Editorial: Reform elections in 2014
THE ISSUE:The governor resurrects campaign finance reform in his State of the State address.THE STAKES:Will he bring a reluctant Legislature along, or repeat last year's mistakes? What a politician...
View ArticleFriedman: Diversity crucial to Arab world
Every day the headlines from the Arab world get worse: An al-Qaida affiliate group, aided by foreign fighters, battles with seven different homegrown Syrian rebel groups for control of the region...
View ArticleTipped workers need more
For thousands of low-paid tipped workers in New York, the New Year is not likely to feel any different than the last.When lawmakers in Albany approved a measure last March to gradually raise the...
View ArticleEditorial: An incomplete on schools
THE ISSUE:The governor outlines a limited agenda for public education that misses key issues.THE STAKES:Can New York afford to continue in austerity mode when it comes to its future? If a State of the...
View ArticleInvaluable lessons
Accounts of Don Forst's life have focused on his time in newsrooms. But his final accomplishments were in classrooms at the University at Albany. Forst, who died Jan. 4 at 81, was an unconventional...
View ArticlePurchasing power pushes our economy
Within the Consolidated Laws of New York, a huge multi-volume collection that adorns the shelves of many law offices, there are some very strange provisions. One of the strangest is the tax rebate for...
View ArticleHelp with a big dose of respect
The 50th anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson's launch of the War on Poverty, reminds us how intractable that effort can be, despite the hope and idealism when the legislation was signed on Jan. 8,...
View ArticleRex Smith: Christie foes, you call that bullying?
Until this week, I had thought we were beginning to get past the relentless overuse of the word "bully." Now here I am, feeling compelled to address bullying in a column. It's Chris Christie's fault,...
View ArticleNotable quotes of the week
"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee." --— Memo from Bridget Anne Kelly, deputy chief of staff to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, to David Wildstein, a Christie appointee on the Port Authority...
View ArticleEditorials: Long Story Short
Probe the Port AuthorityPerhaps Gov. Andrew Cuomo was seizing the opportunity while his New Jersey counterpart, Chris Christie, was distracted by the mess after those politically-motivated lane...
View ArticleLet Snowden face trial so evidence of criminality can be presented by D.C.
Former CIA Director James Woolsey has pronounced that the proper punishment for NSA leaker Edward Snowden would be for him to be "hanged by his neck until he is dead."The news media want to hand him...
View ArticleEditorial: Clean up this cleanup law
THE ISSUE:An old program to clean and develop contaminated sites is wasting billions of dollars.THE STAKES:A more focused program would achieve important environmental and economic goals. What started...
View ArticleHistory filled with cases of 'wrongdoing' that served the public well
Edward Snowden punched a small hole through one wall of the cavernous repository that contains state secrets. He divulged just enough to say we are all being spied on.Does he have a legitimate claim...
View ArticleSeiler: A bridge too far in Fort Lee
The only overlap of substance between Gov. Andrew Cuomo's fourth State of the State address on Wednesday and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's marathon news conference on Thursday was that both dealt...
View ArticleParker: Christie could survive bridge scandal
Washington In the days since revelations surfaced about New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's office orchestrating the now-infamous George Washington Bridge lane closings, I've had at least four different...
View ArticleDowd: First a nod, a wink then a traffic jam
I have learned two things covering politics.One, first impressions are often right. John Edwards is slick. Hillary Clinton is expedient. W. was in over his head. Barack Obama is too much in his head....
View ArticleFriedman: In a race with machines, we're second
My favorite story in Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee's fascinating new book, "The Second Machine Age," is when the Dutch chess grandmaster Jan Hein Donner was asked how he'd prepare for a chess...
View ArticleThis season's flu strain is definitely nothing to sneeze at
The following appeared in a San Jose Mercury News editorial:Swine flu may sound funny, but it is no joke. The H1N1 strain invading the country has already proven deadly. Just in case our point isn't...
View ArticleEditorial: Jobless still need help
THE ISSUE:The GOP is holding up extra unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless.THE STAKES:Playing politics with people's pocketbooks is cruel and unnecessary. About 1.3 million Americans lost...
View ArticleKrauthammer: Continue to tackle prejudice
Washington For decades, the American Studies Association has labored in well-deserved obscurity. No longer. It's now made a name for itself by voting to boycott Israeli universities, accusing them of...
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