Editorial Quick Hits: Theirs

Moore's vision hurts Obama

Daniel Henninger, Wall Street Journal:With friends like Michael Moore, Barack Obama doesn't need imaginary enemies. ... "The more they called Obama a socialist," he says, "the more he rose in the polls." Michael Moore is a progressive saint. If he believes Barack Obama is a socialist camouflaged inside a Brioni suit, so must many of his fellow progressives. This matters because the president's confused ideological identity has become an impediment to passing his agenda.

Why Biden should resign

Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post:It's been known for a while that (Vice President Joe) Biden has been on the other side of Gen. McChrystal's desire for a big escalation of our forces (in Afghanistan) -- the New York Times reported last month that he has "deep reservations" about it. So if the president does decide to escalate, Biden, for the good of the country, should escalate his willingness to act on those reservations. ... Obama may be no drama, but Biden loves drama. And what could be more dramatic than resigning the vice presidency on principle? And what principle could be more honorable than refusing to go along with a policy of unnecessarily risking American blood and treasure . . . ?

Don't reinflate housing bubble

Steven Pearlstein, Washington Post:What would surely not be good policy ... is to extend and expand the current tax break for first-time home buyers that is set to expire at the end of the year, as many in Congress are now advocating. Home buyers are already getting a huge benefit from the dramatic drop in house prices, along with the lowest mortgage rates in a generation, thanks to massive government infusions into Fannie and Freddie. For the government to go beyond those efforts and try to induce home sales that otherwise wouldn't have happened -- at an estimated $75,000 a pop -- would surely be cheered by home builders, real estate agents and the analysts at Goldman Sachs. But in truth it would be nothing more than a misguided attempt to reinflate another bubble.

Want lots of green jobs? Build rickshaws

J.D. Foster, Heritage Foundation:Supposedly, we can strengthen the economy by government spending and regulating to advance the development of environmentally friendly, or "green" technologies. ... If they're serious, I have just one word of advice: rickshaws. Rickshaws are small, lightweight, two-wheeled taxis motored by an enterprising entrepreneur either as a runner or in the more modern version, pulled by a bicyclist. ... Rickshaws are the way to go for green jobs. There are no rickshaw drivers in the United States today, so every rickshaw job is a new job. Even more new jobs would be created as the auto companies shift, with a little urging from Uncle Sam, to rickshaw production in the United States... And what could be greener than a rickshaw? It produces no pollution whatsoever.