The world's opinions
Excerpts of Recent Editorials in Newspapers in US and Abroad
Excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers in the United States and abroad:
May 19
Vindicator, Youngstown, Ohio, on Bush, oil and the visit to Saudi Arabia:
Who says Saudi Arabia isn't a firm ally of the United States?
When President Bush visited the Kingdom of Saud last week and asked that the Saudis open their oil spigot a bit to help ease the oil crunch, the response was in the best interest of the United States. It was "no." ...
The kingdom had already decided to increase production by about 300,000 barrels a day in June, President Bush was told, and that's the best Saudi Arabia can do.
Best is apparently a relative term in Saudi Arabia (much as friend or ally is a relative term), because actually the kingdom has a production capacity of 11.3 million barrels a day, and the 300,000-barrel hike will bring June production to 9.4 million, or about 83 percent.
Meanwhile, oil is working its way toward $130 a barrel on the New York market and gas is approaching $4 a gallon right here in Ohio.
Which makes you wonder where we would be without friends like Saudi Arabia watching out for us.
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May 13
Houston Chronicle, on screening gun applicants:
Nobody knows why, but Texans in increasing numbers are applying for licenses to carry concealed handguns. The crunch has led to delays of several months before the Department of Public Safety can issue or renew them, far longer than the period mandated by law.
Despite some farfetched speculation that the 39 percent spike in license applications is linked to the election year and the possibility that the next president might push gun control, the likely reason is closer to home. Violent crime continues to be a public menace, even if rates in Houston are down this year. ...
Another reason handgun licenses might be more attractive is the Texas Legislature's decision last year to make the records confidential. ...
The Legislature also liberalized circumstances under which people with a concealed weapon may use it to defend themselves. ...
With more people packing lead, enforcement of the state law's restrictions will continue to be needed, even if issuance of the license is delayed. ...
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May 17
The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colo., on Defense Secretary Robert Gates' comments on the military:
It's a simple message known to anyone who manages the books of a business or a home: focus. Spend resources on the most crucial wants and needs.
That was essentially the message of Defense Secretary Robert Gates when he spoke recently to a gathering of reporters and editors in Colorado Springs. Gates said American generals should stop strategizing for the next big war, and start fighting the ones we already have.
He explained that while American military barracks have rotted because of neglect, the government has spent lavishly on high-tech weapons and gadgets that aren't useful in Iraq or Afghanistan or in future wars that most likely will mimic the characteristics of our current wars. He explained that the federal government is spending as if to prepare for another Cold-War-era war, when there's no apparent reason for it. ...
Gates is obviously correct. It's hard to believe that his message seems to fall on deaf ears among those who control military spending. Finish the business in Afghanistan and Iraq, finish it fast, and finish it to our advantage. Only then should big money chase the needs of possible wars in the distant future — wars that won't matter much if we can't win the battles at hand. It's a simple matter of focus.
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May 20:
The Herald, Rock Hill, S.C., on regulating credit cards:
Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve proposed new rules for the credit card industry to restore something that had been severely lacking in the way lenders conduct business: fairness.
If enacted, the regulations would be the most sweeping change in decades, offering consumers more protection against late fees and preventing lenders from making credit card offers that regulators say are deceptive. The new rules would ban common practices such as "double cycle billing" and arbitrary interest hikes.
Millions of Americans are buried up to their necks in credit card debt. ... But in many cases, the problem is magnified by the policies of the lenders. ...
While we agree that the Fed's efforts are commendable, Congress needs to act now rather than wait for the Fed to change the rules. ...
Lenders have far too free a hand in adopting unscrupulous policies that prey on borrowers, often without fully informing them of changing credit rates. Congress has a responsibility to rein in the industry and protect consumers, and we hope lawmakers will stand up to the banking lobby for the financial welfare of credit card holders and the nation as a whole.
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On the Net:
http://www.heraldonline.com/opinions/
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May 20
The News-Journal, Daytona Beach, Fla., on gay marriage:
Opponents of gay marriage make compelling arguments: Marriage has traditionally been between a woman and a man. State supreme courts that strike down gay-marriage bans, as in Massachusetts in 2004 and in California last week, are pre-empting lawmakers and the people they represent by imposing social policy. It's through the legislative process that most states have approved of civil unions that grant gays and lesbians the same civil rights as heterosexuals.
But every one of those arguments misses a fundamental point. Under the U.S. Constitution, equal rights and equal protection are not matters of interpretation according to tradition, popular will or even pragmatic compromise, which is what the civil-union argument is based on. Equal rights means equal rights — not equal with caveats, not separately equal, not equal until deemed uncomfortably so. Equal protections apply to human beings regardless of creed, color or sex. The country learned to extend equal protections for all creeds and colors. It hasn't yet learned to extend that protection to sex. The exceptions in Massachusetts and California should be the rule. ...
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May 20
The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa, on the new farm bill:
It's good to have friends with the power to spend taxpayer money to benefit just you. That's the net effect of a provision in the new farm bill, which we expect will survive a presidential veto.
As it is packed with millions in subsidies for farmers whose income is as high as $1.5 million — the absurdity of that fact alone is astonishing — one particular provision would grant millions in tax credits to a single source — Plum Creek Timber, the nation's largest single private landowner.
According to a story in the National Review, tucked somewhere in the massive farm bill is a thing called the Qualified Forestry Bonds program. It provides federally funded (that's us) tax-credit bonds for forest purchases that meet four criteria: the forest must be adjacent to U.S. Forest Service land, half of the parcel must be turned over to the U.S. Forest Service, it must include at least 40,000 total acres and it must be subject to a "native fish habitat conservation plan approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service."
And guess what, there's only one landowner in the country, Plum Creek, a Seattle-based real estate investment trust, that meets the criteria.
Budget experts estimate the bonds could cost taxpayers $257 million over the 10-year life of this farm bill, every dollar going to a company with total market capitalization of more than $7 billion. ...
Is it any wonder there is permeating cynicism, disappointment and distrust in our elected representatives? With deals like this, you can add disgust for them as well.
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May 18
Daily Southtown, Tinley Park, Ill., on the men who served in the U.S. Merchant Marine during World War II:
Men in the U.S. Merchant Marine put their lives on the line in World War II, but they did not receive veteran benefits because they were not enlisted in the military. A bill pending in Congress would rectify that by giving those who still are alive a monthly stipend.
This recognition is long overdue, and the opposition arguments - namely that the stipend is a benefit regular veterans do not receive - are petty. These men risked their lives for this country, and they should be acknowledged for it. ...
What's interesting about the Merchant Marine is it's basically a civilian shipping organization that, at times of war, can be declared an auxiliary branch of the Navy. But when WWII ended in 1945, and soldiers went home to claim their G.I. benefits, the mariners returned to their civilian status without so much as a thank you.
Henry Clemens, 81, was a 16-year-old kid in 1943 when he decided to sail the seas in the good war. When the regular military refused him because of his age, the Merchant Marine welcomed him with open arms. ...
During his tenure, he served on ships as they went through enemy fire, floating mines and dangerous storms to bring supplies to soldiers fighting in Europe and the Pacific. Just like the enlisted men, he feared for his life and watched friends die.
Sixty-two years later, the federal government may finally acknowledge the mariners' role in the war. A bill pending in Congress, "A Belated Thank You To The Merchant Mariners of World War II Act," seeks to make things right with these forgotten men.
If it passes, mariners (or their widows) will be given a $1,000 monthly stipend for the rest of their lives. ...
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May 21
The Boston Globe, on Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's recent diagnosis:
Senator Edward M. Kennedy's physicians have made their diagnosis, and it is not good - a malignant brain tumor. The senator can take heart in the knowledge that he is being treated at one of the greatest healthcare institutions in the country. He is comforted by his family ... but he also has a larger, national family, and wishes for his recovery extend far beyond his home state.
That Massachusetts General Hospital is a world-class medical center is in no small measure due to Kennedy's own dogged leadership on healthcare over the years, beginning with his vote for Medicare in 1965. Today, top-notch care is routinely available to people living near MGH and the other major academic medical centers. Kennedy's abiding aim has been to extend high-quality care to all Americans.
His illness has stirred expressions of concern from leaders of both parties - no surprise since he has repeatedly reached across the Senate aisle to Republicans to achieve consensus on legislation. What's notable is the outpouring of affection from hundreds of ordinary Americans, as posted on boston.com and nytimes.com just hours after the diagnosis was made public yesterday. ...
... Dave in San Francisco wrote what we can only echo: "We hope to hear the Liberal Lion roar again soon in the Senate. We wish you a speedy recovery; your work is not done."
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May 20
Diena, Riga, Latvia, on governments and natural disasters:
Even China's communist leaders cannot look on indifferently at what is taking place in Myanmar. A cyclone and flood have created a calamity that has taken, as it now appears, some 150,000 lives. ... The ruling junta's inability and lack of desire to improve the situation could be regarded as fateful. Yet China's communists have already offered political support to the neighboring country's generals. ...
The Chinese made a major problem for themselves once they decided to hold the Olympic games. The Olympic torch relay turned out to be a public relations disaster for the regime. And the moment when the world's attention was turned to Beijing, a devastating hurricane in China-favored Myanmar and an earthquake in the central Chinese province of Sichuan occur.
The way state institutions reacted to the consequence of the cyclone in Myanmar, and how they were responsible for the consequences in Sichuan, clearly show that authoritarian regimes are ineffective in managing state affairs...
It would be hasty to predict that the Olympic games and the catastrophic inability to build safe housing not only for themselves for their own citizens will be the beginning of the end for China's communists. Myanmar's leaders could be swept away by the flood and their inability to react humanely to a hundred thousand deaths. The question is whether China's communists will help bring an end to this regime, or let it remain, thereby further discrediting themselves.
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May 21
The Daily Telegraph, London, on crime:
Coined by Gordon Brown, popularized by Tony Blair, the slogan "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" now has a hackneyed ring but it neatly encapsulated New Labor's take on criminal justice when it was elected to power in 1997.
The powerful message was that unless the deeper social causes of criminality were tackled, crime would continue to rise.
The sloganizing has not, regrettably, been matched by action. The symptoms, not the causes, of criminal activity have been the focus of policy making in the subsequent 11 years. The result of this failure to live up to the rhetoric is exposed in today
