Editorial: Fed solution to carp problem inadequate

The tentative federal proposal for keeping Asian carp out of the Great Lakes seems like a good way to spend millions of dollars without accomplishing much. A key element of the $78.5-million strategy would be to less frequently open navigational locks separating carp-inhabited Illinois waterways from Lake Michigan. - 02/10/2010

Commentary

Deciphering al-Qaida's terror targets

Why did al-Qaida want to explode a plane over Detroit, hoping to splatter 290 bodies down on our streets? While the government has indicated the attack appears random, a look at terrorist strategy provides other clues. - 02/10/2010

Commentary

Obama becomes agitator-in-chief

The problem for Obama is that America is starting to listen and read what Obama has earlier said and written -- and, even more important, observe what he does -- and they don't agree with his premises or end goals. We know the result of multitrillion-dollar deficit spending is not a utopia, a secular heaven on earth, but a higher tax bill and a slow-growth economy. - 02/10/2010

Michael Barone

How climate change fanatics corrupted science

Quick, name the most distrusted occupations. Trial lawyers? Pretty skuzzy, as witness the disgraced John Edwards, kept from the vice presidency in 2004 by the electoral votes of Ohio. Used car dealers? Always near the bottom of the list, as witness the universal understanding of the word "clunker." - 02/10/2010

James P. Hoffa

Reform Wall Street, cut foreign subsidies to create jobs

The message from Massachusetts is clear: Voters want their elected representatives to find ways to create more jobs. - 02/10/2010

Rebuttal: Mackinac Center loses its bearings

Sometimes I feel like I'm living in bizarro world. A conservative president (George W. Bush) pushes through a gigantic federal takeover of America's public schools (the "No Child Left Behind" legislation), and conservatives applaud it, while liberals decry it. - 02/10/2010

Letters

Business as usual; Let military try suspects; What political civility?; Don't stop hope for patients - 02/10/2010

Letters: School workers deserve respect

How ironic that the Mackinac Center has jumped on the change-we-can-believe-in bandwagon ("Prevent union vetoes of state policy," Feb. 4). The Michigan Education Association's refusal to approve the state's sketchy Race to the Top document -- and instead ask to slow the process and maybe even consult some of those who actually work in the classroom -- is a good check and balance for a presidential administration that continues to rush to action without a plan. - 02/10/2010

Editorial: Keep Michigan law granting lawsuit protection to pharmaceutical firms

In her recent State of the State address, Gov. Jennifer Granholm spoke of her efforts at diversifying the economy. One of the areas the state has concentrated on is life sciences, encompassing medical research. But a few days prior to the governor's address, she returned to a constant theme of this state's Democrats: Ending protection against lawsuits for pharmaceutical firms whose products have been declared safe by the federal government. - 02/09/2010

Editorial: RenCen win

General Motors' decision to keep 5,000 workers in its Renaissance Center headquarters in downtown Detroit is a boost for the city's business district, and one that must be built on. - 02/09/2010

Commentary

Clear runway for Wayne County's airport city

New bipartisan legislation recently introduced in the Michigan Senate would give Wayne and Washtenaw counties similar advantages that Michigan Economic Growth Authority tax credits recently gave to Wixom. The Next Michigan Development Act package of bills, which I have co-sponsored with Democratic and Republican colleagues, will foster cooperation among local units of government to help them bring new businesses and jobs to their communities -- including an airport city to Metro Detroit. - 02/09/2010

Commentary

GM stake compromises Obama in Toyota's recalls

When he urged Americans to "stop driving" their Toyotas last week, was Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood speaking as the head of a federal agency concerned with highway safety or as a sales advocate for a nationalized General Motors? - 02/09/2010

Rabbi Aaron Bergman

Robertson's blame game takes God's name in vain

One of the most misunderstood of the Ten Commandments is the third one, the prohibition of taking God's name in vain. There are people who think it means refraining from swearing, especially if God's name is part of the phrase. - 02/09/2010

Michael Barone

Unions bleed taxpayers to help Democrats

Growing up in Michigan in the heyday of the United Auto Workers, I long assumed that labor unions were part of the natural order of things. - 02/09/2010