Editorial: The border war goes on
THE ISSUE:A key tea party victory could be a setback for immigration reform this year.THE STAKES:How many more elections will it take for this country to rise to a challenge? House Majority Leader...
View ArticleFind a solution to bridge woes
TEST COLUMN PUBLISHED 7-14-09 What a shame, on a number of fronts, that "Ben's Bridge" over the CSX rail yards in Selkirk has been closed to traffic. The very real health and safety concerns imposed...
View ArticleVeterans' health care suffers systemic rot
The following appeared in a Dallas Morning News editorial:The thought of our sclerotic Congress shaken into bipartisan action to offer some short-term help to the Veterans Affairs health care system...
View ArticleLower energy tax helps N.Y.
What is the most important and direct action policymakers can take to help New Yorkers struggling with sky-high electricity bills? Cut energy taxes substantially to lower the typical bill by at least...
View ArticleThomas Friedman: This clash is focused on resources
The takeover Tuesday of the Iraqi city of Mosul by Sunni extremists who spilled over the Syrian border underscores the clash of world views that is under way in the whole Eastern Mediterranean, which...
View ArticleEditorial: A crude excuse for secrecy
THE ISSUE:CSX wants to keep secret freight and routing information for its crude oil trains.THE STAKES:The public and emergency responders have a right to this information. Under the overused guise of...
View ArticleAllow Ukraine to determine its future
The following appeared in a Los Angeles Times editorial:It's too early to declare an end to the crisis in Ukraine, where pro-Russia separatists continue, sometimes violently, to resist the authority...
View ArticleArk failed to live up to its part of the bargain
After 13 years in operation and $28 million in public education dollars, the Ark Community Charter School in Troy was not renewed by the State University of New York Board of Trustees due to poor...
View ArticleA flag stirs feelings of uncertainty
A couple months ago I came into my inheritance. It happened at my mother's house in Laurel Springs, N.J., as I played on the rug with my daughters. My sister, trailing behind her three teenage sons in...
View ArticleNotable Quotes Of The Week
"Obviously it's going to be more challenging. The governor indicated throughout this entire session that politics would start on June 20, the day after we're adjourning. Obviously, he accelerated...
View ArticleEditorials: Long story short
A just move for workers but process still brokenA thaw finally came this week in the five-year salary freeze for the New York state's 8,900 management and confidential employees. The Cuomo...
View ArticleEditorial: Not so fast, Class of 2014
THE ISSUE:The Legislature heads into the last week of session with far too much undone.THE STAKES:What will they produce — results or excuses? The last week of the legislative session is a lot like...
View ArticleKathleen Parker: The name of the game was 'ground'
About that stunning defeat.Conventional Wisdom, that self-righteous propagandist, has it that Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's trouncing by an academic, tea-sipping nobody marks the end...
View ArticleCasey Seiler: Policy vs. politics in WEA battle
"As I sit here, I'm saddened by the interjection of politics into a very significant issue," said state Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky, D-Manhattan, on Thursday as the chamber was voting on a bill crafted to...
View ArticleThomas Friedman: Do we really have a dog in this fight?
The disintegration of Iraq and Syria is upending an order that has defined the Middle East for a century. It is a huge event, and we as a country need to think very carefully about how to respond. My...
View ArticleMaureen Dowd: When will Hillary finally let it go?
WashingtonNo one wrote about blondes like Raymond Chandler."There is the small cute blonde who cheeps and twitters and the big statuesque blonde who straight-arms you with an ice-blue glare," he wrote...
View ArticlePut state's past to work
Two recent visits to our state by President Barack Obama illustrate New York's modesty in playing up its historical greatness and in promoting heritage tourism.On May 14, the President gave a speech...
View ArticleCharles Krauthammer: American version of vengeance
Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord. And although retribution shall surely come in the fullness of time, a ballplayer can only wait so long.Accordingly, when Boston slugger David Ortiz came to bat...
View ArticleState must better curb flow of black market cigarettes
The Legislature is scheduled to be in Albany for just two more weeks, and the pressure is on to pinch every last penny for everything from school funding to health care programs. Meanwhile, a large...
View ArticleRichard Brodsky: Voters can't be ignored
The unexpected shellacking of House Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor was a genuine earthquake. Pundits will explain it variously, as evidence of their various, pre-existing political views. It's...
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