The Opinion Blog

Not Across the Board

Wednesday’s editorial argues that Congress should send an extra Social Security check to the people who depend on it the most, but not to all recipients.

It's now official although by no means unexpected: There will be no automatic cost of living increase for Grand Strand seniors receiving Social Security and other federal retirement payments. To ease the impact a bit, President Obama and congressional Democratic leaders propose $250 payments to 57 million Americans. This would be a second $250 payment, the first coming earlier this year as part of the economic stimulus package.

Speak up, Sen. Graham

Saturday's editorial encourages U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham to be a more forceful advocate for the health-care reforms he advocates.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham may be among the most sensible voices today in the nation's out-of-control health care debate - so it's too bad he's speaking so quietly.

The Last Knight of Camelot

Friday's editorial noted the passing of U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, and the political era he represented.

A noted Republican senator remarked not long ago that were his colleague, Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, able to be in Washington, the debate over health care reform would be going differently.

Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah clearly meant that the health care debate, at least in the Senate, would be closer to some sort of agreement. Kennedy had that kind of influence and respect on both sides of the aisle.

Dr. DeMint's Sugar Pill, Part 2: Unfunded, inadequate and unambitious

Sunday's editorial adds practical criticisms to Saturday's conceptual critique of U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint's "Health Care Freedom Plan:"

As we explained Saturday, the most serious weakness of Sen. Jim DeMint's "Health Care Freedom Plan" is its lack of strong mechanisms to control out-of-control medical inflation. But within the plan itself, specific elements also have deficiencies of their own.

Dr. DeMint's Sugar Pill, Part 1: A Band-Aid is not enough

Saturday's editorial is first of a two-part analysis of U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint's "Health Care Freedom Plan:"

When U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint brought his prescription for a "Health Care Freedom Plan" last week to a restaurant full of area conservatives ailing from an Obamacare overdose, his promises sounded like a free-market cure-all: Tax cuts! Access for everyone! No cost to the taxpayer! And all this in one little bottle!

Absentee obstructionist

Friday's secondary editorial criticizes one of South Carolina's gubernatorial candidates for a singularly ill-advised campaign letter.

If you're not on U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett's mailing list, you might have missed his gubernatorial campaign's recent letter touting what he has achieved for you in Congress this year:

Rep. Brown: Time to adopt the Fair Tax

From the morning e-mail ... Our local congressman offers this missive to commemorate tax day 2009:

By Henry Brown

Tax Day, April 15th, has historically been a dreaded date for many, but even more so today, as Americans are facing some of the most trying economic times in years. We are reminded on this day, that most things in life are taxed, and this trend only seems to be increasing with the recent passage of the 2010 budget, as it could bring the largest tax increase in U.S. history.

Democracy invites tyranny of the majority

Ripped from the wires ... Walter Williams argues that adherence to the will of the majority could lead to America's undoing:

BY WALTER E. WILLIAMS

Democracy and majority rule give an aura of legitimacy to acts that would otherwise be deemed tyranny. Think about it. How many decisions in our day-to-day lives would we like to be made through majority rule or the democratic process? How about the decision whether you should watch a football game on television or "Law and Order''? What about whether you drive a Chevrolet or a Ford, or whether your Easter dinner is turkey or ham? Were such decisions made in the political arena, most of us would deem it tyranny. Why isn't it also tyranny for the democratic process to mandate what type of light bulbs we use, how many gallons of water to flush toilets or whether money should be taken out of our paycheck for retirement?

When the Mayo's in trouble, health care IS broken

Ripped from the wires ... In case you doubt that the U.S. health-care-delivery system needs reform, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune sets you straight:

Few commented on one chilling irony of the U.S. government's bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler. Not only are the carmakers grappling with shortsighted leadership and dated products, they've also shouldered massive costs for retiree health benefits.

The United States has the same health care problem _ only bigger. Costs for the sprawling Medicare program for seniors are already unsustainable, with the biggest demographic group of all about to enroll. The first wave of baby boomers becomes eligible for Medicare in 2011.

Channel your anger toward D.C., not Wall Street

Ripped from the wires ... Cal Thomas adapts an aphorism made famous by the first Mayor Daley to the financial crisis:

By Cal Thomas

One of the more familiar sayings in politics is "don't get angry, get even.''

The anger caused by using millions in taxpayer bailout money to pay "retention'' bonuses to current and former AIG employees and to fund banks that mostly won't tell what they did with the money is an object lesson for all of us. It offers taxpayers an opportunity to "get even'' with those who have violated the U.S. Constitution, helped put our nation in peril and spent us into economic servitude to the Chinese.