Today’s quick lunchtime news chum consists of three groups of news chum, each of which has two related articles:
- Smart Choices. Sometimes, we need to do the smart thing, even if it is expensive, because it is a good investment. Two opinion pieces bring this point home. The LA Times has a nice opinion piece on why college is a good investment: research shows that you’ll make back what you spend on your college education manyfold in higher career earnings and increased employability. Warren Buffet, in the NY Times, has a nice opinion piece on another smart choice: Why we need to tax the rich, and why the rich want to be taxed. His point is that if we are asking for shared sacrifice, we should be asking for everyone to sacrifice, not just the poor and middle class.
- Supporting Reuse. The San Francisco Chronicle has a nice article that addresses the question: for my really worn clothing: should I still donate it or just trash it? Their conclusion: It is always to the benefit to donate it, even if it is recycled into rags. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a nice article on one item of clothing for which there is severe need: brassieres. It is evidently a vital piece of clothing in order to look professional at interviews, and thus really needed to help the homeless move out of their dire conditions.
- His Mouth is Moving. Yesterday, I wrote about the need for credible Democratic competition for Obama, because the Republican field is so … unsupportable … for moderates. The latest entry is Rick Perry of Texas. Skimming the papers brings two articles about Perry’s problems. The first, by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, is from the Atlantic, and it asks the question whether Rick Perry is as Christian as he publically professes to be. In other words, does he conveniently ignore the parts of the Bible that don’t serve his political needs. (I’ll note I’m already worried about the heavily-emphasized Christianity in the Republican field, being a non-Christian). The second is from LA Observed, and claims that Bush isn’t the only idiot from Texas. Perry’s positions include notions such as social security is unconstitutional, and that secession is an option. Further, with respect to Ben Bernanke, Perry claims he’s a Democratic stooge (never mind that he was appointed by Republicans) and should be lynched. Perry also thinks that Bernanke printing any more money between now and November 2012 would be a treasonous act.
Look, I’m not tied to party here. I just want a reasonable, intelligent candidate, with demonstrated leadership ability across the political spectrum, that moderates can support. I’m not seeing it yet.
