AnnotatedOpinions.com

Two hot buttons: Senate and House bills limit coverage for illegal immigrants and abortion. But critics aren’t satisfied. [LA Times]

The Republican Health Plan: The Republican House bill is not reform: it does little to reduce the number of uninsured, and much of the savings on premiums comes from reduced coverage. [New York Times]

As medical costs take over government, Dems duck … [USA Today]

Italy got it right: CIA renditions are wrong – The conviction of 23 Americans in the abduction of Muslim cleric Abu Omar may be largely symbolic, but it sends an important message to the Obama administration. [LA Times]

A Bad Way to Spend Money: Extending the home buyer’s tax credit is wasteful; instead, Congress should help people avoid foreclosure. [New York Times]

A Honduras hijacked by ideology: How Senate Republicans could throw the country into chaos. [Washington Post]

Afghanistan’s forgotten class: After the fall of the Taliban, many Afghan women shed their burqas, opened schools, entered Parliament. [Boston Globe]

Beyond the Spin: Hope didn’t heal the divide: A year after Obama’s election, America’s racial rifts are deep and persistent. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

The vaccine screw-up [Chicago Tribune]

Corzine can blame himself: By Gabriel Gardner There seems to be a consensus developing in the media that this week’s election results suggest a national GOP resurgence. This fails to recognize that the result in New Jersey was actually due to Gov. Corzine’s shortcomings in office. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

GOP at war with itself: Re-education camps with Sarah Palin and Glen Beck? [Washington Post]

What Reagan was really trying to do at the Berlin Wall [LA Times]

Mistrial by Google: Increasingly, courts have had to warn jurors that blogging or searching the Web during trial jeopardizes the very foundations of the judicial system. [Boston Globe]

Tribal Chiefs and the President: President Obama has taken important steps to address the economic and social problems facing American Indians. [New York Times]

Here’s what’s wrong with World Series: It’s still our greatest sports spectacular. But the World Series needs some fixing. So do the American and National League playoffs that lead up to it. [USA Today]

Our heroes, this day and the year-round [USA Today]

A good night for Reed, a better night for Republicans [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

Don’t believe the hype: The election results won’t forecast much for anyone. [Washington Post]

Amid terrorism, Iraq matures: In an odd way, the response to recent bombings in Baghdad shows that the Iraqi political world is evolving in a healthy direction. [Boston Globe]

The Best Allies Money Can Buy: America has been able to fight two wars with few allies because we’ve hired the help. [New York Times]

Two bills, clear winner: Why the House’s health reform proposal is better public policy than the Senate’s. [Washington Post]

Health: Fighting flu with… corn syrup? Amid a swine flu scare, Kellogg’s puts forth Cocoa Krispies as a boost for children’s immune system. [Boston Globe]

Justice delayed: Hispanic farmers battle USDA practice Hispanic farmers battle USDA’s long-standing discriminatory loan practices. [Houston Chronicle]

Justice and truth take a back seat in Chicago [Chicago Tribune]

Justice restored: Finally, a court ruling that considers the impact on the Luzerne County kids whose lives have been upended. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Driving Without English: The abuses by Dallas police officers who fined drivers for not speaking English exemplify why cops should not be turned into immigration agents. [New York Times]

Cut off the gas [Chicago Tribune]

We need a Karzai strategy: In the wake of the Afghan leader’s odd victory, Obama must revamp his approach. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

‘Messy’ Afghan election deepens Obama’s dilemma [USA Today]

Reform or die: Now the U.S. confronts the hardest puzzle of all in Afghanistan: improving governance. [Washington Post]

Some Sense on Defense Spending: President Obama must work hard to make sure that his hard-won victories to reduce defense spending stay won. [New York Times]

Net revolution – and rerun: The emergence of cable and pay-TV programming marked an exciting and explosive stage in America’s communications history. [Boston Globe]

Racial hope fades despite Obama [Chicago Tribune]

Protection for Investors: The Investor Protection Act of 2009 should not exempt small public companies from the audit requirement. [New York Times]

Academic salaries: Paying the smart money: The salaries of college and university presidents have been going up, but savvy leadership has a price. [LA Times]

It’s been good year for charity bakery [Chicago Tribune] 

Get the shot [Chicago Tribune]  

Swine Flu and You: While there is no reason to panic over the swine flu, people should take normal precautions to prevent it from spreading. [New York Times]  

The Case for More Stimulus: Because of ongoing economic problems, the immediate need for stimulus trumps the longer-term need for deficit reduction. [New York Times]  

The threat of homegrown terrorism: Though terrorism is back in the headlines, many question whether individuals like Mehana Mehanna, the Sudbury native arrested last week, pose a significant terrorist threat or do they lack the capability to inflict any real damage? [Boston Globe]  

Iraq, Afghanistan and the politics of war: In both countries, military advances must be matched by political progress toward peace. [LA Times]  

General fallibility: President Obama should give Stanley McChrystal what he needs — not what he wants. [Washington Post]  

Either/Or in Afghanistan: Sometimes a “war president” has to decide to start bringing the troops home. [Washington Post]

Keeping our allies on our side in Afghanistan: The U.S. must be willing to listen to those nations that are sharing the risks. [LA Times]

‘One free swerve’ [Chicago Tribune]  

Death in the desert: It’s time the U.S. take steps to keep thousands of migrants from dying attempting to cross into this country. [LA Times]  

To check or not to check: Bag wars aloft [Chicago Tribune]  

A Win for Internet Speech: A judge was correct in throwing out a suit against Craigslist over its “erotic services” section, since the law shields the company from liability for the speech of others. [New York Times]  

Lose your job? Need health care? Join the military: Times being what they are, I have decided to suck up to Fox News by becoming a conservative commentator. [Philadelphia Inquirer]  

More than 1 way to cool Earth [USA Today]  

Boomers out of the spotlight: Not long ago, I was blithely driving along, listening to a public radio story on senior citizens and unemployment. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Tax increases are coming because they’re necessary [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]  

Afghan success depends on understanding the enemy [USA Today]  

When ‘us’ isn’t so many: A New York congressional race may be a defining moment for the GOP. [Washington Post]  

Medicare: Only real advantage is the one insurers get [Philadelphia Inquirer]  

ICE numbers: Accurate counts on illegal detainees needed [Houston Chronicle]  

America, we’ve seen worse [USA Today]  

Clean Water: Still Elusive: The 1972 Clean Water Act has fallen well short of its goals; the time has come to strengthen enforcement and the law. [New York Times]  

Raising the debt ceiling: The Senate faces the painful duty of once again raising the limit on the national debt. [Washington Post]  

Open up Blackwater’s closed hearing: A judge’s decision to bar media and the public from a case involving the security firm’s role in the deaths of 14 Iraqi civilians is extreme and unjustifiable. [LA Times]  

Progress on Drunken Driving: Mandating ignition-interlock devices for all drunken-driving offenders is smart national safety policy. [New York Times]  

Unity doomed apartheid. Next up: climate change [USA Today]  

China leaving US behind in green energy: In contrast to a fragmented approach in the United States, China is investing deeply in renewable energy and is poised to become an unchallenged leader. [Boston Globe]  

The cars of N.Y. and L.A.: Drivers in both cities share some unique characteristics — but there is a fork in the road. [LA Times]  

Robert Mugabe vs. Zimbabwe: If the flawed power-sharing deal in Zimbabwe cannot be fixed, then new elections, supervised by the international community, must be scheduled. [New York Times]  

Iran talks we should end: A tribunal founded in settling the 1979 hostage crisis has outlived its usefulness. [Washington Post]  

Pakistan fights back: The offensive in South Waziristan is the latest sign it’s finally taking the Taliban seriously [Washington Post]  

The war on ACORN: Conservatives are distorting and playing up the community-organizing group’s so-called scandals, part of a broader effort to discredit progressive organizations and President Obama. [LA Times]  

A mother’s journey for reform: A battle begun for a chronically ill daughter to ensure insurance coverage for college students is won, but much more needs to be done for true health care reform. [Boston Globe]  

Obama’s powerful presence: The president’s popularity — on view at the U.N. — has helped reduce global tensions and deprived America’s enemies of propaganda points. [LA Times]

Global Economic Challenges: The members of the Group of 20 should share the credit for avoiding the economic abyss, but now they must confront the causes and cures of the financial crisis. [New York Times]

The Afghan Imperative: Fighting the Afghan war the easy way hasn’t worked. Only the full counterinsurgency doctrine offers a chance of success. [New York Times]

Intercepting terror plots: How worried should we be? [Chicago Tribune]

Taming Brutopia: The Internet could represent a flourishing of democracy. Instead it amplifies hate. [Washington Post]

Senator Kirk: A capable interim appointee – Paul Kirk, chosen by Governor Patrick as interim senator, is one of many outstanding staff members that Senator Kennedy recruited over the years. [Boston Globe]

Immigration issue is a red herring [USA Today]

How fast they forgot the lessons of Sunday school [Chicago Tribune]

Khadafy: No camping on the Donald’s lawn – The dictator of Libya thought he had a home for his tent on property belonging to Donald Trump in the tony Westchester suburb of Bedford. [Boston Globe]

Don’t discount trade in economic recovery [Chicago Tribune]

First the Fed, Now the Med: What the Federal Reserve did to tame inflation could be replicated in health care. [Washington Post]

The Subject Was Nuclear Weapons: The Security Council must commit to a resolution intended to strengthen the fraying rules that are supposed to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. [New York Times]

Toward peace in the Middle East: Breakthroughs require real leadership from all sides. [LA Times]

Showdown on Iran’s nuclear program enters endgame [USA Today]

Now, where was I? If the ratcheting up of media multitasking is teaching us not to pay attention, is it also training us not to expect attention? [Boston Globe]

Skin in the Game: Hedge funds offer a lesson on how to manage bank risk: Let them fail. [Washington Post]

ACORN cracking: The advocacy group’s troubles deserve a full, nonpartisan investigation [Houston Chronicle]  

Picking on ACORN: There’s no evidence of wrongdoing to support the California Republican Party’s call for an audit of group’s voter registration efforts. [LA Times]

Hard truths about Uzbek cotton: The strongman regime is making huge profits on the backs of the nation’s children while ignoring calls to halt its violations of international labor regulations. [LA Times]

House vs. Senate Over Competitive Bidding: The introduction of some competitive bidding in for-profit contracts as part of earmark reform is the logical next step that Senate Democratic leaders should join the House in implementing. [New York Times]

Ground Game on Schools: Amid health care turmoil, the president is overseeing quiet upheaval in education reform. [Washington Post]

The Bagram difference: Equating the Afghanistan air base with Guantanamo is a mistake, but detainee rights are still a concern. [LA Times]

Mr. Obama and Mr. Hu on Warming: The United States and China must lead the way to an effective global response to the clear global threat of climate change. [New York Times]

No compassion for sick illegal immigrants [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

Don’t undermine this treaty: Cluster bombs create such a danger to civilians, especially children, by strewing unexploded bomblets around conflict areas that the international community is right to ban them. The United States should not let one firm’s bottom line dictate its policy. [Boston Globe]

The Numbers and Health Care Reform: Two studies clearly prove that too many Americans are being hit with rising premiums or are at serious risk of losing their coverage. [New York Times]

The tragedy of the underinsured: My mom had a job and health coverage. In the end, it wasn’t enough. [USA Today]

Empty roar from ‘Lion of Islam’: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is returning to the United Nations today. As with the UN Conference on Racism, Ahmadinejad is likely to repeat his blistering attacks on Israel and the United States in an attempt to pose as the Lion of Islam. Instead of applause, he should expect the silence of the Islamic world. [Boston Globe]

The case of Caster Semenya [Chicago Tribune]

Literature: A reader’s feast, but why? Probably by coincidence, publishers are bringing out a plethora of new novels by some of the world’s leading fiction writers this fall. There is always an attempt to offer readers a good pre-holiday selection. This year’s is exceptional. [Boston Globe]

That feverish pitch of American political discourse [Chicago Tribune]

A crash course in American coarseness: Our political discourse suffers not from an insufficient respect for civility, but from an insufficient regard for the facts. [LA Times]

Washington, get well soon: Reform must promote better health, not just more treatment [New York Daily News]

Deadly distraction: Texting while driving should be banned [Houston Chronicle]

Why Cosby likes ‘The Obama Show’ [Chicago Tribune]

Pittsburgh reinvents itself [USA Today]

Get ready for another health-care plan. The Senate Finance Committee is set to deliver its long-awaited proposal as early as Wednesday.

We don’t know all that will be in it. But here’s one thing the bill will almost certainly say: No federal benefits for illegal immigrants. . . .

–What is the best way to ensure that illegal immigrants don’t inadvertently get government help to buy insurance?

. . . That’s nonsense. Insurance companies already require reams of information on those who hold their policies. Asking for proof of citizenship — something as simple as a birth certificate or passport — is a reasonable way to make sure that benefits go to those who are eligible.

[AO: But wait, why do we want to keep illegal immigrants from receiving government assistance when they buy medical insurance? Is it because we hate them or because we don’t want to subsidize their healthcare? Let’s assume for a second that it’s because we don’t want to end up paying more to provide healthcare coverage to illegal immigrants. Then the next logical question is: how much will requiring proof of citizenship cost? Make no mistake, insurance companies will shift the cost of establishing citizenship to their paying customers. The cost could easily exceed any benefit that illegal immigrants might receive without a citizenship check. In other words, the cost of requiring a citizenship check could easily exceed the cost of not requiring one!

If this turns out to be the case, we have to ask ourselves why such a provision would be added to the healthcare bill. It certainly won’t be because we don’t want illegal immigrants increasing our costs. No. it just may be because we hate them. ]

Dick Cheney’s Version: The government owes Americans a full investigation into the orders to approve torture, as well as the twisted legal briefs that justified those policies. [New York Times]

Elmo is right: Wash your hands! [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

Billing woes: Our system of medical billing is sick — impenetrably complex, in need of reform. [Houston Chronicle]

Health Care That Works: Government, for all its flaws, manages to do some things right, and one area that government intervention has been a step up is in medical care. [New York Times]

Keeping at-risk kids out of jail — it’s an art: ‘Tough on crime’ gang injunctions just funnel teens into jail. But one former gang member knows firsthand how a little care and attention can make a true difference. [LA Times]

Clean up after Agent Orange: Far better than a belated apology from William Calley for the killings at My Lai would be a greater US effort to help the Vietnamese deal with the Agent Orange dioxin left from our years of using herbicides to defoliate and destroy crops in that country. [Boston Globe]

Workers in America, Cheated: Workplace abuses are flourishing in the absence of a working immigration system, where illegal immigrants are vital to the economy but helpless to assert their rights. [New York Times]

Compromise a fading art: The recent death of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy was certainly a blow to his cherished goal of health-care reform. But it also could mean an end to the art of compromise in Congress. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Aging boomers: Hit the pavement softly – Aging super-athletes are just asking for trouble from their bodies if they push things too much after 50. [Boston Globe]

Honduras: Make it official — it’s a coup. A formal finding would trigger a suspension of U.S. aid. [LA Times]

Reform requires consumer pressure: As the debate over health reform turns toward cost control, there is a debate brewing between two rival camps [Boston Globe]

Cherry tacos anyone? [Chicago Tribune]

The federal debt and the tough choices ahead: Ballooning federal deficits leave Congress in a bind, and the choices get worse the longer it waits. [LA Times]

The Real Radicals: The judicial activists are those who now hold a majority on the Supreme Court. [Washington Post]

Obama’s next stop: Main St. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

Boiling the Frog: It’s difficult to get people to do what it takes to head off a catastrophe foretold. And now, both the economic and the environmental frogs are sitting still while the water gets hotter. [New York Times]

It’s a global thing: We’re all in it together when solving world crises The United States has a duty to assume the lead role in returning the global economy to health and dealing with issues such as global warming and poverty. [Houston Chronicle]

Walking point for an open military: Repealing the ban on gays openly serving in the military is long overdue. The cause has a new point man in the House who says he is ready to complete the mission. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Improve care, lower costs: More primary-care physicians, treatment standards and electronic medical records would help. [LA Times]

The Education of Sonia Sotomayor [Washington Post]

More Immigration Non-Solutions: Homeland Security should be deep-sixing its 287(g) program, which enlists local law-enforcement agencies to hunt illegal immigrants, not tweaking or widening it.  [New York Times]

The battle on your desktop: Google wants to chip away at Microsoft’s formidable lead in the operating system market. The likely winner? Consumers. [Boston Globe]

For Gitmo detainees held for years, ‘no justice today’ [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

Wind power stalls: A number of factors have combined to make wind farms less attractive. [LA Times]

McNamara and our nuclear madness: In the middle of the 20th century, America blindly lashed our economy, academy, and culture to a nuclear engine that defeats the moral agency of our greatest leaders. [Boston Globe]

Injustice in the Name of Security: Congress needs to speed up the approval process for port workers and require the F.B.I. to verify the accuracy of criminal records before issuing background reports. [New York Times]

Cameras in the Supreme Court [USA Today]

Unhealthy numbers: Bankruptcies, uncontrolled costs argue convincingly for health-care reform [Houston Chronicle]

The Supreme Court’s DNA ruling: Wrong on rights: Themajority opinion by five conservative justice belittles the protections of
the Bill of Rights. [LA Times]

Unparalleled and Denied: It is appalling that the Supreme Court ruled against post-conviction DNA testing that might prove a prisoner’s
innocence. [New York Times]

How not to help Iranians: The popular uprising in Iran is no reason for President Obama to fan the flames. [Boston Globe]

Fragile at the Core: The Iranian elections have stirred a whirlwind that will lead, someday, to the regime’s collapse. [New York Times]

Raw Politics: Unarmed Iranians defying soldiers with guns — the stuff of which revolutions are made. [Washington Post]

Another predictable Supreme Court: As the Senate is poised to confirm Obama’s creditable nominee, let’s pause to consider the many jurists who were not nominated to the court. [Boston Globe]

Enviro monster mash: Cap-and-trade [Chicago Tribune]

Immigration: It’s Time: As illegal immigrants wait for a legalization bill, they are suffering under unjust laws and corrupt policing that routinely suppresses their rights. [New York Times]

Colombia’s refusal to extradite guerrilla leader is the correct call: Even though Americans were allegedly among his captives, Martin Sombra’s countrymen need to see him face justice in their own country. [LA Times]

Gays in the Military: Let the Evidence Speak [Washington Post]