THE WASHINGTON TIMES

EDITORIAL: In bed with Fannie and Freddie

America's greatest economic liability is also the greatest political liability for the Democratic congressional leadership. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have exposed taxpayers to $5.4 trillion in risk from loan guarantees, with taxpayers already having covered $126 billion in losses. So far, Democrats have been reluctant to include tough reforms on the profligate government-sponsored enterprises in the financial regulation package currently making its way through the legislative process.

May 10, 2010

EDITORIAL: My big fat Greek deficit

The titanic 772-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average since Tuesday should serve as a wake-up call to Washington's big spenders. The domestic unease facing Greece sent economic shock waves felt around the globe, and, unless we change our current ways, what happened there will happen here.

May 10, 2010

EDITORIAL: Obama’s good luck terrorism strategy

Responding to Republican charges that Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad's plot failed only because of luck, Rep. Ike Skelton, Missouri Democrat, said, "What's wrong with being lucky?"

May 10, 2010

EDITORIAL: Stinko de Mayo

On May 5, five students at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, Calif., were sent home for wearing clothing featuring the American flag. Their offense: trespassing on Mexican heritage during Cinco de Mayo. Administrators called the flag-wearing "incendiary" and likely to cause violence. The school district overrode the decision, and the boys were allowed to return to school. In response yesterday, about 200 students staged a walkout carrying Mexican flags. The question is: Who taught these kids to hate America so much?

May 7, 2010

World Briefs

RUSSIA: Special forces storm oil tanker

May 7, 2010

Briefly

THAILAND: Abhisit offers to dissolve parliament

May 7, 2010

EDITORIAL: A bailout by any other name

The financial-reform package making its way through the Senate continues to get worse. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, Connecticut Democrat, and Sen. Richard C. Shelby, Alabama Republican, struck a compromise Wednesday on an amendment that they hope will end the "too big to fail" debate by dropping the controversial $50 billion bailout fund proposal. Unfortunately, what's left in its place represents a massive expansion of government control over the economy.

May 7, 2010

EDITORIAL: Obama fails the transparency test

On the campaign trail, Barack Obama made the bold promise that his administration would be more transparent than his predecessor's. More than a year into his presidency, however, not much has changed. The list of complaints about openness is topped by the well-known failure to negotiate Obamacare in public. The president's new deficit-reduction commission has followed the same lead and is conducting most of its deliberations behind closed doors.

May 7, 2010

EDITORIAL: Guns needed to stop Chicago murders

If Chicago were serious about bringing its violent crime problem under control, it would recognize the constitutional right of residents to use firearms to protect themselves.

May 6, 2010

Political Scene

HOUSE: Lawmakers pressure Japan on custody

May 6, 2010

Culture Briefs

'Death makes honest men of all of us,' says a character in one of [Walker] Percy's novels. 'It makes people happy to tell the truth after a lifetime of lying.'

May 6, 2010

EDITORIAL: Amnesty for illegal Phoenix Suns fans

Imagine thousands of people were sneaking into Phoenix Suns games without tickets. The management would quickly crack down on the "undocumented spectators." Security personnel would engage in "profiling" - singling out younger male fans wandering around without obvious seats. They would want to see some "papers" - ticket stubs. Those lacking documentation would be deported out of the arena, or, in some cases, arrested.

May 6, 2010

EDITORIAL: Obama dodges his budget responsibility

It's becoming increasingly difficult to find a campaign promise that the president has kept. As Barack Obama accepted the Democratic Party nomination in August 2008, he boldly asserted his intention to "go through the federal budget line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less." In his remarks before his bipartisan debt commission last week, Mr. Obama reiterated his commitment to fiscal responsibility by claiming that everything was "on the table" to address the sea of red ink that has now swelled to $12.9 trillion.

May 6, 2010

Culture Briefs

"Just because Polanski has talent as a filmmaker doesn't make him any different than any other child predator," writes Sammy Benoit at his blog Yid with Lid.

May 5, 2010

EDITORIAL: Obama’s nuclear spill

The Obama administration has revealed - for the first time ever - the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal in detail. This information was a closely guarded secret for more than 60 years. By unloading such sensitive information, President Obama is responsible for deliberately exposing a chink in America's defensive armor. The Land of the Free is less secure for it.

May 5, 2010

EDITORIAL: Blame the white man

There was no joy in liberal land when the prime suspect in the Times Square bomb plot turned out to be a Pakistani-American. The right-wing terrorist boogeyman vanished. Leftist racial and ethnic profiling failed again.

May 5, 2010

EDITORIAL: California radicals target Happy Meals

It's no wonder California's government is bankrupt. Too many of the state's politicians are obsessed with micromanaging everybody's lives. Take Santa Clara County, where the Board of Supervisors voted last week to ban the McDonald's Happy Meal. Officials insist this American classic has contributed to the so-called obesity epidemic afflicting our youth.

May 5, 2010

EDITORIAL: Terrorism rises on American soil

Saturday's failed car bombing in Times Square was a reminder that the terror war is still on, if a reminder was needed. And as with the Christmas Day bomb plot, America only avoided catastrophe because of terrorist incompetence.

May 4, 2010

EDITORIAL: Pro-immigration violence escalates

Blatant falsehoods about Arizona's new immigration law keep piling up. Not only is the substance of the law grossly distorted, the liberal media is demonizing anyone who supports the reform and minimizing any wrongs by those opposing it.

May 4, 2010

EDITORIAL: Cut the Small Business Administration

Americans rightly appreciate the competitive, underdog spirit embodied by small-town, mom-and-pop businesses. By exploiting this popularity, politicians have turned the Small Business Administration (SBA) into a bloated, billion-dollar affirmative-action agency that discriminates against worthy companies, using your tax dollars.

May 4, 2010