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Daily Archives: Sept. 11, 2006
Stone cold trail on Osama
Sept. 11, 200612:16 p.m.
Five years after Sept. 11, it’s hard to believe that the trail on Osama bin Laden has gone “stone cold,” according to a Washington Post article: “Nothing from the vast U.S. intelligence world — no tips from informants, no snippets from electronic intercepts, no points on any satellite image — has led them anywhere near the al-Qaida leader, according to U.S. and Pakistani officials.”
It’s not encouraging that our “ally” Pakistan recently forged a deal with tribal leaders to stay out of the Taliban-friendly border region with Afghanistan — effectively establishing a safe area for bin Laden and other terrorists.
Meanwhile, the FBI’s wanted poster on bin Laden doesn’t even mention 9/11. Will pretending he’s not important make him go away? Not likely.
Bin Laden remains the symbolic figurehead for the Islamic terror movement — and he’s still thumbing his nose at America as we grieve our Sept. 11 dead.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Probes, yes; impeachment, no
Sept. 11, 200612:10 p.m.
If Democrats manage to take control of one or both houses of Congress in November, would it mean Bush investigations and impeachment proceedings as far as the eye could see? House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. (left), has suggested it wouldn’t. But in a new CNN poll, 70 percent of respondents said they expect “gridlock and stalemate” and 57 percent said they would welcome some inquiries. Still, 69 percent said President Bush should not be impeached. Interestingly, the 30 percent who favor seeing him impeached or removed from office barely surpasses the peak of 29 percent who wanted the same for President Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal in 1998.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
We’re safer, but not safe enough
Sept. 11, 200612:05 a.m.
The Bush administration deserves some credit for its aggressive anti-terror campaign that has kept al-Qaida on the run and captured or killed many of top operatives, our editorial Sunday noted. These are real successes.
But it’s also true that despite five years of security upgrades, the nation remains vulnerable to domestic terror attacks, and that the Iraq war has proved a strategic disaster that has damaged America’s standing around the globe.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Help poor by reforming tax code
Sept. 11, 200612:04 a.m.
Tom Teepen had a column on Wednesday’s Opinion pages noting that, according to 2005 census data, “the rich really are still getting richer, the poor really are getting poorer — and much of the middle class along with them.” So what might be done about that?
Sebastian Mallaby wrote in the Washington Post that the answer isn’t trade protection, unionization or increasing the minimum wage. Rather, he argued, the most effective action would be repealing some regressive tax deductions and using the money to lower taxes on the poor. His list included some political sacred cows (which means they won’t happen). For example, Mallaby recommended eliminating the mortgage interest deduction — more than half of which goes to the top 12 percent of households with incomes more than $100,000. There also is no evidence that it increases home ownership, which is its stated policy purpose.
“If you eliminated just a quarter of the subsidies in the tax code, you would liberate about $180 billion a year — enough to finance a big expansion in the earned-income tax credit plus a cut in the regressive payroll tax,” he wrote.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Brownback a hit in Tel Aviv but not Des Moines
Sept. 11, 200612:03 a.m.
Too bad for Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., that Israelis can’t vote for U.S. president. A panel of eight Israeli experts assembled by Israel’s Haaretz newspaper rated the possible presidential candidates on relations with Israel, and gave Brownback a 5.8 percent ranking. That put him fifth among Republicans, with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani topping the list at 8.75 percent. Meanwhile, Brownback is polling at only 2.5 percent in Iowa.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
WE Blog keeps going, growing
Sept. 11, 200612:01 a.m.
FYI: This blog set a new record for page views last month: 129,220 hits. That’s a 54 percent increase in monthly hits from the start of the year — and an amazing total for a blog. Thanks again for all those who visit and those who post their comments.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
No excuse for not buckling up kids
Sept. 11, 200612:00 a.m.
It’s dumb for a driver not to use a seat belt. It’s dumber, as well as totally irresponsible, for a driver to allow any children and teens in the car to be unbelted. Yet the latest annual seat belt survey by the Kansas Department of Transportation indicates that while 73 percent of drivers buckle up in Sedgwick County, only 43 percent of 10- to 14-year-olds use seat belts in the county. Some adults may think they can’t make kids buckle against their will. But the driver has the keys, which means the car need not start until all seat belts are fastened. Many parts of parenting are hard, but making sure the kids are using seat belts isn’t.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
