detnews.com - Opinion

Editorial quick hits: Give us your poor, tired inmates

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:00:00 EST

Michigan and Australia don't often merit comparison, but if Gov. Jennifer Granholm gets her way the Mitten State will be playing host to inmates from other states whose prison systems are over capacity. The British Empire used Australia as a prison colony in the 18th and 19th centuries. Michigan has also been discussed as a possible candidate for absorbing inmates from Guantanamo Bay when that prison camp is closed.

Editorial quick hits: Theirs

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:00:00 EST

Politicians can be weird; Enlightened regulators won't save us; Government spending will end slump; Fuel economy standards tough on GM.

Paul W. Smith: Remember sacrifices made for our freedom

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:00:00 EST

Happy 233rd Birthday America!

Pundits debate energy bill

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:00:00 EST

House passage of a cap-and-trade energy bill last week has reheated the debate on what to do about global warming -- as well as the even more fundamental debate over its cause.

Mayoral control isn't the answer for Detroit schools

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:00:00 EST

On a recent visit to Cody High School in southwestern Detroit, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan reiterated one of his key talking points on how to improve the nation's underachieving urban public school districts: Put mayors in charge of big-city public schools.

Froma Harrop: For straying pols, it's the hurt that matters

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:00:00 EST

An open-minded individual, I am willing to support an adulterer for elective office. But my ability to look past marital infidelity depends on how much humiliation was heaped on the wife. The details matter.

Reader Debate: Is Monica Conyers' plea fair?

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:00:00 EST

Monica Conyers should spend a minimum of three years in prison, with no time off for good behavior. Most in regulatory positions not only do not solicit bribes; they refuse bribes pushed at them.

Editorial: Lawmakers are right to combine environmental departments

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:47:00 EST

Rather than wait for recommendations from a slow-moving government efficiency task force, lawmakers are moving forward with a plan to cut state spending by merging the departments of environmental quality (DEQ) and natural resources (DNR). The idea has the qualified support of environmental groups and makes sense in the context of streamlining bureaucracy.

Editorial: Obama's health insurance tax will hit union workers, public employees

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:47:00 EST

Another presidential "no new taxes" pledge may be ready to bite the dust.

Frank Beckmann: Commentary: Climate bill gives huge powers to government

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:47:00 EST

Independence Day has always been observed in the United States as a celebration of our freedom from rule of the United Kingdom.