THE WASHINGTON TIMES

EDITORIAL: Another defection from the Girl Scouts

Once upon a time nothing could have been less controversial than the Girl Scouts. Scouting taught the universal values of moral character, patriotism, community service and a love of learning. Scouting taught the virtues grounded in faith.

May 4, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: No free rides

This country is in pain right now. It appears inevitable that Obamacare will be totally overhauled. It has become obvious that the major sticking point is coverage for preexisting conditions, particularly for the poor.

May 4, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Trash burning costly, polluting

Rather than provide an article on burning garbage for energy, The Washington Times chose to publish what was essentially a press release from a garbage-incineration company ("The many benefits of 'turning trash to power,'" Web, May 1). The article praises a plant in West Palm Beach, Florida, but does not indicate that organized citizens and small businesses have defeated hundreds of planned incinerators across the country because of the plants' high costs and environmental pollution.

May 4, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: GOP disunity only hurts U.S.

If there's anything you can learn from Democrats, it's how to promote solidarity and unify on an issue — even if said issue is only good for them, and wrong for our constitutional republic. The Democratic Party stands together. On the other hand, the GOP now has the White House and Congress, yet unity behind the man who thoroughly demolished his opposition and brought them all to the point of ascendency is nowhere to be seen. The Republican Party obviously lacks the unifying 'gene' in their political DNA.

May 3, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Not all change for better

Thinking about the changes I've seen in my lifetime, a significant factor has been the growth of the U.S. population from 117 million in 1926 to more than 320 million in recent years. As I travel the roadways in my area, at almost any time of the day traffic is bumper-to-bumper. I suspect the same condition exists in metropolitan areas throughout the nation. It is evident that we don't need more people. Thus amnesty for illegal aliens would seem to be counterproductive.

May 3, 2017

EDITORIAL: Dilemma in Omaha

If you're a Democrat who opposes abortion, even if ever so timidly, you have to ride at the back of the party bus if you get to ride at all. This is the lesson that Heath Mello, the Democratic candidate for mayor of Omaha, a mild blue city in a deep-red state, is learning to his considerable chagrin.

May 3, 2017

EDITORIAL: Loose talk about gasoline taxes

Talk is cheap, but talk of an increase in the federal tax on gasoline could be costly, indeed. Such talk is not the message the economy, still struggling to get up from its knees, wants to hear. President Trump is trying to overcome eight years of inertia from anti-growth Obamanomics, and until the great American economic machine swallows all the coughs and hiccups and roars fully back to life, taxes are for cutting, not raising.

May 3, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Rescind gang-member protections

Last year I watched candidate Donald Trump campaign to be our next president — and all the while, domestic gang memberships grew (as did gangs' violence and harm). I hoped Mr. Trump would be different from prior presidents and administrations that have utterly failed us on the issue of violent gangs.

May 2, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Give seniors much-deserved break

There's a tax issue no one is talking about, and it should be part of any federal tax-reform plan. After paying into the system for years, seniors receive Social Security benefits, but if they're struggling and need to bring in income as sole proprietors, they're essentially forced to pay for their own benefits. They are charged the onerous 15.3 percent self-employment tax to pay for Social Security, although they are recipients of the program. And to add injury to insult, their Social Security benefits now become taxable. This is the shell game: The government gives them their benefit check with one hand, and takes it back with the other.

May 2, 2017

EDITORIAL: The nation of laws at bay

Americans have always taken a certain pride in the fact, heretofore honored, that the United States is a nation of laws. Now America is more accurately "sometimes a nation of laws" — you can just observe the laws you like. Even federal judges sometimes take this approach.

May 2, 2017

EDITORIAL: Reloading repeal-and-replace

Some things are worth an extra wait. Better health care could be one of them. Voters are about to see whether Obamacare repeal-and-replace is finally ready for prime time. If congressional Republicans who couldn't find common ground to pass the American Health Care Act a month ago can do it now, a major drag on President Trump's first hundred days won't be a drag on the second hundred. It would tell the Democrats, loud and clear, that resistance and insurrection are not working.

May 2, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Enslaving A to ‘free’ B

"Health care is not a 'right'" (Web, April 30) is another sad and ultimately unsuccessful attempt at explaining reality. Health care is not a "right" simply because it rests upon the axiom of obligation (enforced by violence). No natural right imposes any obligation or violence upon another; a natural right simply refers to what you're entitled to on your own, something with which another cannot interfere.

May 1, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: On ethanol, hold feds’ feet to fire

I found "Increasing number of Americans are willing to drive farther, pay more for ethanol-free fuel" (Web, April 25) interesting but lacking in real data. There is a growing demand for E0 gasoline but it isn't just because ethanol tends to damage fuel systems; it's because ethanol reduces overall gas-mileage efficiency.

May 1, 2017

EDITORIAL: Climate march madness

America is the land of opportunity for everyone. Since Donald Trump was elected president, there has been no end to the occasions for the losers to pull on their sneakers and take to the streets. They only have to remember the cause of the day and show up with an appropriate sign or banner. Marching is the social life of the lonely and the sore of foot.

May 1, 2017

EDITORIAL: A wary eye on China

China is an important part of the American economy. We're happy to have them buy up our debt, but integrating Chinese companies into the domestic marketplace is another matter. The Chinese economy is in no way transparent as most Western economies are. Without evidence to the contrary, evidence usually difficult to obtain, it's reasonable to presume that any "private" Chinese company is linked to the Chinese government.

May 1, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Trump’s busy first 100 days

The mainstream media's current canard is that the first 100 days of Donald Trump's presidency have been without any accomplishment. They may not like what he has done, but they are peddling propaganda when they say he has done nothing.

April 30, 2017

EDITORIAL: Death finally gets a breather

The state of Arkansas finally concluded its hangman's festival, conducting the last of four executions over eight days. Gov. Asa Hutchinson originally set out to impose death on six men, both black and white, over eight days. He was racing the sell-by date on the state's supply of lethal chemicals, but the courts kept getting in his way. The hangman -- perhaps he should be called the "needler" since Arkansas uses drugs, not rope or electricity, to kill -- can rest after the stress of imposing the largest number of executions over so short a number of days in 57 years.

April 30, 2017

EDITORIAL: Mr. Trump’s first hundred days

Putting a name on the passage of a few months' time and calling it an "era," like celebrating an anniversary, is a conceit mostly of journalists looking for a peg to hang a story on. Some of these so-called eras last, and some don't.

April 30, 2017

EDITORIAL: Trump’s bow to the people

The Antiquities Act of 1906 was a splendid idea. The Act was intended to give presidents limited authority — emphasis on the word "limited" — to designate unique and special landmarks, such as a natural arch, breathtaking mesas or an ancient cliff dwelling that deserves to be preserved for future generations. Certain presidents have abused this authority and seized millions of acres of private land for federal regulation. Barack Obama used the Act 27 times, more than any other president.

April 27, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Put national security first

Since the Democrats do not want President Trump to fully fund his border security plan (or "the wall"), then the president and the Department of Justice should divert all funds from sanctuary cities and states to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the funding of the southern-border security plan.

April 27, 2017