the U.N. to carry on as the corrupt, obstructive body it is. If there is no change, free countries will have to bypass it.

TOM MINCHIN
Melbourne, Australia

‘Law Change Modifies’

Readers should applaud New York’s modest expansion of access to education and training for people receiving welfare. As reported in The New York Sun article [“State Law Change Modifies City’s Workfare Rules,” Dina Temple-Raston, New York, April 26, 2005], the new policy is a move in the right direction. Unfortunately, not everyone realizes this.

A Manhattan Institute fellow was quoted in the article as saying, “to stress education and training first is clearly a regressive move into a regime that has proven to fail.”

Yet since the late ’90s, numerous studies have shown that the vast majority of people who leave welfare work intermittently at low-wage jobs that make it practically impossible for them to move their families out of poverty. Meanwhile, similar research shows that 88% of women on welfare who attain a college degree move permanently off welfare and out of poverty.

Anyone seeking to enhance his or her marketable skills through education and training is clearly responding to the realities of the market. Our welfare policy should do more than just close cases.

All of society benefits when policy meets the real needs of people working their way out of poverty and into the middle class. The new policy is a good start.

MAUREEN LANE
Ms. Lane is a fellow of The Drum Major Institute For Public Policy and Co-director of the Welfare Rights Initiative at Hunter College
Manhattan

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