News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News

01/29/2009

Rick Perry: Working together, we will build a stronger Texas
This legislative session, your elected state leaders have an opportunity to build on the strong foundation we created together over the years by maintaining our focus on the people we serve and continuing our careful stewardship of the tax dollars they send us.

Florencia Velasco Fortner: Let's produce more Latino leaders
A recent request by a reporter for the names of up-and-coming Latino leaders in the southern Dallas area was a painful reminder of the void in leadership in the Hispanic community. As the reporter and I started cross-referencing names, we were both amazed at how small the list was in comparison to the size of the Latino population in the southern half of our city.

Tyler Boudreau: Troubled minds and Purple Hearts
It is difficult for many in the military to believe post-traumatic stress is an injury, not the result of a dysfunctional brain. The same culture that demands tough-mindedness also encourages skepticism toward the suggestion that war can hurt a healthy mind.

Keith Brown: Helping those caught in the Mideast crossfire
What occurs to me is that when conflicts occur between nations, it is easy to choose sides, predicated upon particular events that occur. And yet if we choose sides with a group of people, what about those caught in the crossfire?

Kevin Horrigan: What to do if smart becomes the new sexy?
Barack Obama makes Beyoncé "want to be smarter"? What if this starts a trend? What if all the young people whose ambitions extend no further decide they, too, want to be smarter? Can America survive if being smart suddenly becomes cool?

Amy Goldman Koss: This dying stuff is getting old
That's the downside of living a long time. My parents go to a lot of funerals, eulogy connoisseurs. And thanks to medical advances, health insurance, careful diet and exercise, they are right on schedule, arriving all together at the edge of the last cliff.

01/28/2009

George Will: GOP should squelch opportunism in stimulus
Sensible people are queasy about throwing trillions of dollars at barely understood problems on the basis of untested theories. For Republicans, the question is: What are the duties of the opposition at a moment like this? The answer, in three parts.

Carl Leubsdorf: GOP slaps Obama's outstretched hand
Bipartisanship, like beauty, may be in the eye of the beholder. And the way the congressional process has unfolded over Barack Obama's massive economic stimulus plan illustrates how hard it may be for him to overcome years of bitter partisanship.

Susanne Haga: Lawmakers need a crash course in science
With the exception of a small group of doctors and scientists, most members of Congress lack the background to understand the process of science and the subtle nuances that justify investments in science and engineering or changes in existing priorities.

Maureen Dowd: Wall Street's obscene perks and bonuses
As President Barack Obama spreads his New Testament balm over the capital, I'm longing for a bit of Old Testament wrath over an $87,000 area rug, a cache of diamond Tiffany and Cartier watches and a French-made luxury corporate jet.

01/27/2009

Gerald Britt: Vote no on more booze in South Dallas
Another alcohol-related business is not a grocery store, pharmacy, bank or credit union – all of which are in critically short supply in South Dallas. This is, instead, a request for the type business of which hundreds already exist in this part of our city.

Mark Davis: Let overheated 100-0 story mercifully end
Best wishes to the Covenant girls for the rest of their season, congratulations to Dallas Academy for a show of class under pressure, and if we must have these horrible mismatches, how about a 50-point mercy rule?

Thomas Sowell: Tax cuts are answer to economic crisis
No matter how many times President Barack Obama tells us that these "extraordinary times" call for "swift action," the kind of economic policies he is promoting take effect very slowly, no matter how quickly the legislation is rushed through Congress.

Paul Krugman: Government spending is the solution
Conservatives really, really don't want to see a second New Deal, and they certainly don't want to see government activism vindicated. So they are reaching for any stick they can find with which to beat proposals for increased government spending.

01/26/2009

William McKenzie: Fine print matters in measuring schools
The Obamas are living proof that good educations can close many of the gaps in American life. Why wouldn't everyone in this country want to devote as much attention as possible to enabling every child to have those same opportunities?

Sebastian Mallaby: Fair warning to China manipulation
Tim Geithner is correct that China manipulates its currency. What's more, this manipulation is arguably the most important cause of the financial crisis, starting with the mortgage bubble. China's leaders protest that they are being unfairly scapegoated.

Balance of Opinion: What Republicans should do
Though no longer in the seat of power, the Republicans are still working to influence the affairs of state, and the pundits, of course, still want to have a say in what the Republicans do.

01/23/2009

Eugene Robinson: Closing Gitmo is only the first step
Before President Barack Obama can do, he must undo. Repairing the damage that George W. Bush did to the nation's values, honor and pride will be complicated and, at times, politically inconvenient. But nothing is more urgent.

Linda Chavez: Why closing Gitmo is no solution
Now Barack Obama has to decide what to do with the 245 men held at Guantánamo. And, if he is lucky enough to see Osama bin Laden captured, what then? Ensure he's read his Miranda rights and appointed taxpayer-funded legal counsel, perhaps?

Jonah Goldberg: A free pass for Timothy Geithner
The bulk of Senate Republicans seem willing to green-light Timothy Geithner's appointment because, in the words of many, "he's too big to fail." Wall Street likes this guy, and so does Barack Obama. So, who cares if he breaks and bends the rules?

Overholser and Cowan: Journalism must fix economic model
Newspapers are for sale across the country. National Public Radio and television news shows are laying off staffers. The Tribune Co. is in bankruptcy. It's clear that journalism is in crisis, and in the current recession, things probably will get much worse.

Rod Dreher: Next time, they come for you
If you gave money to the Prop 8 campaign to outlaw same-sex marriage in California, watch out. Gay-marriage activists have mashed public data with Google mapping technology to create Eightmaps.com, an online map to your home. And it's perfectly legal.

Fred Barnes: The only thing we have to fear ... is Obama
Barack Obama also arouses the flipside of hope – fear. And while the fear he stirs may turn out to be unfounded, it's not irrational. People don't know who Obama really is or where his ideological center of gravity rests, to the extent it rests anywhere.

Chris Vognar: Our enduring fascination with Richard Nixon
Our 43rd president has ambled into the Texas sunset, and comparisons to No. 37 have abounded: consolidation of presidential power, disdain for public disclosure and a legacy of secrecy are just a few. And you don't have to rely on memory to relive the Nixon years.

Balance of Opinion: Measuring the economic challenges
No doubt the economic crisis is the most urgent task facing the new Barack Obama administration, and the punditry's focus is sharply trained on the new president as another stimulus package wends its way through Congress.

09/02/2008

Clint David: The problem with lawyers
The legal profession has long suffered from a significant image problem. When a profession's compensation model is based upon "the more time you spend, the more you make" or "the bigger the prize at the end, the more you make," then you have set yourself up for these problems.

09/01/2008

George Will: The Schwarzenegger model
If John McCain becomes president, he will be confronted by a Congress with significantly larger Democratic majorities than today's – majorities furious about high hopes dashed by an eighth Republican victory in 11 presidential elections. For that reason, it is pertinent to survey Arnold Schwarzenegger's governorship of one-eighth of America's population.