Matters of Opiniontag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-6336712010-03-17T17:23:19ZTypePadDrinking problems (or, pass the wine and tax the sodas?)tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b85a69e201310fb085ed970c2010-03-17T13:23:19-04:002010-03-18T15:17:08ZEvery year, as the state budget deadline nears, we get inundated with op-eds and requests for meetings from groups who fear their particular ox will be gored by spending cuts. Let me summarize the inevitable message: We agree the state should curb spending, but take it out of somebody else's hide. And then, of course, there are the cause advocates who wish one particular ox or another would get gored, because the need for revenues and/or cuts is an opportunity to get an agenda advanced. It's enough to drive one to drink. Or not, as the case may be --...Blog Editorhttp://blogs.buffalonews.com/opinion/2010/03/drinking-problems-or-pass-the-wine-and-tax-the-sodas.htmlSunshine Week & the Obama administrationtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b85a69e20120a92cf965970b2010-03-14T00:05:00-05:002010-03-15T02:57:36ZToday's editorial features a topic near and dear to our hearts, the start of Sunshine Week -- sunshineweek.org, -- an annual campaign started by the American Society of Newspaper Editors. Although this presidential administration has gone a lot further than the previous one by allowing more sun to shine, President Obama still has not lived up to our or the public's expectations. As the editorial states, Attorney General Eric Holder raised expectations by issuing an order that all records held by the federal government be made available to the public upon request, except in certain situations that are narrowly defined...Blog Editorhttp://blogs.buffalonews.com/opinion/2010/03/sunshine-week-the-obama-administration.htmlMultiracial society?tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b85a69e201310f625e58970c2010-03-04T16:00:58-05:002010-03-04T20:57:49ZAnyone who happened to see the article in Wednesday's USA Today by Haya El Nasser, "Multiracial no longer boxed in by the Census," may have noticed a correlation between some of the findings cited in the article and the PBS series, "Faces of America," with Henry Louis Gates Jr. Indeed, there has been a renewed recognition that many of us come from a huge melting pot. The U.S. Census Bureau, which begins its count this month, will once again give Americans the opportunity to check off more than one race choice -- something first launched in the 2000 Census. Citing...Blog Editorhttp://blogs.buffalonews.com/opinion/2010/03/multiracial-society.htmlWe have reservations...tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b85a69e201310f612077970c2010-03-04T10:35:05-05:002010-03-04T15:35:05ZWe've wrapped today's editorial page blog in with a related business story. See other blog in Strictly Business . . .Blog Editorhttp://blogs.buffalonews.com/opinion/2010/03/we-have-reservations.htmlTrudy Rubin on European health care lessonstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b85a69e201310f5a60fe970c2010-03-03T15:13:16-05:002010-03-03T20:13:16ZIn a column by Philadelphia Inquirer's Trudy Rubin, the writer explores the health-care debate and lessons to be learned from abroad, citing former Washington Post foreign correspondent T. R. Reid's work, "The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care," and the 2008 Frontline series in which Reid was an adviser: "Sick Around the World: Can the U.S. Learn Anything from the Rest of the World About How to run a Health Care System?" The column examines a few key questions and myths surrounding the European health systems. As the video shows, in some cases...Blog Editorhttp://blogs.buffalonews.com/opinion/2010/03/trudy-rubin-on-european-health-care-lessons.htmlDead man budgeting?tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b85a69e201310f5920dc970c2010-03-03T12:38:26-05:002010-03-03T17:26:17ZDavid Paterson's pain could be our gain. If he can hang in long enough. The editorial roundabout, running from "Hurry up and decide." to "It's already too late.": - Standing alone - The Buffalo News This is the chance New Yorkers have needed and it still could be an opportunity for Gov. David A. Paterson to leave a legacy that could make a difference. If he survives legal and political challenges and remains in office, he needs to take advantage of it. ... his decision not to run could free Paterson to conduct negotiations on the state budget with all...Blog Editorhttp://blogs.buffalonews.com/opinion/2010/03/dead-man-budgeting.htmlShould Gov. Paterson stay?tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b85a69e20120a8ed7aca970b2010-03-02T15:09:08-05:002010-03-03T18:49:41ZWhat say you? Should Gov. Paterson stay in office, or resign? Today's news covered the latest scandal in Albany, and tomorrow we'll look at Gov. Paterson's increased opportunity to speak harsh financial truths in the Albany budget process -- IF he survives the intense pressure to resign now being brought to bear by NOW and others, and IF the Cuomo investigation he requested doesn't turn up evidence of criminal witness-tampering and the like. Those are pretty big ifs. Were Paterson to resign, the governorship would devolve upon Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch -- who, like Paterson, would be an appointed governor,...Blog Editorhttp://blogs.buffalonews.com/opinion/2010/03/should-gov-paterson-stay.htmlWon't have Paterson to kick around any more?tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b85a69e20120a8e79383970b2010-03-01T16:00:51-05:002010-03-01T21:00:51ZNew York Gov. David A. Paterson dropped a bombshell ending a week of bombshells Friday when he said he would not, after all, seek to be elected governor in his own right this year. [Somebody forgot to tell the people who run his still-operating campaign Web site.] And there was much punditry: - The right decision - Editorial/The Buffalo News ...after not quite two years of leadership that inspired few followers, and after weeks of bubbling scandal that exploded Thursday with serious accusations of a real misuse of official power, Paterson succeeded in making, and making correctly, what must have...Blog Editorhttp://blogs.buffalonews.com/opinion/2010/03/paterson-drops-out.htmlRuth Marcus: Don't Asktag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b85a69e20120a8cf5d16970b2010-02-24T16:04:15-05:002010-02-24T21:04:37ZRuth Marcus, of the Washington Post Writers Group, blogs on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" : Boy, you could see that one coming. It was a pivotal moment earlier this month when Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates backed repealing "don't ask, don't tell." Pivotal, but not enough. I don't spend a lot of time chatting up military officers, but enough to know that, just below the top-most ranks, there remains an enormous, if incomprehensible, amount of squeamishness about letting gay men and women serve openly in the military. So it was disappointing but not...Blog Editorhttp://blogs.buffalonews.com/opinion/2010/02/ruth-marcus-dont-ask.htmlA New Dawntag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b85a69e20120a8c4a748970b2010-02-22T15:37:46-05:002010-02-22T20:37:56ZSo this is the Iraq War, Part II. Washington Post Writers Group columnist Ruth Marcus offers these blog thoughts: Do they have a Ministry of Silly Names at the Defense Department? The war in Iraq will get a new name as of Sept. 1, when troop levels are to be reduced to 50,000. Operation Iraqi Freedom will be Operation New Dawn. This is unsettling on several levels. First, the new name bears an unfortunate resemblance to a commercial for dishwashing liquid or a vampire novel series. Second, they don't have anything better to do with their time at the Pentagon?...Blog Editorhttp://blogs.buffalonews.com/opinion/2010/02/a-new-dawn.html