Daily Editorials from Creators Syndicate

Pay Cuts at the Top for 10/26/2009

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Under normal circumstances, we would be opposed on principle to the idea of the federal government dictating what some of the nation's largest companies should pay their executives. It's none of the government's business what the employee and employer agree to by way of compensation.

Look around. These are not normal circumstances.

The exception to the aforementioned principle are ...

Updated: Mon Oct 26, 2009

Mr. President, Ignore Flak for 10/26/2009

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Republicans have attacked President Barack Obama mercilessly for his involvement in virtually every issue from Chicago's bid to host the Olympics to his harmless but ridiculously overhyped address to the nation's schoolchildren. So we find it somewhat hypocritical that Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, now wants Obama to inject himself into another issue: The college football Bowl Championship Series.< ...

Updated: Mon Oct 26, 2009

White House vs. Fox News for 10/27/2009

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Eventually, it seems, every president since George Washington has become impatient with the media, with loyal aides, especially, acting as if any questioning of the sublime wisdom and prudent actions of the chief executive is tantamount to treason, or at least evidence of ill-concealed partisanship and bad taste. However, the vendetta the Obama administration is conducting against Fox News Chan ...

Updated: Tue Oct 27, 2009

Democrats' Insurance Industry Payback Is an Empty Gesture for 10/27/2009

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

President Barack Obama has every right to be irritated with the insurance industry and its no-holds-barred effort to derail his administration's broad health care reform initiative.

The president has called industry tactics "bogus" and "smoke and mirrors" and "all too familiar." He noted that "every time we get close to passing reform, the insurance com ...

Updated: Tue Oct 27, 2009

Dancing the Public Option for 10/28/2009

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

For the past several months, President Barack Obama has been going in circles on whether health care reform must include a so-called "public option" for government-run insurance. Obama has said he supports a public option, but he has also said that it's not essential to reform. He wants to sign a bill that has it, but presumably would not veto a bill that doesn't.

Senate Majori ...

Updated: Wed Oct 28, 2009

Helping Neighbors Creates Community for 10/28/2009

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Redistributionists — from the old Soviet propaganda machine to Hillary Clinton — made the right pitch, but with the wrong idea in mind.

The Soviets and Mao Zedong, as well as Clinton and other modern liberals in this country, have done their best to promote the idea of selfless giving. The USSR touted the "New Soviet Man," and China had its counterpart, people who w ...

Updated: Wed Oct 28, 2009

Don't Overlook What Community Colleges Can Offer for 10/29/2009

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

When the stock market slammed to the financial basement like an elevator in free-fall, it wasn't only American's retirement savings that slipped into memories of better times: Wall Street's crash also affected college plans for thousands across the country.

In addition to traditional, invested educational savings plans, many parents also looked to the stock market to build a portfolio fo ...

Updated: Thu Oct 29, 2009

Balloon Hoax Worth the Payoff for 10/29/2009

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Regarding Balloon Boy, the conventional wisdom goes something like this: Balloon Boy's mom and dad will get in a lot of trouble, and they'll be sorry they ever conspired to trick the entire country, and much of the world, to believe 6-year-old Falcon Heene was floating high above the Earth and facing almost certain death. They'll be sorry, because they didn't think they'd get caught.

Tha ...

Updated: Thu Oct 29, 2009

Job One Done at Ford for 10/30/2009

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Congratulations are due the Ford Motor Co. for its excellent showing in Consumer Reports magazine's reliability ratings, which were released this week.

The automaker was lauded by the magazine's editors for producing products with "world-class reliability," placing its vehicles in the same category as its Asian rivals.

For years, cars made by Detroit manufacturers have b ...

Updated: Fri Oct 30, 2009

Save Us from the Reformers for 10/30/2009

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

We noted in August the unintended consequences in the wake of Washington's reform legislation to protect consumers from credit card interest rate hikes and penalties. Congress had restricted changes in credit card terms, citing complaints about high rates and penalty fees.

Even before the first wave of new regulations went into effect, banks began switching flat-interest rate accounts to ...

Updated: Fri Oct 30, 2009

Let Debate Begin for 11/02/2009

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Tired of waiting for the immigration reform bill that Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York promised to introduce by Labor Day but seems to have misplaced, and obviously frustrated by President Barack Obama's foot-dragging, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., has decided to take matters into his own hands. He says that in the next few weeks he will propose a 10-point plan for comprehensive immigra ...

Updated: Mon Nov 02, 2009

Hate Crime Law Isn't Prevention for 11/02/2009

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama signed into law legislation making it a federal crime to assault somebody due to his or her sexual orientation or gender identity.

The legislation was named for Matthew Shepard, who tragically became a household name after dying from being brutally beaten and tied to a fence in Wyoming in 1998.

Proponents for this legislation see this as a majo ...

Updated: Mon Nov 02, 2009

Electorate Capable of Corruption, Too for 11/03/2009

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Political corruption remains a perennial concern for the voting public, and with good reason. Still, this particular brand of dishonesty has something in common with other human failings: People tend to see it clearly in others but not so clearly in themselves.

Accordingly, the idea of constituents selling out should leave us feeling equally appalled.

We're not saying that voters ...

Updated: Tue Nov 03, 2009

For Fiscal Health, Stop the Bleeding for 11/03/2009

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Americans have plenty to worry about at a time when the job market is tight, the housing market is weak and the stock markets swing like a 6-year-old at recess.

Yet, there's a danger quietly building that seldom attracts the attention of most Americans. It's a threat, however, that could wreck the financial future for tens of million of children and young adults as well as baby boomers' ...

Updated: Tue Nov 03, 2009

Afghan Muddle Strengthens Case for Withdrawal for 11/04/2009

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

As he continues to stretch out the timetable on a decision about whether to escalate the U.S. commitment to the war in Afghanistan, President Obama has asked for a province-by-province assessment of the tribal and other local leaders in that mountainous country. The ostensible reason is to try to figure out which local regions have leaders inclined to cooperate with the U.S. and able to provide ...

Updated: Wed Nov 04, 2009

New Thinking, Please for 11/04/2009

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

A Washington Post analysis last month on the politics of global warming focused on what the newspaper saw as a striking change in how the issue was being debated. Previously, the focus was on the validity of scientific studies that held global warming was occurring and that mankind was partly or largely responsible. Now, per the Post, the focus instead was on how to best combat global warming w ...

Updated: Wed Nov 04, 2009

Last Chance To Step Back from Quagmire for 11/05/2009

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The electoral outcome has caused almost all concerned to avert their eyes, pretend not to remember the unseemly events that led up to Hamid Karzai securing a second term as president of Afghanistan, and declare that in lieu of a possibly even messier episode on Saturday that this decision confers that elusive quality known as legitimacy on Mr. Karzai and the once and future government of Afghan ...

Updated: Thu Nov 05, 2009

Seeking a Less Catastrophic Way To Cool Global Warming for 11/05/2009

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

People often talk as if warming temperatures are the only evidence of human-induced global climate change. But the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere also has increased dramatically.

For most of the past 800,000 years, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations ranged from about 180 to 280 parts per million. Today, it is 387 parts per million — and growing.

Carbon dio ...

Updated: Thu Nov 05, 2009

Difficult To Say Obama Saved Jobs for 11/06/2009

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Washington claims 640,000 to 1.5 million jobs have been created or saved by the $787 billion economic stimulus plan. With only about 15 percent of the money spent so far by those intended to receive it, at this rate America might implausibly end up with more new jobs than available workers.

Has the federal government really created or saved all those jobs by taking other peoples' money t ...

Updated: Fri Nov 06, 2009

Cooling Down the Climate Zealots for 11/06/2009

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The world can breathe a sigh of relief. Unnecessary economic destruction at the hands of climate zealots is likely to be averted at least another year. An international treaty to combat global warming almost certainly won't be reached this year, despite U.N. and climate change extremists' insistence that agreement on worldwide greenhouse gas emission limits must be reached at December's 190-nat ...

Updated: Fri Nov 06, 2009