Support the Troops With Higher Taxes, Gas Rationing
July 29, 2005
Support the Troops With Higher
Taxes, Gas Rationing
"From bases in Iraq and across the United States to the Pentagon and the
military's war colleges, officers and enlisted personnel quietly raise a
question for political leaders: if America is truly on a war footing, why is so
little sacrifice asked of the nation at large? There is no serious talk of a
draft to share the burden of fighting across the broad citizenry, and neither
Republicans nor Democrats are pressing for a tax increase to force Americans to
cover the $5 billion a month in costs from Iraq, Afghanistan and new
counterterrorism missions. There are not even concerted efforts like the
savings-bond drives or gasoline rationing that helped to unite the country
behind its fighting forces in wars past."
- Thom Shanker, July 24.
Silly Supreme Court Labeling
"An Advocate for the Right."
- Front-page headline on Bush Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, July
28, 2005.
"Balanced Jurist at Home in the Middle."
- Headline on Clinton Supreme Court nominee Ruth Bader Ginsburg, June
27, 1993.
A "Visionary" Radical
Environmentalist
"The legacy of the visionary Brower, who died in 2000 at 88, is an
excellent reminder that one man can truly make a difference. He was the first to
recognize that environmental concerns should be approached as political missions
and established relationships with people in Washington to influence policy."
- From movie critic Laura Kern's review of a documentary of radical
environmentalist David Brower, July 22
.
And What Would Those Be,
Precisely?
"Ultimately, the shooting raises a central question: is uprooting terrorists
worth the risk of losing some of the freedoms that many Britons believe
Americans forfeited after Sept. 11?"
- London-based reporter Alan Cowell, July 25.
Still Blaming Blair
"The Iraq war has been unpopular with many Britons. Even before a bullet was
fired, over one million people marched through London in protest in early 2003.
Since then, the decision to side with the White House has haunted Mr.
Blair.Earlier this month, as Mr. Blair basked in a series of political and
diplomatic triumphs, the Iraq debate seemed to be receding. But it has revived
as Britons ponder whether the four British Muslim men aged between 18 and 30 who
bombed three subway trains and a bus had been inspired to do so because of their
opposition to Mr. Blair's policies in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere."
- Alan Cowell, July 20.
A Robert Reich Line on the Estate
Tax
"Senate Republicans have not given up trying to repeal the tax on estates, a
cherished goal of many conservatives, but they do not yet have enough votes to
succeed. The cost of the bill is high, about $290 billion over the next 10
years, according to the Joint Tax Committee of Congress. However, that
understates the true cost because full repeal would not occur until 2010. Over
the 10 years after that, the costs would total more than $700 billion."
- Sheryl Gay Stolberg, July 27.
She Isn't?
"Republicans immediately fired back at the criticisms, mocking the council for
reaching out to Mrs. Clinton, whom conservatives have long derided as a symbol
of liberal excess."
- Raymond Hernandez, July 26.
Wrong
"In July 2003, Mr. Wilson wrote an Op-Ed article in The Times that described how
he had been sent by the C.I.A. to investigate a report that Iraq had tried to
buy uranium from Niger. He said he had found no evidence to support the claim of
a uranium purchase, or even a serious attempt to negotiate one, and that he had
reported this to Washington. That is entirely accurate."
- From a July 19 editorial defending Joseph Wilson.
Reality Check:
"The [Senate] panel found that Wilson's report, rather
than debunking intelligence about purported uranium sales to Iraq, as he has
said, bolstered the case for most intelligence analysts."
- Susan Schmidt of the Washington Post, July 9, 2004.
The Times Would Never Use Loaded
Phrases
"Republicans, of course, were the ones who had always excelled at framing
controversial issues, having invented and popularized loaded phrases like 'tax
relief' and 'partial-birth abortion' and having achieved a kind of Pravda-esque
discipline for disseminating them. But now Democrats said that they had learned
to fight back."
- Matt Bai, July 17 Sunday Magazine.
War-Hardened Theatre Critic
Explains Iraq Failure
"The many echoes of our present moment - a young leader trying to finish a
battle begun by his father, an invasion doomed by bad intelligence - have made
this rarely produced play a recent favorite in New York and Washington."
- From theatre critic Miriam Horn's review of a Manhattan production
of "The Persians," July 18.
So the Israeli Settlers are
Murdering Palestinians?
".the bloody conflict between the settlers and Hamas is likely to continue
indefinitely."
- Steven Erlanger reporting from Gaza, July 25.
Still Our Hero
"Bill Clinton Aims to Help Treat Kenyan Children for H.I.V."
- Headline to AP brief, July 24.
