Daily Editorials from Creators Syndicate

Save $2 Billion. Close the U.S. Capitol Until November. for 05/22/2012

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Here's a modest proposal: Since it has become blindingly obvious that the United States Congress won't get anything meaningful done before the November election, maybe the Capitol should be closed down for the next five months.

Turn off the computers. Empty out the refrigerators. Throw some sheets over the furniture. Turn off the air conditioning.

Admittedly, this would be a disap ...

Updated: Tue May 22, 2012

Golden Geese Fly Away for 05/22/2012

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Rich people are starting to flee America for tax havens elsewhere. It's not as bad as refugees getting out of North Korea. But it's not good.

The most publicized recent example has been Eduardo Saverin, a co-founder of Facebook, worth approximately $3.8 billion. That's if Facebook's initial public stock offering, which began trading Friday, hauls in a projected $104 billion, based on the ...

Updated: Tue May 22, 2012

Gasoline Price Gouging, By Government for 05/21/2012

Mon, 21 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

With gasoline in this region persisting at $4 and up, the inevitable complaint is raised that motorists are being gouged by greedy oil companies. Motorists are being gouged. But the culprits are in Washington, where energy policies intentionally restrict oil supply.

The more of something that is sold, the lower its price. Conversely, when supply is reduced, prices tend to increa ...

Updated: Mon May 21, 2012

Quick Response Critical For Stroke for 05/21/2012

Mon, 21 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

For every story about a remarkable recovery from a stroke, there are dozens of sad tales.

Lives that are never the same or are lost altogether.

Although not as deadly as 15 or 20 years ago, mostly because of the advancements in treatment, these "brain attacks" are still the third leading cause of death in the nation.

Some of the best prevention is knowledge.

< ...

Updated: Mon May 21, 2012

No Time to Debate Gay Marriage for 05/18/2012

Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Our country is buried in debt. Unemployment remains at more than 8 percent. The government's credit rating is blemished. Young Americans are on the verge of having to support nearly 80 million baby boomers who will become increasingly dependent on social benefits. If this economic cloud were a tsunami, we would run for our lives and wedding plans would have to wait.

The president of the ...

Updated: Fri May 18, 2012

Global Warming Losing Alarmists for 05/18/2012

Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Ever heard of James Lovelock? Probably not, unless you're a hardcore believer in global warming. Lovelock is a celebrated scientist who, a number of years ago — back when global warming was touted as the end of the world as we know it — was among those predicting a global warming disaster awaited humanity.

Lovelock said in 2006 that "before this century is over, billions ...

Updated: Fri May 18, 2012

What Was Wrong with the Glass-Steagall Act, Anyway? for 05/17/2012

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Had the nation been more engrossed in what President Bill Clinton was doing with the financial industry in the mid-1990s and less in what he was doing with Monica Lewinsky, it might have avoided a whole lot of trouble.

In November 1999, having survived impeachment over matters related to l'affaire Monica, Clinton signed the Financial Services Modernization Act, aka, the Gramm-Leach-Blile ...

Updated: Thu May 17, 2012

Wisconsin Recall Heads Toward Intense Finish for 05/17/2012

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Wisconsin no doubt has become the battleground state for government reform, at least as regards efforts to tame the undue political power of public employee unions. As the June 5 recall election of Republican Gov. Scott Walker nears, his campaign has much to be encouraged about while still facing a mountain of work before he can claim victory in what is shaping up to be the most important elect ...

Updated: Thu May 17, 2012

Inconvenient Facts About Immigration for 05/16/2012

Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

A new report confirms what the Mexican government announced one year ago: net immigration from that country to the United States essentially has dropped to zero. The Pew Hispanic Center released a report last week stating that for the first time since the Great Depression, the number of Mexican nationals leaving this country is high enough, and the number of new immigrants low enough, that they ...

Updated: Wed May 16, 2012

Fed Study Details Significant Changes in North American Auto Industry Post GM, Chrysler Bankruptcies for 05/16/2012

Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Just about everyone, from President Barack Obama to ex-President George W. Bush to GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, agrees that government intervention to revive the struggling Detroit-based auto industry was necessary. A new study from the Chicago branch of the Federal Reserve notes that the restructuring undergone by Detroit carmakers allowed them to more easily earn a profit — b ...

Updated: Wed May 16, 2012

The Bad Old Days of Risky Derivative Trading Never Left for 05/15/2012

Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

For the vast majority of Americans — 99 percent, to borrow a phrase — banking is commercial and relatively simple. A checking account, a savings account, a credit card or two. A mortgage, a small-business loan or a line of credit for daily business cash flow.

But at the 1 percent level, where investment banking is done, banking is extraordinarily complicated and extraordinari ...

Updated: Tue May 15, 2012

On Gay Marriage, Another Important Step For Obama for 05/15/2012

Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

President Barack Obama's decision to support same-sex marriage last week is an important step forward in the struggle to accord equal rights to same-sex couples. It's the first time a sitting president has done so, and it could provide a boost to efforts to legalize such unions.

To us, the issue is a simple one of equal rights, just as the question of interracial marriage was a civil rig ...

Updated: Tue May 15, 2012

Obama Supports Same-Sex Marriage. Now Move on. for 05/14/2012

Mon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

It would be difficult to overstate the historical significance of President Barack Obama's personal and very public affirmation Wednesday that people should be free to marry whom they choose, regardless of sexual orientation.

For the first time, a sitting president of the United States of America — the nation founded on the self-evident truth of the equality of all people — e ...

Updated: Mon May 14, 2012

Europe Faces Hard Choices for 05/14/2012

Mon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Europe is about to learn there is no Santa Claus.

The China Investment Corp., that nation's sovereign wealth fund, has stopped buying European government debt, concerned about the region's financial turmoil. Germany still steadfastly insists that the profligate Greeks must make dramatic spending cuts to rein in their unsustainable deficit and debt.

If last week's elections are any ...

Updated: Mon May 14, 2012

Kindness Should Extend to Animals for 05/11/2012

Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Since 1915, the American Humane Society has been celebrating its annual Be Kind to Animals Week. This year, the week's celebration started on Sunday and runs through Saturday.

It's an observance that, in an ideal society, would not be necessary.

Human beings should incorporate kindness to the other creatures that inhabit this earth into their lives simply because it's the right th ...

Updated: Fri May 11, 2012

Greeks, French Revolt Against Belt-Tightening for 05/11/2012

Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Voters are revolting. Not just in California and America, but around the world. Everywhere, people are grumbling about the economy.

French President Nicholas Sarkozy presented himself as a world leader, working with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to keep the European economy functioning and with President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron to advance democracy on the ...

Updated: Fri May 11, 2012

Luck Finally Runs Out For al-Qaida's Fredo Corleone for 05/10/2012

Thu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

In the beginning of America's war on terrorism was a Yemeni jihadist named Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al Quso who was to al-Qaida what Fredo was to the Corleone family.

He played a bumbling role in the October 2000 attack on the guided missile destroyer U.S.S. Cole. But there was no doubt he was in on the planning — he admitted it — and he was indicted in absentia by a federal grand ...

Updated: Thu May 10, 2012

Nanny's Bill of Fare for 05/10/2012

Thu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

According to data released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control, fewer Americans are becoming obese, but the ones who already are overweight are getting fatter.

That's reason enough for some nanny staters to promote government pigging out on a plethora of public policies aimed at reducing our waistlines.

The CDC says that a third of U.S. adults are obese, and that number is e ...

Updated: Thu May 10, 2012

Health Care Fraud Is A Big, And Sleazy, Business. for 05/09/2012

Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

News coverage of last week's simultaneous arrests of 107 people in seven cities for alleged health care fraud pretty much appeared and disappeared in a day, at least outside Miami, Baton Rouge, Houston, Los Angeles, Detroit, Tampa and Chicago, the cities involved.

Behind the headlines, however, is a little-noticed law enforcement program that has focused exclusively on health care fraud, ...

Updated: Wed May 09, 2012

If Money Can't Be Limited, Require More Transparency for 05/09/2012

Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Congressional Democrats are trying once again to shed some light on the practice of "dark" money in politics. They have resurrected a stripped-down version of the 2010 Disclose Act, which would require transparency for the super secret money that threatens to inundate the upcoming campaign.

The Senate version of the bill has 34 co-sponsors — all Democrats. It would requir ...

Updated: Wed May 09, 2012