editorials and opinion

Even though more people want to visit the States than the U.S. can handle, the federal government is planning a $10 fee on visitors that will be used to attract even more of them.

This week's number that President Barack Obama needs to worry about is not two, the number of governorships the Democrats lost on Tuesday. It is 10.2 percent, the unemployment rate for October announced Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor.

A batch of amendments to a massive water-bond bill was submitted to the state Senate's clerical desk Monday, and one, as it turned out, had nothing to do with water.

Later that evening, as the bond bill was being debated, Sen. Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks, asked about the opaquely worded new provision and was given a misleading answer about its effect.

Warren Buffett has just closed the largest deal of his spectacular career with an agreement to purchase the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad for $26.3 billion. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway already owned 23 percent of the railroad, and paid a 31 percent premium over the stock price to secure the rest.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele and the New York Yankees can look back on a good week. Maybe Steele deserves extra credit.

No one was writing obituaries a year ago for the Yankees as was the case for the Republican Party.

For a look at the state of America's youth, there's probably no better resource than the U.S. military, which examines thousands of them every year to fill its recruitment goals.

For a look at the state of America's youth, there's probably no better resource than the U.S. military, which examines thousands of them every year to fill its recruitment goals.

Legalize drugs, advocates say, and you'll, decrease drug use, virtually empty our prisons, end the violence between cartels in Mexico and move toward a more humane society in which abuse is treated as an illness, not a crime.

II remember it well. My husband had just had serious surgery, and I was asked to leave the hospital to write about congressional hearings on the flu vaccine shortage.

Grumbling, I was informed by an editor that a national flu vaccine shortage was nothing to sneeze at and getting to the whys and wherefores was essential.

A funny thing happened on the way to Iran's annual celebration -- this year was the 30th anniversary of its takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. As usual, a pro-government crowd trooped to the site of the old embassy and dutifully chanted,"Death to America" and burned a few U.S. flags.