Friday, November 20, 2009
Live Chat
Replay: Nolan Finley
Detroit News editorial page editor Nolan Finley touched on a range of issues in an hour-long online chat. Read the transcript.
Viewpoints
Nolan Finley's Blog
Nolan Finley: I don't usually favor the death penalty for a number of reasons, mostly because of the possibility … Continued
Raging Bullard
George Bullard: Sarah Palin must be laughing all the way to the bank.
She's on the cover of Newsweek in a photo … Continued
Henry Payne's Sketchbook
Henry Payne: Rep. Dave Camp of Mich. reveals this cruel detail from the 1,900 page health monstrosity. Some … Continued
Continuing Series
50 ideas to fix Michigan
We're highlighting ideas from various groups to promote discussion on reform and restructuring government and the economy
CyberSurvey
Senate health reform plan
Should the Senate approve Majority Leader Harry Reid's health reform plan?
How They See Us
Outsiders' views of Detroit
What are people outside of Detroit saying about our city? We'll keep an eye on the media and report back in a new feature, "How They See Us."
Latest posts:
Reading List
Links to the best reports and commentary from around the Web:
For Friday, Nov 20, 2009
News reports
- Senate Health Bill vs. House Bill: A Guide -- National Journal
- Higher ed advocates decry college graduation stagnation, but say colleges bear some burden too -- National Journal
- A tilt away from social issues for GOP -- New York Times
Opinion
- The China Obama didn't see: Dissident intellectuals attracted to Christianity -- Wall Street Journal
- AIG and Systemic Risk: Geithner says credit default swaps weren't the problem, after all -- Wall Street Journal
- Have Democratic Leaders Gone Mad in Deciding to Cut Medicare? -- Real Clear Politics
- Geithner's stock plummeting -- The Daily Beast
- Cancer screenings: Rational advice or rationed care? -- Salin Palin, Facebook
Submission Guidelines
You can send letters to The Detroit News Editorial Page three different ways:
- E-mail letters@detnews.com.
- Fax us at (313) 222-6417.
- Mail a letter to The Detroit News, Letters, Editorial Page, 615 W. Lafayette, Detroit, MI 48226. Please include home and work phone numbers, plus city of residence, for verification.
We prefer letters of 250 words or less. Direct rebuttals to editorials may be up to 300 words. Letters are subject to editing and become the property of The Detroit News. We do not consider letters to other publications.
Commentary
The Detroit News accepts submissions of commentaries between 600 and 750 words on current public policy and societal issues on the local, state, national and international scene. The work must be the author's own and it must be exclusive to The Detroit News in Southeast Michigan. We do not accept articles that have been submitted to the Free Press.
Please submit to Richard Burr, Associate Editor / Features, Editorial Page, The Detroit News, 615 W. Lafayette, Detroit, MI 48226, or fax to (313) 222-6417, or e-mail to comment@detnews.com.
First priority is given to local and state topics written by Michigan writers. Because of the large volume of commentary submissions The Detroit News receives, we can only publish a few on any given week. We try to let writers know by phone or mail of The News' final decision.
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Editorial: Stimulus aid isn't creating jobs
More evidence emerges that stimulus aid isn't creating jobs; bad numbers shouldn't be used to support bad policy
The Obama administration and Congress are coming under increasing fire over blunders, duplicate counts and exaggerations in the reporting of jobs created or saved by its $787-billion economic stimulus program. Newspapers in several states have discovered overstated job totals, modest real employment gains from the program and cases in which the spending protected or created no jobs at all. - 11/20/2009
Editorial: Expand nursing schools
Michigan faces an estimated shortage of 18,000 nurses in the next five years. Bachelor's degree nursing programs at four-year colleges and universities cannot accommodate all the students who want to attend. The state should allow community colleges to offer bachelor's degrees in nursing. - 11/20/2009
Frank Beckmann
Top legal leader needs to restore trust in justice
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says the trial of 9/11 terrorist suspects in civil court is a way to show the world the superiority of the American justice system. - 11/20/2009
David Brooks
U.S. should recapture its faith in the future
The rise of China is producing a crisis in America's faith about the future. - 11/20/2009
50 ideas to fix Michigan
End the educational paper chase
The Detroit News is highlighting ideas from various groups to promote discussion on reform, restructuring government and the economy. - 11/20/2009
Rebuttal: MEA wants federal aid, reforms that work
It's disappointing to read The News' claims that the Michigan Education Association is standing in the way of Michigan receiving "Race to the Top" funds from the federal government ("School sabotage: Michigan Education Association works to keep reforms, federal money at bay while school districts struggle," Nov. 8). Nothing could be further from the truth. - 11/20/2009
Commentary
Pragmatic Palin reinvents herself
Sarah Palin has a talent for reinvention. Since her first campaign in 1992, she's gone through a wardrobe full of political personas. Study her career and you count no less than five identities: Sarah the culture warrior, Sarah the watchdog, Sarah the reformer, Sarah the veep and now, Sarah the celebrity. - 11/20/2009
Commentary
Palin savors a fine whine
The temperature was close to zero Monday as I left the house to buy Sarah Palin's memoir, "Going Rogue: An American Life." The book was almost impossible to find in Anchorage before its official release Tuesday. The salesman who finally sold me one asked me to promise I wouldn't reveal his identity if he sold me a pre-publication copy. - 11/20/2009
Commentary
Sarah Palin strikes back in 'Going Rogue'
When Sarah Palin comes to your house for dinner, do not invite John McCain's campaign manager, Steve Schmidt; his top aide, Nicole Wallace; or CBS anchor Katie Couric. They come in for a real beating as America's most interesting politician settles scores that still rankle from the 2008 presidential campaign in "Going Rogue: An American Life." - 11/20/2009
Commentary
Welcome to Palin's Lady Gaga tour of Michigan
Sarah Palin blew in here Wednesday with all the stagecraft (and subtlety) of Lady Gaga, pulling up in a luxury tour bus ensconced with the cover photo from her book, right down to her glossy lips and heavenward gaze. - 11/20/2009
Letters: Raise taxes for more school aid?
So Gov. Jennifer Granholm wants us to hike spending to save our schools ("Stop school aid bleeding," Nov. 6). And she puts the blame squarely on the Legislature. What gall. It seemed clear the last time Michigan was in desperate financial straits in 2007 we needed to implement reforms to keep our schools and our state healthy. Yet, Granholm failed to act, so our schools bleed and students will suffer. - 11/20/2009
Tough job for Detroit's academic czar
While Detroit Public Schools' Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb is the school district's showman who woos the public with his no-nonsense message and anti-corruption results, Barbara Byrd-Bennett is the behind-the-scenes policy strategist charged with the arguably tougher job: dramatically improving student achievement in the country's most troubled urban school district. - 11/19/2009
Nolan Finley
Teachers win if they embrace Detroit reform
I've developed a fool-proof method for evaluating policies impacting the Detroit Public Schools -- if dissident teachers Heather Miller and Steve Conn are against it, I'm for it, and vicey-versey. - 11/19/2009
OUR EDITORIALS
Editorial: Doctors and patients should determine a woman's need, not government
A government task force said Monday that most women don't need mammograms in their 40s, stirring a controversy over whether women and their doctors should abandon what has become a standard weapon in the fight against breast cancer. Before they do, much more study is needed. - 11/19/2009
Editorial: Trying Sept. 11 mastermind in civilian court is dangerous
The Obama administration's decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed and several of his associates in a federal district court in New York is both unnecessary and dangerous. Mohammed is the confessed mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. - 11/19/2009
