Notable quotes of the week
"Graft and greed are intolerable in Albany, and we will go to trial as often as we have to until government in New York is cleaned up."—U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara on the bribery conviction of...
View ArticleThomas Friedman: The speech we all need to hear
President Barack Obama will deliver his State of the Union address on Jan. 28, but, for my money, his secretary of education, Arne Duncan, already gave it. Just not enough people heard it.So instead...
View ArticleCasey Seiler: Resolved: Trump won't run
I'll just say it straight: I am a political columnist of a generally satirical bent, and I've resigned myself to the fact that Donald Trump will not be New York's 2014 Republican gubernatorial...
View ArticleKathleen Parker: This war on drugs deserves an ending
Washington Everybody's doing it — confessing their youthful, pot-smoking ways — so here goes.I don't remember.Kidding, kidding. Anyone over 30 recognizes the old adage: If you remember the '60s, you...
View ArticleScandals along the Hudson
While the nation follows the unfolding Chris Christie scandal, one group —the executive staff that served former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer — is watching with heightened attention and insight. Sad,...
View ArticleMaureen Dowd: Seeing 'Mitt' as a prequel, not a sequel
It's hard to imagine anything more painful than going through the presidential campaign all over again with Mitt Romney.Unless it's going through two presidential campaigns with Mitt Romney.But, yes,...
View ArticleEditorial: Complex legacy of Ariel Sharon
To reduce Ariel Sharon's life and legacy to a tidy assessment of good or bad is as fruitless an exercise as distilling all the complexities of the Middle East into one neat package of right or wrong....
View ArticleEditorial: Cut it, Albany County
THE ISSUE:The Albany County Legislature is the state's biggest county lawmaking body.THE STAKES:Given the state's push to trim government, now is the time to reduce that number. The Albany County...
View ArticleYes, younger consumers need health care insurance too
The following appeared in a Kansas City Star editorial:While overall enrollment in the insurance marketplaces designed under the Affordable Care Act was vigorous in December, more young and healthy...
View ArticleA sense of virtual prosperity
I have a pretty good track record of recognizing lucrative investment opportunities long after they've passed. Chrysler, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon and numerous dotcoms that have bloomed through...
View ArticleCharles Krauthammer:: Obama lacks faith in war
Washington By early 2011, writes former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, he had concluded that President Barack Obama "doesn't believe in his own Afghanistan strategy, and doesn't consider the war to...
View ArticleTesting alone may never root out all steroid use in MLB
The following appeared in a New York Times editorial: New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez took testosterone lozenges before games. He applied testosterone cream every evening and injected...
View ArticlePolitics likely role in deciding grant
Why did President Obama award a $400 million electronic manufacturing grant to North Carolina instead of Albany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering? The most likely explanation is...
View ArticlePrisons congested, dangerous
On Jan. 1, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision released its annual report on the state of New York's prisons. There was no fanfare, no news release or a meeting with...
View ArticleEditorial: An embarrassing report
THE ISSUE:A Senate report on regulatory reform is a patchwork of unfiltered gripes, pet peeves and political rhetoric, not hard analysis.THE STAKES:Such sloppy work only undermines any meaningful...
View ArticleCongratulations, Congress! You finally passed a bill
The following appeared in a Chicago Tribune editorial:So the U.S. House and Senate finally agreed on something. They agreed that the status quo isn't so bad after all.Last week, Congress sent a $1.1...
View ArticleUsing polls to legislate is bad idea
You can't pick up a newspaper today without reading about some new poll showing a majority of Americans support or oppose some public policy. Politicians and pundits then cite the same as proof of...
View ArticleState talk is more than a speech
Did those gathered in Albany for Gov. Andrew Cuomo's State of the State message know that they were watching the state constitution in action? Did they realize that they were witness to the effects of...
View ArticleEditorial: Tax cuts or education?
THE ISSUE:The governor comes up short on schools while proposing election year tax cuts. THE STAKES:Is this short-term relief worth the cost to children's education? The big question confronting the...
View ArticleSysco, US Foods could be a potentially harmful merger
The following appeared in a New York Times editorial:A proposed merger between two of the largest suppliers of food to restaurants, hotels and school cafeterias could significantly reduce competition...
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