| Pollsters' moment of truth Oct 29th 2012, 00:06 As the election approaches, it's not only candidates who face a reckoning. Pollsters, too, confront a moment of truth. The close election could leave many calling the wrong winner. On a recent day, six national polls reported new results. Four had Mitt Romney leading; two had President Obama. The largest victory margin was 3 points (for Romney). The average margin was 2 points. The uncertainty has fueled speculation that Romney could win the popular vote and lose the electoral count. Read full article >>   |  | The heartland election Oct 28th 2012, 23:59 KALAMAZOO, Mich. When Mayor Bobby J. Hopewell talks about the importance of manufacturing to this friendly Michigan town with a name that lends itself to song, he doesn't reel off the usual list of heavy industries typically associated with the word "factory." Read full article >>   | | A jihadist group prospers in Syria Oct 28th 2012, 23:55 For more than a year, the Obama administration has been assuring the world that the downfall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is "a matter of time." Yes, its own Middle East experts warned, but how much time matters. The longer the fighting goes on, they said, the more likely it is that what began as a peaceful mass opposition movement would be hijacked by extremists, including allies of al-Qaeda. Read full article >>   | | Editorial Board: FISA needs to balance security and liberty Oct 28th 2012, 22:12 WHEN CAN THE government snoop on you in the name of national security? The acrimonious war over that big question is reigniting. The Supreme Court on Monday will hear part of a suit from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenging the 2008 amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). In addition to modernizing FISA, originally drafted in 1978, the ACLU and others claim the 2008 amendments weakened already loose limits on the government's ability to spy on Americans. Among other things, they theorize that government agents can conduct "dragnet" data collection that could ensnare the electronic communications of thousands or even millions of U.S. citizens, as long as the spying isn't targeted at U.S. citizens. There are not enough protections, they argue, of Americans' Fourth Amendment freedom from unreasonable searches. Read full article >>   | | Editorial Board: Mr. Romney's tax plan still doesn't add up Oct 28th 2012, 22:12 IN A LETTER published on this page last week, Pierce Scranton, economic policy director for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, took issue with an editorial describing the "implausibility" of Mr. Romney's tax plan. In the debates and other recent comments, Mr. Romney has taken to suggesting that one way to make his $5 trillion tax cut revenue-neutral would be to "pick a number" — say $25,000 — and let taxpayers take that much, and no more, in deductions. The Tax Policy Center, analyzing that proposal, found that it would close only $1.3 trillion of Mr. Romney's newly dug revenue hole. And no matter how many times the Romney campaign insists that independent studies "have demonstrated the Romney plan works," that simply isn't true — not with the parameters (revenue neutrality and no tax increases for those making less than $200,000) that Mr. Romney has set, and not unless you assume economic growth far greater than that predicted by Mr. Romney's own advisers. Read full article >>   | | Editorial Board: D.C. Council endorsements Oct 28th 2012, 22:12 PHIL MENDELSON (D), tapped by his D.C. Council colleagues to take the chairman's seat vacated by a disgraced Kwame R. Brown, is almost certain to win the upcoming special election for the remainder of Mr. Brown's term. He faces token opposition and, as his past contests have shown, enjoys deep support throughout the city. What is less certain is whether Mr. Mendelson can provide meaningful leadership of the council. Read full article >> | | Don't ditch the Electoral College Oct 28th 2012, 21:52 Every four years, as our presidential election approaches, one pundit or another apparently is required to write a column denouncing the Electoral College and advocating the selection of the president by popular vote. This year the task fell to Richard Cohen ["In this college, 29=0," op-ed, Oct. 23]. Read full article >> | | Why we need our military service secretaries Oct 28th 2012, 21:52 It's hard to disagree with Harold Brown. In a conversation a long time ago, Robert McNamara told me that Mr. Brown was one of two people smarter than he was. I've known and respected Mr. Brown since the beginning of President Kennedy's administration. Read full article >> | | Placing speed cameras to save lives Oct 28th 2012, 21:52 Regarding the Oct. 24 front-page article "D.C. traffic cameras have drivers' number (and loot)": I am a cycling enthusiast, and there is hardly a better time or place to ride than Washington in the fall. At about noon on Oct. 19, I set out from Takoma Park for a ride north along Beach Drive. As I came around the bend on Sherrill Drive, which leads to Beach, a minivan rapidly approaching from behind slid off the road. It overcorrected, then hydroplaned into the opposite lane. I threw down my bike and tried to dash out of harm's way. The van began sliding toward me, perpendicular to the road, and then flipped over. It came to a halt just short of me and my bike. Read full article >> | | A Georgetown Halloween on the cheap Oct 28th 2012, 21:52 Regarding Katherine Boyle's Oct. 21 Style story "Cutting costume costs": As freshmen at Georgetown University, we were feeling rather low on our first Halloween away from home. So in our communal funk, we went to Jim's because, well, he lived off campus, in an actual house! In the sparsely furnished living room, I spied a dusty beige, lined curtain, hanging there apparently since 1789, and had an epiphany: We could rip it down, à la Scarlett, get under it, and become a billowing, seven-person cloud. Genius! Read full article >> | |
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