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A6 SUNDAY, MARCH 1 , 2015 SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL ◆ GOUPSTATE.COM LAWRENCE M. RILEY For more opinion, go to: Publisher ◆ MICHAEL SMITH Executive Editor Charles Krauthammer OPINION Iran talks are full of fatal flaws sunset clause? The news from the nuclear talks with Iran was Aalready troubling. Iran was being granted the “right to enrich.” It would be allowed to retain and spin thousands of centrifuges. It could continue construction of the Arak plutonium reactor. Yet so thoroughly was Iran stonewalling International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors that just 10 days ago the IAEA reported its concern “about the possible existence in Iran of undisclosed ... development of a nuclear payload for a missile.” Bad enough. Then it got worse: News leaked Monday of the “sunset clause.” President Barack Obama had accepted the Iranian demand that any restrictions on its program be time-limited. After which, the mullahs can crank up their nuclear program at will and produce as much enriched uranium as they want. EDITORIAL Sanctions lifted. Restric- tions gone. Nuclear development legitimized. Iran would re-enter the international community, as A r m i n g a b u s e r s Obama suggested in an interview last December, as “a very success- outh Carolina has one of the ◆ The Charleston Post and Courier ful regional power.” A few years highest criminal domestic vio- reported last year that more than — probably around 10 — of good lence rates in the country. The 300 South Carolina women have behavior and Iran would be home Palmetto State leads the nation Spartanburg senators been killed by the men in their lives free. Sin the rate of women killed by men. in the past decade. Nearly two-thirds The agreement thus would Most lawmakers understand that cast the only no votes of those women were shot. provide a predictable path to an this is a shameful thing and that Some of them might still be alive Iranian bomb. Indeed, a fl ourishing something should be done about it. against domestic if, after those men had beaten them path, with trade resumed, oil pump- But not Spartanburg’s state senators. the fi rst, second or third time, the ing and foreign investment pouring into a restored economy. The Senate voted last week to pass violence reform courts had taken the men’s guns Such an agreement also means a criminal domestic violence bill that ◆ away. the end of nonproliferation. When had broad bipartisan support. It had A “gun grab” is when overbear- a rogue state defi es the world, the support of victims’ advocates. those convicted of the highest two ing government offi cials try to take continues illegal enrichment and It had the support of every sensible levels of domestic violence and give fi rearms away from law-abiding citi- then gets the world to bless an even- person in the Senate. It passed on a judges discretion on the lowest level. zens, not when they take them from tual unrestricted industrial-level 38-3 vote. Who were the three sena- It also allows the gun possession criminals, and especially not when enrichment program, the Nuclear tors who voted against it? Lee Bright, rights of those subject to a protective they take them from violent crimi- Non-Proliferation Treaty is dead. Shane Martin and Tom Corbin — all order to be suspended if, after due nals. And regional hyperproliferation Republicans who represent a portion legal process, a judge so orders. The bill the Senate passed treats becomes inevitable as Egypt, Tur- key, Saudi Arabia and others seek of Spartanburg County. Corbin, who famously considers domestic violence for the violent shelter in going nuclear themselves. The bill is worthwhile legisla- women “a lesser cut of meat,” called crime that it is. And the fi rearm pro- The deal now on offer to the tion that will save lives in this state. the bill a “gun grab.” vision simply recognizes that fact. ayatollah would confer legitimacy It categorizes domestic violence It’s complete nonsense. The bill It is an attempt to stop the violence on the nuclearization of the most according to the severity of the doesn’t affect the gun rights of any- before it becomes fatal. Federal law rogue of rogue regimes. In fact, attack. It strengthens penalties for one except those who have shown already requires that domestic abus- the Iranian regime just last week, offenders. It gives prosecutors more a propensity toward violence. And ers lose their gun rights. at the apex of these nuclear talks, options to successfully prosecute a aren’t those the very people from Corbin, Bright and Martin are not staged a spectacular attack on a charge. whom we’d like to take guns away? standing up for your Second Amend- replica U.S. carrier near the Strait So why did the three oppose it? This bill isn’t about your Second ment rights or anyone else’s. And of Hormuz. Well, say the administration Because the bill would prohibit Amendment rights or anyone’s Sec- they surely aren’t trying to help bat- apologists, what’s your alternative? domestic abusers from possessing ond Amendment rights. It’s about tered women. They are standing up Do you want war? It’s Obama’s guns. The bill would require that gun the right to life for those who have for the right of violent criminals to usual, subtle false-choice maneu- possession rights be stripped from been victims of domestic violence. remain armed. ver: It’s either appeasement or war. It’s not. True, there are no good choices, but Obama’s prospective deal is the worst possible. Not only LETTERS TO THE EDITOR does Iran get a clear path to the bomb, but it gets sanctions lifted, Generous tax advantages all pressure removed and interna- tional legitimacy. That was an interesting Associated There is a third choice. If you are Press article on Monday (“Poll: Most back not stopping Iran’s program, don’t plan to raise taxes on rich”) about our view give away the store. Keep the pres- on other people’s taxes. I suspect some sure, keep the sanctions. Indeed, neglect to take advantage of the generous increase them. After all, previous tax breaks available to the middle class. sanctions brought Iran to its knees Capital gains taxed at 15 percent are and to the negotiating table in the available to almost any investor. If mar- fi rst place. And that was before the ried and your family earns less than about collapse of oil prices, which would $73,000 annually, capital gains are taxed now vastly magnify the economic at zero percent. Yes, tax-free. effect of heightened sanctions. You may be able to reduce your report- Congress is proposing precisely ed income by contributing to a health sav- that. Combined with cheap oil, it ings account and earning tax-free health could so destabilize the Iranian care as well. Health savings accounts do economy as to threaten the cleri- not have to be available at your place of cal regime. That’s the opening. work in order to take advantage of them. Then offer to renew negotiations Additionally, the money you put in them for sanctions relief, but from a is not lost annually if not spent, as fl exible very different starting point — no spending accounts are, but you must have enrichment. Or, if you like, with a high-deductible health plan. a few token centrifuges for face- Knowledge is power. saving purposes. And no sunset. HAL CARSON Letters to the editor must be 300 words or fewer and include the writer’s name, home That’s the carrot. As for the Spartanburg address and telephone number for verification. Send to: stick, make it quietly known that Letters to the Editor, The Herald-Journal, P.O. Box 1657, Spartanburg, S.C. 29304 the U.S. will not stand in the way A can-do candidate of any threatened nation that takes Fax: (864) 594-6350 For more opinion, go to: things into its own hands. We leave How fortunate Spartanburg is to have E-mail: [email protected] the regional threat to the regional several solid candidates running for City Phone: (864) 562-7267 powers, say, Israeli bombers over- Council. Of the three contenders in the fl ying Saudi Arabia. race, my vote goes to Laura Stille, a tre- Consider where we began: six mendous contributor to our community for the good of all. The dysfunctional de jure segregation U.N. Security Council resolutions and an engaging leader. It’s been said that the world needs agendas that gave birth to the university’s demanding an end to Iranian As a valued volunteer with a number of dreamers and the world needs doers, but beginning are the same dysfunctional enrichment. Consider what we are organizations, Laura is actively involved above all, the world needs dreamers who chickens that are coming home to roost now offering: an interim arrange- in advancing key initiatives for the better- do. On March 31, I’ll be supporting Laura in a multiplicity of disparaging forms, ment ending with a sunset clause ment of our community. A longtime board Stille — a proven “doer” in Spartanburg. including corruption and mismanagement that allows the mullahs a robust, member of Partners for Active Living issues that are speeding one of the state’s industrial-strength, internationally — and now chair of the board — Laura is MARY MATHES most celebrated landmarks onward to its sanctioned nuclear program. a pivotal force in the push for a cohesive Spartanburg inescapable fate of oblivion. Such a deal makes the Cuba and robust trail system.

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