Boston Herald - Boston Herald

Paul’s lame prospects

Herald Readers — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Any speculation that U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is of presidential timber is laughable (May 19). It is a notion doomed to fail, even if he did give the keynote address for a New Hampshire Republican fundraiser last night . His real agenda is to derail Hillary Clinton’s prospects. Beyond that, anytime President Obama says “yes,” Paul’s automatic response is “no.”

— Gerald Alch, Brookline

Editorial: First Amendment rumble

herald.staff — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

It would be hard to imagine a more chilling document than the one newly surfaced in which the Obama Justice Department actually accused a Washington reporter of criminal behavior, tracked his movements and accessed his emails all in its unending effort to track down a State Department leak.

Chapman: Liz Warren's college loan plan  a loony idea

Cornelius Chapman — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Every now and then a law is proposed that is so blissfully ignorant you don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

In 1897, for example, a country doctor persuaded the Indiana legislature to adopt his value for pi, the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter that has bedeviled mathematicians since ancient Egypt.

The source of his knowledge? Supernatural revelation. Why bother with boring calculations when you hear voices?

May 21: Letters To the Editor

Herald Readers — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Gun law a liability

Once again a Democrat wants to further restrict the rights of law-abiding citizens (“Conley takes aim at guns with strict new bill,” May 12). Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley wants to force gun owners to carry liability insurance. This will just make legal ownership of a gun prohibitively expensive in Massachusetts, thereby making gun ownership for many, especially the poor, all but impossible.

Doctors flee Medicare system

Robert E. Moffit — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

WASHINGTON — Among  President Obama’s broken promises, there is this gem of June 15, 2009: “no matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise: if you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period.”

That promise helped sway the American Medical Association to back the president’s Affordable Care Act. But the AMA endorsement merely reflected a tremendous gap between its Washington, D.C., lobbyists and the folks they claim to represent.

Bring sense to budget

herald.staff — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Something about the state budget-writing process can cause lawmakers to lose sight of their fundamental purpose on Beacon Hill. That occurred to us as we perused the 725 (!) proposed amendments to the Senate budget proposal, debate on which begins tomorrow.

To wit: One senator is seeking $15,000 to pay for signs that direct cyclists in the Pan Mass Challenge, a wildly successful cancer-fighting fundraiser that can certainly cover the cost of signs without a special appropriation of public funds.

That kind of budgetary small-mindedness is bipartisan, by the way.

PC mentality at core of Benghazi

Jennifer C. Braceras — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

If we did not anticipate a threat to American personnel in Libya on the anniversary of 9/11, it was a colossal intelligence failure.

That we had knowledge of a potential threat but refused requests for increased security was not just a failure, but a scandal.

That the administration told our military to “stand down” when our consulate was under attack is more than a scandal. It’s shameful.

That our political leaders lied about the nature of the attack to protect the president in an election season is not just shameful. It’s unconscionable.

Bad bills keep comin’

herald.staff — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Beacon Hill seems to have entered its “don’t just stand there, do something” season.

The problem is that most of the “somethings” are the kind of micro-managing that state government just shouldn’t be doing.

First case, two bills that would needlessly burden physicians.

The Massachusetts Medical Society last week took strong issue with legislation it insists would end up “dictating the clinical practice of physicians.”

. . . And coming . . .

herald.staff — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Now is there a parent alive who doesn’t know that it’s thoughtless and just plain unhealthy to smoke near their children, especially in the confined quarters of a car?

For many parents, kids provide the best reason yet to stop smoking and for those who just can’t seem to pull that off at least to curb the habit or crack a window.

Ah, but freshman Rep. Paul Heroux (D-Attleboro) wants to make it a crime to smoke with children in the car.

. . . And just won’t stop

herald.staff — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

There was another bill that just to speak of is heart-wrenching because it has its roots in every parent’s nightmare.

The parents of slain Wayland teen Lauren Astley were on Beacon Hill last week to plead for legislation that would require school districts to incorporate “comprehensive relationship education” into their health curriculums.

Biting hand that feeds

Herald Readers — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

When Margery Eagan wrote: “What we’re learning about (President Obama’s) administration has undermined our basic trust in government,” I laughed (May 16). She and the mainstream media have finally awoken to the fact that this government is corrupt? Let’s face it, if the Associated Press hadn’t been thrown under the bus, the media would still be doing damage control. The hands that helped Barack Obama get elected and shine like a new penny, have finally felt some teeth.

— Mary T. Harrington,  Hyde Park

Nucci: Suburbanites have stake in Boston mayor race

John Nucci — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

As the mayoral race in Boston begins to take shape and excitement grows among voters who live in the city, there might be yawns in the suburbs. That would be a very big mistake.

No, suburbanites, you can’t vote for Tom Menino’s successor, but don’t think Boston isn’t electing your mayor, too.

“Mayor of Greater Boston” would be a far more appropriate title for the job. Nearly every day a Boston mayor spends time on decisions that greatly will affect a broad area around the city.

Goldberg: Obama must take blame for IRS scandal

Jonah Goldberg — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Of course the president deserves some of the blame.

Yes, it’s extremely unlikely he ordered the IRS to discriminate against Tea Party, pro-life or Jewish groups opposed to his agenda (though why anyone should take his word for it is beyond me). And his outrage now — however convenient — is appreciated. But when people he views as his “enemies” complained about a politicized IRS, what did he do? Nothing.

Tale of two moms has happy ending

Peter Hams — Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

It’s been nine years since my moms made history as the first same-sex couple to get a marriage license in Massachusetts. And since ours was the first state in the U.S. to allow gay couples to marry, that historic license brought us a lot of attention.

‘Correcting’ pot law

herald.staff — Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

There was a moment of truth following the recent adoption of new medical marijuana regulations when Heidi Heilman of the Massachusetts Prevention Alliance said, “The Department of Public Health tried their best, but they can’t rewrite the statute.”

This hideously flawed piece of legislation, which gives the marijuana industry a major toehold in the state, will surely come back to haunt us if the Legislature refuses to give it a second look.

Keep Britain close

herald.staff — Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Most Americans don’t realize it, but President Obama is behaving boorishly, diplomatically speaking, with his repeated hectoring of Britain to stay in the European Union.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, who just wrapped up a visit to Obama and to the site of the Boston Marathon bombings, got another little lecture when the president took the occasion to say Cameron should try to “fix what’s broken” instead of withdrawing from the EU.

... Now GOP should avoid hype, expose deceit

Charles Krauthammer — Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

WASHINGTON — Note to GOP regarding Benghazi: Stop calling it Watergate, Iran-contra, bigger than both, etc. First, it might well be, but we don’t know. History will judge. Second, overhyping will only diminish the importance of the scandal if it doesn’t meet presidency-breaking standards. Third, focusing on the political effects simply plays into the hands of Democrats desperately claiming that this is nothing but partisan politics.

Loss of trust sinks O’s agenda ...

George F. Will — Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

WASHINGTON — Leaving aside the seriousness of lawlessness, and the corruption of our civic culture by the professionally pious, this past week has been amusing. There was the spectacle of advocates of an ever-larger regulatory government expressing shock about such government’s large capacity for misbehavior. And, entertainingly, the answer to the question “Will Barack Obama’s scandals derail his second-term agenda?” was a question: What agenda?

IRS breaks the rules

herald.staff — Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

It eventually comes down to who — who at the IRS was responsible for targeting conservative and Tea Party groups for special scrutiny.

Because, after all, you can’t put a “system” in jail. You can’t put a report in prison. You can’t indict a department for corruption. At the end of the day it’s people who are responsible for using the enormous powers of the Internal Revenue Service to go after other people and groups because of their political beliefs.

Rebuild roads — and economy

John A. Simourian, As You Were Saying ... — Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

The Boston Marathon bombing showed American courage and spirit as exemplified by the runners, spectators and first responders who, rather than running away from the bombing scene, ran directly into it.

Boston Herald - Boston Herald

Paul’s lame prospects

Editorial: First Amendment rumble

Chapman: Liz Warren's college loan plan a loony idea

May 21: Letters To the Editor

Doctors flee Medicare system

Bring sense to budget

PC mentality at core of Benghazi

Bad bills keep comin’

. . . And coming . . .

. . . And just won’t stop

Biting hand that feeds

Nucci: Suburbanites have stake in Boston mayor race

Goldberg: Obama must take blame for IRS scandal

Tale of two moms has happy ending

‘Correcting’ pot law

Keep Britain close

... Now GOP should avoid hype, expose deceit

Loss of trust sinks O’s agenda ...

IRS breaks the rules

Rebuild roads — and economy

Chapman: Liz Warren's college loan plan  a loony idea