Excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers in the United States and abroad:
The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J., on the nation’s flood insurance program being broken:
In an act of compassion, the government will postpone reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program. Premiums skyrocketed beyond anyone’s expectations, and still-suffering Hurricane Sandy victims faced being priced out of their homes. Families were desperate for relief, and lawmakers provided it.
President Obama is expected to sign a four-year moratorium this week. But this delay, while humane, leaves in place a broken system that is $26 billion in debt and encourages property owners to build ”“ and rebuild ”“ in the riskiest flood zones.
Congress must ensure that its reforms, designed to make us more resilient after devastating storms, aren’t undone.
What’s most frustrating is that the law being shelved ”“ the 2012 Biggert-Waters Act ”“ was a rarity: a bipartisan solution to a complicated, long-term problem: Because government subsidies kept flood insurance premiums artificially low for decades, the National Flood Insurance Program was underfunded. After Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, the government was forced to borrow billions from taxpayers to cover the claims. Biggert-Waters increased insurance rates so that, over time, premiums would match the risk.
But when new, higher insurance bills began arriving last fall, sticker-shock set in. Homes were suddenly unaffordable and impossible to sell at full price.
So while the short-term bailout was crucial, it didn’t solve the underlying problem: If property owners don’t pay higher premiums, the system collapses. The danger now is that a four-year delay is long enough for Congress’ reforms to be forgotten or overturned.
In its current state, the U.S. flood insurance program is unsustainable: Government subsidies let policyholders underpay for decades. Cheap insurance encouraged overdevelopment in flood-prone zones with little concern for the cost to rebuild.
Softening the blow for homeowners was humane, but Congress should study alternatives to help keep low- and middle-income families in their homes. Biggert-Waters can’t be allowed to fade away. The alternative ”“ an insurance program too broke to cover its claims ”“ is already a proven failure.
China Daily on helping get U.S./China relations right:
He may have been overly optimistic in portraying relations between the United States and China as “friendship”, but Max Baucus, the new U.S. ambassador to China, hit the nail on the head when he said the two countries had to get their relationship right.
Despite all the rhetoric about a partnership, at the moment our countries are half-heartedly working together and endeavoring to build mutual trust because neither can afford to antagonize the other.
Ambassador Baucus’ immediate predecessor, Gary Locke, didn’t see much headway in improving bilateral ties, not because he didn’t work hard. His less-than-impressive personal record in China was symptomatic of Washington’s inability to adapt to a rapidly changing China.
Ambassador Baucus claims a long-running personal interest in China, having visited Beijing many times. However, that doesn’t guarantee he will fare better. Which is why expectations aren’t high.
Observers say Baucus has little experience of China, even less of diplomacy, and his expertise is largely confined to U.S. trade policy.
However, the low expectations may actually be to his advantage. The close interdependence between Chinese and the U.S. economies promises him a broad stage in Beijing. While his sponsoring of an un-enacted legislative proposal to punish China for “undervaluing” its currency may sound less than China-friendly, he will surely be embraced with gratitude here for championing this country’s inclusion in the World Trade Organization in 2001.
Baucus’ willingness to work across party lines in the U.S. Senate may also prove an asset. The notorious “trust deficit” between Beijing and Washington calls for serious trust-building efforts from both sides, and his consensus-building expertise may make him an effective messenger between Beijing and Washington.
The Chinese leadership has proposed a new-type of relationship with the US, which Chinese President Xi Jinping encapsulated as “no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation”. That proposal was received positively by Washington. Yet there is still no consensus on how to build such a relationship.
That, too, is where ambassador Baucus can contribute.
Trust-building will require long-term hard work. As a marathon enthusiast who once completed a 50-mile ultra-marathon, Baucus knows what each step means to reach the end of a protracted journey.
We wish him well in his new post, and hope his ambassadorship proves to be a significant step toward getting US-China relations right.
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