THE WASHINGTON TIMES

EDITORIAL: The Hillary coup

A sure sign that an administration is in trouble is Beltway buzz about making dramatic changes at or near the top. Lately, there has been increasing chatter about moving Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to a new job. The goal of the musical chairs would be to keep her from challenging the politically flailing President Obama in a Democratic primary in 2012. Published August 23, 2010

EDITORIAL: The first presumed Muslim president

Hard on the heels of the Ground Zero Mosque controversy, significant numbers of Americans think President Obama is a Muslim. The uncomfortable fact for the White House is the more the American people get to know Mr. Obama, the more they think he is a follower of Islam. Published August 20, 2010

EDITORIAL: Dialing back the welfare state

Only in Barack Obama's Washington would the most successful federal reform of the past half-century not only fail to be emulated, but actually be reversed. Yet that's what Democrats have done to the vaunted 1996 welfare reform instituted by the Newt Gingrich-led Republican Congress. A recent Heritage Foundation report explains why the reform needs to be fully reinstated, and why 70 other welfare-related programs should be modeled on it. Published August 20, 2010

EDITORIAL: Paying for hope with your change

In the modern era, all presidents have to some degree used their office to promote themselves and their policies. The Obama administration, however, has taken the practice to new heights. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last month unveiled a slick, $700,000 television commercial featuring crusty old actor Andy Griffith announcing that "more good things" are coming to seniors - thanks to Obamacare. Just add the O Force campaign logo, and the advertisement will be ready for use in the 2012 presidential race. Published August 20, 2010

EDITORIAL: We can’t afford this government

Whether by design or incompetence, the Cloward-Piven Strategy lives. Named after two leftist professors at Columbia University, the scheme calls for overwhelming government obligations to the point of collapse, therefore providing an excuse for a radical government takeover of the whole economy. Three news stories yesterday show the Cloward-Piven day of reckoning is creeping perilously closer. Published August 19, 2010

EDITORIAL: A monument to terrorism

The Ground Zero Mosque project already has failed in its intended outreach mission, and its backers now seem to be committed to alienating as many Americans as possible. Published August 19, 2010

EDITORIAL: Tax man spies on book purchases

The American Civil Liberties Union wants to protect the privacy of people who buy books like "Obama Zombies: How The Liberal Machine Brainwashed My Generation." On Aug. 12, a federal judge allowed the left-leaning group to join the side of big business in a court case against greedy, tax-obsessed state bureaucrats. Published August 19, 2010

EDITORIAL: Time to tax walkers and riders

California officials can always be counted on to take bad ideas and push them to the extreme - especially when they can do so with your money. The board of directors that oversees San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge voted Friday to take $5 million in federal "congestion mitigation" road funds to design a gigantic suicide-prevention net that will run the length of the 1.7-mile landmark. To pay for the rest of the net's estimated $50 million cost, board members may impose a $1 toll on the sidewalks for crossing pedestrians and cyclists. Published August 18, 2010

EDITORIAL: Barack Obama, war criminal

The discovery of tapes of Sept. 11 plotter Ramzi Binalshibh being interrogated in Morocco has drawn the attention of Justice Department investigators. The tapes were made in 2002 at a facility the CIA used near Rabat and purportedly were found "under a desk" at the CIA's Counterterrorism Center. Ninety-two other such tapes are said to have been destroyed. Published August 18, 2010

EDITORIAL: A Heritage of new ideas

One of the falsest attacks President Obama makes about his conservative opponents is that they have proposed not "a single, solitary new idea to address the challenges of the American people." From the "Roadmap for America's Future," authored by Rep. Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Republican, to the series of proposals featured in House Republicans' "America Speaking Out" series, the political right is awash in creative solutions to contemporary problems. Published August 18, 2010

EDITORIAL: Justice stiffs Civil Rights Commission

The hypocrisy of the Obama Justice Department has reached staggering proportions on a host of issues stemming from the New Black Panther voter-intimidation case. Such systemic evasion of justice breeds lawlessness. Published August 17, 2010

EDITORIAL: Bombs away in three days

Israel's long-anticipated attack on Iran's nuclear program may come as soon as Friday. Yesterday, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said Israel had eight days to strike Iran's nuclear facility at Bushehr before it would become operational. He revised the timeline to three days after word came that nuclear fuel would begin loading on Friday. We're now down to two days and counting. Published August 17, 2010

EDITORIAL: The Gulf’s bird toll

While several million gallons of crude oil have poured into the Gulf of Mexico since April, nature has been far more resilient than environmental doomsayers would like. The left is counting on images of oiled pelicans and lingering devastation to build urgency for unpopular policies like "cap-and-trade." Nature is refusing to cooperate, and the so-called environmentalists are proving to be the true hazard. Published August 17, 2010

EDITORIAL: The red tape stimulus

The latest dictates from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will drive up the cost of manufacturing products intended for children. The agency adopted a pair of new rules in July and August implementing the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, but as drafted, these regulations will force companies to waste time and money on redundant testing programs solely for the entertainment of bureaucratic busybodies. Published August 16, 2010

EDITORIAL: Obama’s mosque mess

President Obama's fixation on all things Islamic tripped him up again this weekend when he seemed to give strong support to the Ground Zero Mosque project, then quickly "clarified" his way into yet more trouble. Mr. Obama gratuitously raised the mosque issue at an Iftar dinner with Muslim-American leaders, a double dose of symbolism that drew immediate fire. But just as Mr. Obama's defenders had settled on a "profile in courage" story line, the president backed off, lamely parsing his earlier statements. The president's stance on the issue is now fair game. Published August 16, 2010

EDITORIAL: The stoners of Iran

The Islamic Republic of Iran has a habit of throwing rocks at its perceived enemies, but the mullahs in Tehran are slowly learning that the civilized world will not countenance the practice. Iranian officials last week commuted the sentence of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43-year-old woman who had been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. But all is not well yet. Published August 16, 2010

EDITORIAL: Coddling terrorists with the Patriot Act

Instead of protecting civil liberties, the Justice Department is wasting money coddling prison inmates, including convicted terrorists. A report released by the department's inspector general last week examined implementation of a section of the USA Patriot Act that requires the evaluation and, if necessary, investigation of claims of civil rights or civil liberties violations allegedly committed by Justice employees. Published August 13, 2010

EDITORIAL: Shoot the lame duck

The House last week took about seven hours out of its customary August recess to come back and pass the $26 billion union bailout bill. The unusual session confirmed the well-known principle that the republic is most imperiled while Congress is in town. That's why Rep. Tom Price, Georgia Republican, is on the right track with his resolution that would restrain federal lawmakers from meeting after the November elections until the new representatives take the oath of office in January. Published August 13, 2010

EDITORIAL: Anchor babies away

Eight percent of babies born in U.S. hospitals in 2008 had mothers who were illegal aliens, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center. Such newborns bring significant societal costs. Because their parents are poor, the families contribute little in taxes while at the same time relying heavily on government services. Published August 13, 2010

EDITORIAL: Obama’s economic tragedy

America appears to be in worse long-term financial health than Greece, Europe's poster child for govermental mismanagement. According to a report issued last month by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United States has built up so much debt and so many financial obligations that the difference between all future expenditures and revenues, the so-called "fiscal gap," will equal 14 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) for as far as economists can project - in Greece, that figure is an unsustainable 11.5 percent. Published August 12, 2010