The Buffalo News: Buffalo News Editorials

Buffalo News Editorials

Biden is a strong choice: Updated: 08/28/08 6:55 AM; Some of Hillary Clinton’s supporters may beg to differ, but the selection of Sen. Joe Biden as the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee looks to be strong, appropriate and mature. It puts a burden on the Republicans to come up with a similarly inspired selection before their convention next week.

How to watch the party: Updated: 08/28/08 6:55 AM; Here’s how to interpret a political convention in 2008:

The way out of Iraq: Updated: 08/27/08 6:50 AM; It’s hard to divorce the announcement of a pending withdrawal timetable from the realities of American politics, but however it comes about, a responsible plan to pull troops out of Iraq is a welcome development.

Improve rebuilding process: Updated: 08/27/08 6:50 AM; The City of Buffalo has had a long-standing problem with inspections and permits that dates back several administrations, but that problem needs solving now more than ever. A recent News article indicates inspectors are dealing with the largest number of problem properties in recent history, and new figures show 9,900 property-related complaints to City Hall’s citizen services office in the first half of the year. Inspectors could use a little help.

Biden’s approach won’t be dainty: E. J. Dionne - Washington Post Writers Group
Updated: 08/26/08 6:55 AM; DENVER — The 40-something politician pledged to wage a campaign rooted in his generation’s “moment of obligation and opportunity.”

Pakistan’s uncertain future: Trudy Rubin - Philadelphia Inquirer
Updated: 08/26/08 6:55 AM; Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf, the longtime military dictator who resigned last week, was an ambivalent ally in the fight against radical Islamists.

Insights from Katrina’s children: Leonard Pitts - Miami Herald
Updated: 08/26/08 6:55 AM; You cannot watch Laura Belsey’s movie without ruminating upon the myriad ways we fail our young.

Housing repairs needed: Updated: 08/26/08 6:55 AM; It’s perfectly reasonable to complain when the house down the street has been allowed to fall into ugly disrepair, creating both an eyesore for the neighborhood and a danger to whomever is unluckly enough to live there.

DeJohn earned praise: Updated: 08/26/08 6:55 AM; Careers wax and wane over the arc of their existence, but rarely these days do they feature long service at a single institution. Rarer still is the kind of positive influence that Samuel DeJohn had not only over his own department, but others as well.

Snap: problem addressed: Updated: 08/26/08 6:55 AM; The mayor’s response was swift, certain and exactly right. In reaction to a mini crime wave on Buffalo’s newly developing waterfront, Mayor Byron W. Brown announced that surveillance cameras would be mounted in the area.

A start, not a finish: Updated: 08/25/08 6:54 AM; Well, they did something, but only enough to be able to make the claim. In the end, the State Legislature balked at seriously confronting the state’s dismal economic outlook, agreeing to cut only $427 million in this year’s budget and a total of $1 billion over a year and a half. A deficit of $5.7 billion still looms over next year’s budget.

Safeguard your credit data: Updated: 08/25/08 6:54 AM; Technology has allowed society to accomplish much more than probably ever imagined, and in a shorter time, but with that convenience comes a price. Part of that price was evident recently, with reports of the theft and sale of more than 41 million credit and debit card numbers.

Wildlife act is at risk: Updated: 08/24/08 9:14 AM; The Bush administration’s latest assault on science, good government and common sense, not to mention the public lands all Americans own in common, would effectively short-circuit the valuable Endangered Species Act. The proposed change in administrative rules would allow government agencies with no particular expertise in wildlife to decide on their own if the projects they want to build or are asked to issue permits for will further threaten any endangered species of plants or animals.

Study the Legislature: Updated: 08/24/08 6:52 AM; If you are going to move into a smaller house to save money, it’s a good time to go through all your stuff to make sure it will fit, and that you really need it.

Handling the Hoyt sex story with restraint: Margaret Sullivan
Updated: 08/24/08 9:48 AM; The handsome former senator from Colorado was the Democratic front-runner for president in 1987 when rumors of his womanizing began to plague his campaign.