THE WASHINGTON TIMES

EDITORIAL: The president’s speech

When King George VI gave his Sept. 3, 1939, war message to the people of the British Empire, it was a time of great moment. It was a "grave hour," he began, "perhaps the most fateful in our history." The king said that "for the second time in the lives of most of us, we are at war." That, however, was back when war was war. Now it is just kinetic military activity. Published March 28, 2011

EDITORIAL: CBO’s toll-road fib

While officially nonpartisan, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) occasionally lends its credibility to the most fashionable theories emanating from the left. The agency's green eyeshades issued a report Wednesday that perpetuates one of Washington's biggest lies: that drivers don't pay enough in taxes. Bureaucrats and rent-seeking corporate allies have teamed up to advocate a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. They want continuous tracking of everyone's driving so that every mile can be taxed. Published March 25, 2011

EDITORIAL: The Keynesian president

Consumers are more depressed about the economy than they have ever been in the past three decades, according to a Reuters-University of Michigan consumer-confidence survey released Friday. The nosedive in the national mood is most striking in the fact that only 21 percent think better times are coming in the year ahead. A rudderless administration presiding over the expansion of counterproductive leftist public policies has suffocated hope. Published March 25, 2011

EDITORIAL: Obama’s war on ‘war’

What if they gave a war and nobody was allowed to say it? The debate over military action in Libya has lately taken an absurd twist, driven by the Obama administration’s bizarre unwillingness to call a war a war. Published March 25, 2011

EDITORIAL: Obama’s overseas oil

It's no surprise that gas prices are on the rise as President Obama returns from his truncated excursion to Rio. The commander in chief has shown more interest in helping Brazilians develop their energy resources than he has in helping ease the pain of Americans stung by spiraling prices at the pump. Published March 24, 2011

EDITORIAL: Groping for a TSA solution

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) hoped it could avoid a public revolt over its intrusive airport security measures by dialing back operations while scrutiny was at its peak over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. That didn't stop more than a dozen federal lawsuits that have since been filed against the agency by airline pilots and a former governor, among others. State lawmakers also are looking for change. Published March 24, 2011

EDITORIAL: Hero without a gun

Desmond T. Doss was 23 years old when he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942. The lanky Lynchburg, Va., native was much like other young men of the Greatest Generation, but one thing set Desmond apart from the other new troops. He was a devout Seventh Day Adventist and refused to touch a weapon. Some of the men in his training unit made jokes about him, others threatened him, but Desmond held firm to his beliefs. Published March 24, 2011

EDITORIAL: Rescind Obama’s ‘peace’ prize?

President Obama says he notes the "irony" of his being a Nobel Peace Prize recipient. No kidding - so does everyone else. Published March 23, 2011

EDITORIAL: Senators push app censorship

A quartet of Democratic senators expressed out -rage Tuesday at the thought that Americans might object to being stopped and interrogated while going about their daily business. The hard-left solons - Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey, Harry Reid of Nevada, Charles E. Schumer of New York and Tom Udall of New Mexico - are pressuring technology companies to censor a popular software feature available for Android phones, Blackberries and iPhones that enables drivers to avoid a warrantless search by police during their drive home. Published March 23, 2011

EDITORIAL: Obama greens turn yellow

Environmentalists are backpedaling in their long march toward deindustrialization. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has offered to delay some of its plans to regulate so-called greenhouse gases. Republicans in Congress shouldn't hesitate to press their advantage. Published March 23, 2011

EDITORIAL: Obamacare’s unhappy birthday

The president signed Obamacare into law one year ago today. Washington's takeover of health care has imposed more bureaucratic controls on a system already hobbled by too much government intervention. Solutions should spring from good medicine and good markets, not from a Big Brother power grab. Published March 22, 2011

EDITORIAL: Obama belts kids

Federal safety bureaucrats want kids tied up and enclosed "for as long as possible" when traveling by automobile. The new child car-seat guidelines handed down Monday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) expand applicability of nanny-state suggestions to cover adolescents up to age 12. Published March 22, 2011

EDITORIAL: Obama’s schizoid war

President Obama says dictator Moammar Gadhafi "has to go" and the United States and its coalition partners are bombing Libya, but the White House refuses to connect these dots. America is poised to spend billions of dollars and kill scores or hundreds of Libyans but specifically rules out achieving its national objectives. It is a schizophrenic and futile approach to war. Published March 22, 2011

EDITORIAL: Obama’s injudicious nominees

President Obama's push to stack the federal bench with left-wing ideologues is picking up steam. A questionable candidate approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last month now faces a final confirmation vote in the full Senate. Susan L. Carney was tapped for a spot on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, despite having little courtroom experience. Published March 21, 2011

EDITORIAL: Obama’s nuclear negligence

The ongoing crisis at Japan's damaged nuclear power plants raises the issue of whether our own radioactive materials are vulnerable to similar catastrophes. The states of South Carolina and Washington will argue today before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that the Obama administration had no authority to order the closing of the Yucca Mountain disposal facility in Nevada. That project's purpose had been to move American plants away from the radioactive waste-storage model used in the land of the rising sun. Published March 21, 2011

EDITORIAL: President Obama, mission creep

President Obama is being denounced by most of the developing world as an aggressor; protesters are demonstrating outside the White House charging America with committing torture; pictures have been released of American troops engaged in barbaric acts; and liberal Democrats have discovered the word impeachment. It seems like it is 2005 again, but this time Barack is playing the role of commander in chief instead of Senate floor heckler. Published March 21, 2011

EDITORIAL: Obama’s red ink grows by $2.7 trillion

When dealing with the massive spending levels of the federal government, a small rounding error can add up to big money. Now it looks like the amount of debt President Obama's budget will generate in the coming decade will be $2.7 trillion more than expected. Oops. Published March 18, 2011

EDITORIAL: Smart meters are a dumb idea

Homeowners from coast to coast are growing upset over the "smart meter" devices that utilities are foisting on them by the millions, with the full backing of the administration. The meters are being marketed as energy savers enabling consumers to select a level of power usage and cost that best suits their needs. "We can imagine the day when you'll be able to charge the battery on your plug-in hybrid car at night, because your smart meter reminded you that nighttime electricity is cheapest," President Obama said in an October 2009 speech. Mr. Obama has used stimulus funds to push the technology, such as a $20 million grant to Reliant Energy for device deployment in the Houston area. Published March 18, 2011

EDITORIAL: Obama’s illegal war

With Thursday's passage of United Nations Security Council resolution 1973, the United States is set to go to war against Libya. Removing Moammar Gadhafi from power would probably advance the cause of freedom, but the United Nations has no legal authority to take a step of this magnitude. By bowing to the will of the U.N. Security Council, President Obama is diluting the sovereign power of the United States. Published March 18, 2011

EDITORIAL: Obama couldn’t care less

If the world is in crisis, you wouldn't know it by watching President Obama's spring break. Between golf, basketball and the president's upcoming trip to Rio de Janeiro, the White House is projecting a disinterested aura of business as usual. For this administration, "tuned-out" is the new normal. Published March 17, 2011