Provides the latest RSS feeds for US Editorials. For more headlines on Breaking, National, Business, Finance, Sports and World News, visit our home page Baton Rouge Post.com http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/cat/09c0947bd4eaa867/ en-us Tue, 21 May 2013 03:00:12 -0400 Tue, 21 May 2013 03:00:12 -0400 30 made it into the black , earning $11 million profit on revenue of $562 million in the first quarter of ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214654921/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Tue, 21 May 2013 01:59:51 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214654921/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Money attracts money, and Michigan is attracting a lot more venture capital today than it has in a decade and at a faster pace than the rest of the nation. A new report from the Michigan Venture Capital Association says the state jumped to the 15th spot in terms of business accelerator activity, up from 25th last year. And while national venture capital investment dropped 10 percent, in Michigan ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214654920/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Tue, 21 May 2013 01:59:51 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214654920/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 The Palisades Nuclear Plant in Covert Township, Mich., is shown in a undated photo provided by Consumers Energy. The license for the power plant, which is 35 miles west of Kalamazoo in Van Buren County will expire in 2011. Consumers Energy and Nuclear Management have formally asked the NRC to extend the license through 2031. (Jeanette ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214654922/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Tue, 21 May 2013 01:59:50 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214654922/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Will skunk works even work? Whatever happened to Gov. Snyder's "best practices," "dashboard" state government? Whether it's a Washington D.C. scandal or ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214654924/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Tue, 21 May 2013 01:59:49 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214654924/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 A reform worth trying I think we will find that drug testing will only add to the financial burden of taxpayers, while accomplishing nothing. This is the type of legislation passed that only throws red meat to citizens tired of the stories of people living their life on welfare. I do believe the new requirement for your kids to be in school to continue receiving assistance is a good start. Some ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214654923/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Tue, 21 May 2013 01:59:48 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214654923/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Gun law a liabilityOnce 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, ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214654057/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Tue, 21 May 2013 00:38:04 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214654057/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 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 ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214654058/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Tue, 21 May 2013 00:38:00 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214654058/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 In the 21st century, we have U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s "Bank on Students Loan Fairness Act," which would set the interest rate on student loans at the rate at which banks borrow from the Federal Reserve. The justification - if you can call it that - is that if the Federal Reserve lends money to banks at less than 1 percent, the federal government shouldn’t charge students ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214654059/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Tue, 21 May 2013 00:37:54 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214654059/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 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 ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214654060/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Tue, 21 May 2013 00:37:52 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214654060/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 The warm-weather recreation season is beginning, and Utah families will be wise to take note that according to public health agencies, those most vulnerable to death and injury from recreation-related accidents are children under age 15. Already this month, a child was killed in an ATV accident and a teenager severely injured in a hiking fall. The National Weather Service has issued its annual ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214653163/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 23:51:55 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214653163/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Utah Attorney General John Swallow speaks out Jan. 14, 2013, in his office at the state Capitol about allegations that he was involved in improper ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214653162/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 23:51:55 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214653162/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 The driver of the motorcycle, Ivan Romero Oliveras, was killed during crash with a police squad at the intersection of 26th Street and Blaisdell Avenue. His passenger, Joselin Torrejon, was injured and is listed as serious at HCMC. Friends and family left flowers and lit candles at crash ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214652259/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 22:56:55 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214652259/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 We’re in the midst of graduation season in Minnesota. With the metro area’s concentration of world-class universities and colleges, parents from all over the country and the world are attending their children’s graduation ceremonies. Once the relief of not having to fork over one more tuition bill wears off, the dread of "what’s next?" will set in. This past ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214651303/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 21:51:19 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214651303/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 May is Mental Health Awareness Month - particularly noteworthy given the numerous news stories that we read online or see on the evening news. We have had our emotions stretched from fear to anger to sadness as we’ve heard about Aurora, Newtown, or any number of stories involving untimely deaths and heartache. I’d like to offer you a different face of mental illness. One in which a ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214651304/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 21:51:17 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214651304/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Conducted by independent professionals and monitored by Congress. Washington scandals follow a familiar arc. When an administration fouls up, the White House lops off some lower-level heads and tries to change the subject to the supposedly more important business facing the nation.Not so fast, the opposing party says. Lawmakers hint at corruption and coverups that extend straight into the Oval ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214651305/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 21:35:38 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214651305/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 More than 1,100 garment workers died when a factory collapsed in Bangladesh last month. The tragedy sparked a discussion on what people in the U.S. can do to improve working conditions abroad. Comments from Twitter and Facebook:U.S. consumers can do nothing to help. Greedy Americans have shares in those Third World coffin factories.-- @ChiefBisongEta1Consumers can support companies with good ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214650218/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 20:30:10 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214650218/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 The Food and Drug Administration is recommending that tanning beds carry a warning label alerting users to the risk of skin cancer and saying they shouldn't be used by people younger than 18. Comments from Facebook:I'm 25 and was diagnosed last May with Melanoma. This would be a great change for tanning beds.-- Lindsey WilliamsWarning label? Seriously? If tanning beds are that serious ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214650219/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 20:30:08 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214650219/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Casey Newton, The Verge: "Marissa Mayer just made her biggest bet to date as Yahoo's CEO -- and if it goes badly, she may not get the chance to make another. A series of recent acquisitions culminated Monday with the announcement that Yahoo is spending roughly one-sixth of its cash hoard to buy Tumblr, the popular but undermonetized blogging platform. The deal brings Yahoo the vibrant, ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214650220/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 20:30:05 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214650220/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Stop using illegal immigrant. It’s un-American. Too often we take words for granted. The results are at best irresponsible, and at worst, discriminatory. The term "illegal immigrant" is dehumanizing, derogatory and destructive. The i-word is a racial slur that shreds the human rights of 11 million undocumented immigrants living and working in this country. It feeds the ignorant ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214649040/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 19:16:56 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214649040/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 The IRS scandal over targeting tea-party groups is a boomerang, writes Froma Harrop. Give the tea-party people a boomerang, and moderate Republicans will get ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214649041/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 19:16:55 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214649041/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 "I Like Ike" cartoon from 1952. But they had no idea who President Dwight Eisenhower was. Hormones and a warm, spring day can explain the lack of interest in dead presidents. Two boys in the front row held hands the whole time I spoke.I wanted to stop the lecture and tell the affectionate boys they should thank Eisenhower if they're going to prom together. The Glee-era high school ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214649043/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 19:16:31 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214649043/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 A new shield law has to protect the function of journalism regardless of medium or business model. Suddenly, freedom of the press is very, very popular.In the wake of revelations that the Justice Department ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214649042/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 19:16:29 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214649042/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 In the final days and hours before an election, even a negative campaign can ring with inspiration. It's as if candidates and their supporters remember, not a moment too soon, that they're at the center of something special. This is particularly evident on the weekend before Tuesday balloting, when candidates visit places of worship and speak to audiences in soaring tones. They try to ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214649044/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 19:02:45 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214649044/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 words of one state assemblyman , "in the interest of protecting as many people as possible." This raises an important question: Is prohibiting 16-year-olds from using tanning beds, without regard to the wishes of their parents or prom dates, in the interest of as many people as possible?Not if you live in New Jersey. Based on the evidence I've seen on MTV, it is safer to lie in a ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214643962/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 18:10:34 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214643962/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 There didn't use to be much debate about what to do with school kids who defied their teachers by refusing to do assigned work, talking back to teachers or disrupting class - disrespectful behavior that fell short of outright violence or law-breaking. It was simple. School administrators suspended those pupils and sent them home. But that tradition may be changing. Last week, the Los ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214643963/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 17:58:36 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214643963/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 In Scottsdale, Ariz., there is a restaurant so far gone that even Gordon Ramsay’s shouting cannot save it. In fact, the owners of Amy’s Baking Company so terrified the man behind "Kitchen Nightmares" that he decided to quit working with them rather than endure them any longer. If you haven’t visited the nooks of the Internet where discussion of this has been bouncing ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214641476/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 16:17:51 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214641476/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 commencement speech Sunday at Morehouse College in Atlantaunderscored the still-vital role of historically black colleges and universities, known as HBCUs. These institutions were created when African Americans and other students of color were shut out ofAmerican universities and colleges. They remain ancriticaloption for many students, educating adisproportionate share of low-income and minority ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214641477/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 16:03:52 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214641477/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Baltimore Gas & Electric certainly isn't likely to win any popularity contests. It secured a rate increase from the Public Service Commission in February - its second in the last three years - and turned around and filed a request for another one on Friday. And at the same time, the utility is asking the PSC for what may be unprecedented in Maryland: a surcharge on customers' ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214641478/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 15:48:43 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214641478/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 We know American politics are dysfunctional. But after a week of scandal obsession during which the nation's capital and the media virtually ignored the problems most voters care about -- jobs, incomes, growth, opportunity, education -- it's worth asking if there is something especially flawed about our democracy. Our circumstances certainly have their own particular disabilities: a ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214640084/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 15:13:54 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214640084/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Here’s the White House view of the current trilogy of so-called scandals: Republicans are trying to destroy President Barack Obama’s second term by magnifying bureaucratic miscues and distorting policy realities. This isn’t without some merit. On none of these issues - the deadly debacle at the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Libya, the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214640085/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 15:13:53 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214640085/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Atalanic. Even if dying is a bit hyperbolic, ';At the very least, it's headed for dramatic shrinkage, save for a handful of places and circumstances, to be replaced by a very different set of institutional, governance, financing and education-delivery mechanisms.'; Finn breaks the truth about private schools with statisctics. ';Private K-12 enrollments are shrinking — ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214640087/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 15:04:09 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214640087/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Three major scandals have surfaced over the past few weeks in Washington, escalating into a perfect storm that involves money, media and security. With the IRS targeting tea party tax-exempt groups, the Department of Justice seizing Associated Press records and the resurfacing of concerns about the handling of the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, many are wondering what the ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214640086/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 15:04:09 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214640086/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 everything is in tatters. And, in a way, it is. But serious as these problems are, they're all short-term things. So while at the moment a lot of our political leaders may be wearing sunglasses so as not to be recognized, there's a pretty good argument that, over the longer time, our future's so bright that we have to wear shades. That's the thesis of a new book, America 3.0: ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214640088/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 14:57:06 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214640088/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 President Obama may be engaging in political damage control in proposing that Congress resurrect legislation to protect the confidentiality of journalists’ sources. But his call for action on ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214637351/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 12:51:22 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214637351/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 In the two decades I have researched at the intersection of gender and security, I have come to realize that the love of mothers for their children is what keeps the whole world ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214637352/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 12:42:10 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214637352/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Free speech means that individuals get to decide for themselves which causes to support. Protecting the free speech rights of teachers is not an attack on collective ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214637353/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 12:36:23 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214637353/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 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, ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214637354/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 12:24:12 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214637354/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mike Huckabee is already predicting that the president won't finish out his term.They aren't alone. It's gotten bad enough (and predictable enough) that some wiser heads within the GOP are already counseling their peers to cool off with the wild accusations. That includes former House Speaker Newt Gingrich who said last week that it would be a mistake to appear too eager to dig ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214637355/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 12:21:16 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214637355/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Would it surprise any of you to learn that there are Latter-day Saint children throughout the world who suffer from malnutrition? An estimated 70,000 active LDS children are malnourished and it is likely that 10 percent of these children ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214635828/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 11:37:48 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214635828/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 A coal train moves through Seattle en route to Vancouver, B.C. Efforts to bring coal terminals to Washington and Oregon have enlisted some lobbyists and public-relations firms long connected with environmental causes. (Greg Gilbert / The Seattle Times) Roger McClellan expresses discomfort with the way activists are using anecdotal evidence of health impacts of coal dust to justify the coal-train ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214635829/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 11:32:08 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214635829/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 I enjoyed reading Kathleen Parker's column ["The Benghazi attack, redacted," Opinion, May 13]. Her opinion is cogent, thoughtful and generous. More generous than mine I'm afraid. I see what she calls a "mischaracterization" of what happened in Benghazi as nothing but a damned lie told by people who broke our trust and abused their public office. I believe that far ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214635830/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 11:32:08 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214635830/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Regarding the article on possible racial implications in hiring of migrant workers, I would like to bring up the concept of first-generation immigrants filling an urgent need. ["Do U.S. farms favor immigrant workers?" Close-up, May 7.] Right now, the logistics are cheaper for a Chilean farmer to ship to the Northwest than it is for a farmer in California. Ditto Brazilian and Chilean ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214634460/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 10:29:21 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214634460/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 There have been numerous articles on the burden of student debt on college graduates citing loan balances of $80,000, $100,000 or more ["Student debt hurts more than just grads," seattletimes.com, May 10]. I am a firm believer in availability of a college education for anyone who desires one, and in Washington there are many loan options. What I don't understand is the notion ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214634459/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 10:29:20 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214634459/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 One comedian says that despite the scandal, at least two words will keep Obama from being ousted: President Biden. Listen to what else the comics had to say, then vote for your favorite at ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214634461/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 10:29:03 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214634461/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 editorial board argued Sunday , is heightened by the willingness by wireless companies to turn over your phone records without a warrant. A recent nationwide project ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214633247/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 09:26:18 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214633247/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 A South Korean man watches a photo of Kenneth Bae on CNN(AP Photo) A sentence of 15 years’ hard labor for American Kenneth Bae is totally disproportionate and inhumane for anything the man may have done. But probably he did do something not too smart for an American in North Korea. I have done some not-smart things myself in places like that. In 1972, traveling in the Socialist Republic of ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214633246/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 09:26:17 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214633246/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Rent.com sent me an email saying it "has compiled a list of the 10 best cities for newlyweds--and Seattle made the cut!" I thought, "You've gotta be kidding. In super-singles Seattle? In high-rent Seattle?" I read on: "This list is based on the number of married couples, families with children under six (since many newlyweds are putting down roots for a future ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214632088/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 08:27:28 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214632088/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 WASHINGTON – We know American politics are dysfunctional. But after a week of scandal obsession during which the nation’s capital and the media virtually ignored the problems most voters care about - jobs, incomes, growth, opportunity, education - it’s worth asking if there is something especially flawed about our democracy. Our circumstances certainly have their own particular ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214632089/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 08:27:27 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214632089/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 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 ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214629592/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 06:20:25 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214629592/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Barack Obama 's nominee for labor secretary, of twisting the legal process in three cases in St. Paul, Minn., to suit his political purposes. But it is they who are twisting the Senate's role to "advise and consent" on presidential nominees for their own political ends, and in so doing they have smeared the reputation of a talented public servant and damaged the institution in ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214629594/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 06:19:33 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214629594/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Penn Line trains to run on weekends. That's not only because connecting Washington with Baltimore is worthwhile - although that's certainly the case. Increasingly, Charm City is attracting people who work in Washington but want to live in a more affordable community, and MARC trains remain one of the best ways to commute to a job. Saturday and Sunday service will be helpful in that ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214629593/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 06:19:32 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214629593/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 The IRS targeting of conservative groups for special scrutiny when they sought non-profit status is of course primarily a political scandal, but it's a tax-code scandal, too - and contrary to what you may have heard, it's not entirely resolved. It's a tax-code scandal because once again Americans have learned that even the people who do nothing all day, every day but think about ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214625174/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 02:42:44 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214625174/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Why can't people learn from history and realize it is not the role of government to "provide" for the poor? When the government confiscates from taxpayers, which is mandatory, to give to the less fortunate, everyone loses. There is no volunteer charitable element in this. It's a "Robin Hood" approach... rob the haves to give to the have-nots. We know anything done ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214624559/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 02:06:03 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214624559/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Gov. Rick Snyder and lawmakers have to decide what to do with an unexpected $483 million windfall from higher-than-expected tax collections. There are a lot of ideas for spending the surplus, but most would commit the state to expanding government programs that would have to be cut back if revenue slows. Two ideas for the money are the most sound. The first would be to stick the bonus cash into ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214623904/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 01:14:16 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214623904/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 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 ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214623905/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 01:14:15 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214623905/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Detroit's pension assets are a big, inviting honey pot. And a lot of folks lately have put their hands in the honey jar. It may be time to put someone else in charge of these assets. Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr noted in his first report on the state of the city that the city's pension funds - one for general employees and one for police and fire officers - may have overestimated ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214623906/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 01:14:14 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214623906/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Parents in Michigan, like those across the country, want their children to have the tools they need to excel in school and beyond. The Common Core national curriculum standards were sold as the way to give students those tools. But with the standards now being implemented, a growing number of Michiganians - as evidenced by the recent House vote to withhold state funds from Common Core - are ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214623907/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 01:14:13 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214623907/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 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 ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214623911/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 00:58:22 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214623911/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 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.Mary Dunne testified that if only her ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214623910/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 00:58:21 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214623910/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 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.That the president’s minions punished career diplomats who challenged their Benghazi narrative is more than unconscionable. It is corrupt.And yet we are told by White House Press Secretary Jay Carney that Benghazi is "old ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214623908/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Mon, 20 May 2013 00:58:20 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214623908/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 ‘If you think it’s uncomfortable sitting over there, you ought to be a private individual when the IRS is across from you questioning."These words ought to be emblazoned across the entryway of every IRS office in America. They are part of a stinging rebuke delivered by Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) to the acting IRS commissioner during Friday’s hearings before the House Ways and ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214622785/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Sun, 19 May 2013 23:36:02 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214622785/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 if you buy cigarettes in New York, that is.How? Officials last week said they nabbed 16 members of a smuggling ring with ties to jihadis like the blind sheik behind the ’90s terror plots in the city; a top Hamas official, and Rashid Baz, who shot a Jewish student on the Brooklyn Bridge.The gang got $55 million from cigarette sales. And NYPD boss Ray Kelly says some profits might have gone ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214622786/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Sun, 19 May 2013 23:36:01 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214622786/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Despite the hard work of thousands of well-meaning adults, children in poverty-impacted schools are still most likely to get lost within the system, according to guest columnists Tom Stritikus and Elham ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214622303/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Sun, 19 May 2013 22:38:49 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214622303/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 In the past two weeks, Americans were confronted with the fact that their government engaged in activities repugnant to democratic societies — cover up of mistakes in protecting foreign diplomats, IRS probes of conservative political organizations and secret seizure of more than 100 journalists' phone records. We offer insightful examination (in other words, LaVarr needling Frank, ... http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214621782/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867 Sun, 19 May 2013 21:43:37 -0400 http://www.batonrougepost.com/index.php/sid/214621782/scat/09c0947bd4eaa867