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    <title>Opinion for Richmond Times-Dispatch</title>
    <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/</link>
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        <title>Opinion for Richmond Times-Dispatch</title>
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    <description></description>
    <dc:language>en</dc:language>
    <dc:creator>Richmond Times-Dispatch</dc:creator>
    <dc:rights>Copyright 2009</dc:rights>
    <dc:date>2009-11-07T22:33:24-05:00</dc:date>

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          <title>Fort Hood: Routine</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-HOOD07_20091106-192404/304103/</link>
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Hannah Arendt wrote of the banality of evil. Good God almighty, mass murder threatens to become routine. The initial dispatches from Fort Hood were as chaotic as the scene itself. Reports of multiple gunmen proved false. The name of the alleged assailant confirmed the assumptions of many and the fears of others. An individual committed the enormity, yet Muslim Americans collectively anticipate a state of siege. The Fort Hood bloodshed was followed by yesterday&#8217;s shootings in Orlando. More will come.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:01:52 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Letters: Who Will Win Next Recognition?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-TALLEY07_20091106-192404/304108/</link>
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The news article, &#8220;Virginia Tribes Closer to U.S. Recognition,&#8220; claims Congress is getting ready to recognize six Indian tribes in Virginia plus the Lumbees in North Carolina. I do not know how many Lumbees there are but your article states that there are 3,000 members of the six Virginia tribes. You report that the group will divide $800 million.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:01:44 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Weekly Review</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-WEEK07_20091106-192404/304109/</link>
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No one seems to have followed our advice. Although we warned that the temptation is to read too much into elections rather than too little, national experts of all inclinations have discerned transcendental meaning in Virginia&#8217;s 2009 results. Although the outcome represented a major triumph for Bob McDonnell and the GOP, low-turnout elections tend not to be watersheds. Although the turnout&#8212;the worst in a gubernatorial election since the rise of two-party politics in Virginia&#8212;may have serious implications for future races, it seems unlikely to indicate partisan or ideological realignment.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:01:30 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Health Care: Where Are They?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-MAND07_20091106-192404/304106/</link>
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The other day a reporter asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about where the Constitution grants Congress the power to require Americans to buy health insurance. It&#8217;s a fair question; even the Congressional Budget Office has said an individual mandate &#8220;would be an unprecedented form of federal action.&#8220; Yet Pelosi seemed dumbfounded: &#8220;Are you serious?&#8220; she replied. Apparently the idea that the Constitution might not permit Congress to do anything it wants is foreign to her.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:01:24 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Letters: Readers Depend on Wise Editorial Opinions</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-LIND07_20091106-192404/304105/</link>
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Sometimes we don&#8217;t know our own strengths and we speak as though no one is listening&#8212;and so we are careless with our expressions of fact versus opinion. &#8220;Be careful what you wish for [politically] for you may get it,&#8220; and &#8220;To him who hath much [exposure to the public], much will be expected.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:01:14 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>The Myth of the 2008 Election Demolished</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-KRAUT07_20091106-192404/304104/</link>
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Sure, Election Day 2009 will scare moderate Democrats and make passage of Obamacare more difficult. Sure, it makes it easier for resurgent Republicans to raise money and recruit candidates for 2010. But the most important effect of Tuesday&#8217;s elections is historical. It demolishes the great realignment myth of 2008.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:01:08 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Correspondent: Nation Building Is Going Nowhere</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-SCZUREK07_20091106-192404/304107/</link>
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Congratulations to President Obama for receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. The president has the opportunity to show himself as a peacemaker to the eyes of the world and reap the blessings thereof by bringing the troops home now. Afghanistan is an uncauterized wound bleeding the best of America&#8212;young men and women of the military who volunteered for a cause in which they believed, but is not attainable. Afghanistan is a country divided into tribal, ethnic, and sectarian spheres of influence. Contrary to the widely held misconception, Afghanistan has been conquered several times in the course of its history. However, in modern times the closest it has come to being one functioning political entity was while under the control of the Taliban.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:01:06 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Our Stranger in Kabul</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-WILL06_20091105-183403/303893/</link>
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WASHINGTON Actress Cate Blanchett, who has played Queen Elizabeth I, is performing here, portraying someone less than regal&#8212;flurried, anxious Blanche DuBois, in Tennessee Williams&#8217; &#8220;A Street car Named Desire.&#8220; If Obama administration officials involved in formulating Afghanistan policy see her, they should wince when she speaks DuBois&#8217; signature line: &#8220;I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Showtime!</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-UPNY06_20091105-183403/303892/</link>
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New York&#8217;s 23rd Congressional District borders on Canada. It has elected Republicans since the times of the late Rutherford B. Hayes and has attracted scant national attention during that glad span. This year its special election made headlines. The rumpus started when Barack Obama named John McHugh, the 23rd&#8217;s Republican incumbent, to serve as secretary of the Army. The move created an open seat. Republican sachems nominated Dede Scozzafava, a state legislator with a record that crossed the line separating moderate from liberal. Democrats nominated Bill Owens, an earnest businessman. The Conservative Party&#8212;a New York fixture for many decades&#8212;nominated Douglas Hoffman.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Correspondent of the Day: Congress Should Heed Designated Rulebook</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-PEZZ06_20091105-183403/303891/</link>
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Congress Should Heed Designated Rulebook Editor, Times-Dispatch: The Founders designed the Constitution as a fair guide and set of rules for civil behavior and protection&#8212;not as a moving target at the whim of those in power. This rulebook authorizes Congress to do certain specific things. Nowhere on that list does it authorize big government to bail out banks or manage car companies. It is big government that the little guy needs protection from&#8212;not big business. The only protections available are the Constitution and the ballot box. We can blame politicians for the trampling of our liberty, but the bulk of the blame lies with us voters. Principled politicians seldom depart or cave to pressure.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Taxing Questions</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-MEDI06_20091105-183403/303890/</link>
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Among the vast array of mandates, taxes, fees, and directives in Nancy Pelosi&#8217;s health-care bill is a 2.5-percent tax on the makers of medical devices. That works out to a $2-billion-a-year drain on innovation. The price tag is only the explicit cost. There could be an implicit cost: the pain and suffering of individuals who might go without new treatments they would have benefited from, if medical-device manufacturers had been able to use the money for research and development instead of paying off Uncle Sam.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>So Much for Being Cautious</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-HINKLE06_20091105-183403/303889/</link>
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Six years ago San Franciso, a black hole of liberalism&#8212;infinitely dense&#8212;became the first major U.S. city to adopt the precautionary principle. That principle says, roughly, this: When a course of action might cause harm to human health or the environment, the burden of proof falls on the proponents of that course of action, who should consider the full range of alternatives, including taking no action&#8212;even when the threat of harm is unproven.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Letters To The Editor: Lincoln and Obama Have A Lot in Common</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-GRAY06_20091105-183403/303888/</link>
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Lincoln and Obama Have a Lot in Common Editor, Times-Dispatch: Many comparisons have been made between Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama. Now we can add one more: In May 1864, Lincoln ordered Union Gen. John Dix to &#8220;take possession by military force of the printing establishments of the New York World and Journal of Commerce and prohibit any further publication thereof. You are therefore commanded forthwith to arrest and imprison the editors, proprietors, and publishers of the aforementioned newspapers.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Lodging Beefs</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-HOTL06_20091105-183201/303887/</link>
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Two national groups have weighed in on the contentious question of a new hotel at Fort Lee. The National Restaurant Association and the American Hotel and Lodging Association have written a letter expressing dismay that &#8220;a hotel of this magnitude will usurp business from local lodging and restaurant businesses which have spent years investing in the local community . . . .&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Videotorial: Pelosi&#8217;s Folly</title>
          <link>http://static.mgnetwork.com/rtd/slideshows/opinion/20091105health/index.html</link>
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The House Speaker&#8217;s health-care bill is a bureaucratic monstrosity.            ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:59:14 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Snack Attack</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-VEND05_20091104-175608/303628/</link>
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Nancy Pelosi&#8217;s gargantuan health care bill&#8212;it includes 111 new boards, commissions, bureaucracies, and programs&#8212;has not overlooked the menace behind the glass panels of vending machines. Section 2572 would require vending-machine operators to post the nutritional content of snack foods on the outside of machines, so munchers can review the info before making a purchase.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Letters To The editor</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-PUL05_20091104-175608/303627/</link>
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Acknowledge Both Slavery and Civil War Editor, Times-Dispatch: I endorse the comments of staff writer Michael Paul Williams, &#8220;Richmond Is Right Place for Slavery Complex,&#8220; that supported the development of the slave museum on the site of Lumpkins&#8217; Jail near the Main Street Station. We should follow this by moving the White House of the Confederacy and its collection to the Second and Canal Streets property&#8212;the current site of the folk festival. This can be done without materially affecting future folk festivals.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Parks in Drive</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-PARK05_20091104-175608/303626/</link>
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Richmond government has taken a lot of hits for poor management (and less savory characteristics). So it&#8217;s worth highlighting one of the city&#8217;s accomplishments: the restoration of Forest Hill lake, an urban gem that had grown choked and fetid from neglect. The restoration is good news. What makes it even better: Project overseers finished the work early and under budget. Metropolitan Environmental Services, the Ohio firm that did the spade work, gets much of the credit. But city officials merit praise for putting the project in motion and making sure it got done well.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Letters To The editor</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-OCON05_20091104-175403/303625/</link>
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White House Actions Cause Antennas to Rise Editor, Times-Dispatch: I&#8217;m a firm believer in volunteerism. I&#8217;ve been involved in voluntary activities since my early teens. So while I am generally very cautious of government involvement in our private lives, I have no issue with its gentle support and promotion of volunteerism. (See President George H. W. Bush&#8217;s 1,000 Points of Light et al.) But if the government were to force it down my throat, well, that might be just a tad worrisome.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Ellen Goodman: Who Says Women Were Happier Before Feminism?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-GOOD06_20091104-175403/303624/</link>
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SOCIAL TRENDS BOSTON Not long ago a group of writers decided to publish a book of essays we called: Feminism Made Me Happy. It was an in-your-face title, a deliberate attempt to counter the narrative we all knew by heart. The one that kept describing how the women&#8217;s movement had left us stressed out, discontented, wrenched from home, hearth, and motherhood to struggle and fail at doing it all.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Coloring Book</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-ELEC05_20091104-175403/303623/</link>
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Bob McDonnell won nine of the state&#8217;s 11 congressional districts; only the 3rd and the 8th went for Creigh Deeds, and they are Democratic bastions. The GOP ticket prevailed from top to bottom. Bill Bolling easily won re-election as lieutenant governor. If one year ago an expert had predicted Ken Cuccinelli would be elected attorney general in a landslide, he would have lost his license to practice punditry.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Correspondent of the Day</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-COOK05_20091104-175403/303622/</link>
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Don&#8217;t Reward CEOs Receiving Bailouts Editor, Times-Dispatch: I am writing regarding Scott Bleicher&#8217;s Correspondent of the Day Letter on Oct. 28 (&#8220;Cutting Salaries Cuts Taxes, Too&#8221;). Surely, if Bleicher is an accountant&#8212;as he proclaimed&#8212;then he must realize that cutting executive compensation at firms receiving government assistance also would result in those firms having reduced salary and benefit expenses. This in turn would create higher levels of income resulting in higher income tax receipts for federal, state, and, in some cases, local governments.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>McDonnell Wins: Message Politics</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-ELEX04_20091103-215004/303478/</link>
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One word applies to yesterday&#8217;s election in numerous ways: message. Bob McDonnell stuck with his; Creigh Deeds did not have one; the results send several. But first, a primal wow: One year after going blue at the presidential level for the first time since 1964, Virginia produced its reddest election in more than a decade. Last night Virginia Democrats learned again that glory is fleeting. Giddy Republicans would be wise to remember.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:01:49 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Correspondent of the Day: Has This Editorial Page Sipped Fox&#8217;s Kool Aid?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-BARAN04_20091103-215004/303477/</link>
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Has This Editorial Page Sipped Fox&#8217;s Kool Aid? Editor, Times-Dispatch: I am baffled by your recent choice of Paul Knapik [&#8220;This Isn&#8217;t About Health Care At All&#8221;] for Correspondent of the Day. In an attempt to &#8220;prove&#8221; that health care is really about increased government control, and not about health care at all, Knapik wonders why we aren&#8217;t hearing about a health care system like the one that the Swiss have. He then mentions some of the features of the Swiss program: All citizens are required to have health insurance that they select and purchase themselves; the government subsidizes premiums for those who can&#8217;t afford them; and costs are kept down by competition among insurance companies. He is obviously unaware that all of these features are also in the health care plans that are being discussed in Congress. If he isn&#8217;t hearing about them, then he isn&#8217;t paying attention to what is really going on.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:01:48 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Letters to the Editor, Cont&#8217;d: Increasing Awareness Will Conquer Cancer</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-RUPPE04_20091103-210203/303450/</link>
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Increasing Awareness Will Conquer Cancer Editor, Times-Dispatch: November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month and I am writing because, so far, I am one of the 5 percent of pancreatic cancer patients who have survived. Ninety-five percent of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer die within five years of their diagnosis and 76 percent die within the first year of their diagnosis. I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer early in 2009 and after surgery and treatment am now fortunate to be cancer-free.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:01:37 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>National Implications: McDonnell&#8217;s Win Is a Model for Conservative Revival</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-BOB04_20091103-210203/303448/</link>
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It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of Bob McDonnell&#8217;s comfortable win in the race for governor of Virginia&#8212;not because it necessarily portends a GOP sweep in the 2010 midterms, but because it serves as a model for conservative and Republican victories in battleground states across the country. McDonnell&#8217;s election last night&#8212;and his impressive coattails&#8212;are the product of personality and philosophy. McDonnell triumphed, in a state that Barack Obama carried by 6 percentage points, by running as an unabashed conservative&#8212;but never an angry conservative.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:01:26 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Letters to the Editor: Car&#45;Title Lenders Exploit Working Poor</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-GILMORE04_20091103-215004/303479/</link>
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Car-Title Lenders Exploit Working Poor Editor, Times-Dispatch: The major premise of Phil Kent&#8217;s guest Op/Ed column, that a car-title loan is an &#8220;honest transaction entered into between two willing parties,&#8220; one of whom &#8220;alters his budget in order to pay back the money in a timely fashion,&#8220; is either disingenuous or wishful thinking. As he points out, the majority of those who borrow against their car titles do so precisely because they have no other options and are desperate for funds to carry them over until their next paycheck.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:01:21 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>&#8216;Take No Prisoners&#8217;: This Time, Post&#8217;s Strategy Failed</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-MACKIN04_20091103-210203/303449/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
WASHINGTON Bob McDonnell&#8217;s decisive victory is even more impressive if one stops to acknowledge that it came in the face of incredibly daunting opposition, misleading and low-brow campaign commer cials, and a &#8220;news&#8221; organization which often advocates for left-of-center candidates and causes. To win the election, McDonnell had to defeat not only the Deeds campaign, but the DNC, the White House, and The Washington Post.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:01:07 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>The Departed</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-SOUL03_20091102-181203/303212/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The human interest stories on National Public Radio&#8217;s Morning Edition remain unsurpassed in broadcast journalism. The episodes inform and delight, often most vividly when the topic focuses on customs overseas. Yesterday, for instance, NPR reported that while Americans were trick-or-treating, the French&#8212;of all people, presumably&#8212;were going to cemeteries to honor their dead. Visitors to graveyards paid their respects not only to buried family members but to interred greats.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>What Others Are Saying About Health Care</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-SAYHEALTH03_20091102-181203/303211/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Amy Sullivan, Time Magazine: Does Focus on the Family fund abortions? It does if you hold the organization to the same standard it uses to insist that health reform would result in publicly funded abortions. A few weeks ago, I wrote about the fungibility argument that many pro-life groups and politicians have employed to oppose health reform. The problem, they say, is that if any insurance plan that covers abortion is allowed to participate in a public exchange, then premiums paid to that plan in the form of taxpayer-funded subsidies help support that abortion coverage even if individual abortion procedures are paid for out of a separate pool of privately-paid premium dollars . . . .           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Letters to the Editor: Gis Are Winning Afghani Trust</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-REID03_20091102-181203/303210/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
GIs Are Winning Afghani Trust Editor, Times-Dispatch: Americans must not turn a blind eye to the importance of the battle for freedom in Afghanistan. Many people are voicing their opposition to continuing the war. My feelings on the war are mixed. I find the brutality of war distasteful but I hesitate to withdraw my support.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Charles Krauthammer col. Afghanistan</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-KRAUT03_20091102-181203/303209/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
WASHINGTON Old Soviet joke: Moscow, 1953. Stalin calls in Khrushchev. &#8220;Niki, I&#8217;m dying. Don&#8217;t have much to leave you. Just three envelopes. Open them, one at a time, when you get into big trouble.&#8220; A few years later, first crisis. Khrushchev opens envelope 1: &#8220;Blame everything on me. Uncle Joe.&#8220; A few years later, a really big crisis. Opens envelope 2: &#8220;Blame everything on me. Again. Good luck, Uncle Joe.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Correspondent of the Day: Bad Roads Are Worse Than Taxes</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-COAKLEY03_20091102-181203/303208/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Bad Roads Are Worse Than Taxes Editor, Times-Dispatch: Some things are worse than taxes&#8212;bad roads for one, and weak schools for another. The thing is though, fixing roads and improving schools can pay for themselves over time&#8212;just like replacing your old water heater with a high efficiency model will soon pay for itself.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Grotesque</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-CARE03_20091102-181203/303207/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
There is poetic irony in the fact that Congress will be debating Nancy Pelosi&#8217;s hyperstatist vision of health care in America while Germany celebrates the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. As Paul Hollander, a sociology professor emeritus, recently observed, the fall of Communism &#8220;confirms that humans motivated by lofty ideals are capable of inflicting great suffering with a clear conscience.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Correspondent of the Day</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-HASSELL02_20091101-170402/303021/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Test for H1N1 Before Diagnosing IT Editor, Times-Dispatch: I would like someone in the health community to explain something to me: Being a health care professional myself, I am bothered by what I am hearing from those experiencing flu-like symptoms this year. I am not denying that the H1N1 virus is running rampant in our nation but I have to wonder about the statistics.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:01:52 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>What&#8217;s Your Plan?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-PLAN02_20091101-170402/303023/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
GOP opposition to Democratic health care proposals, says a recent news account, exposes Republicans to the charge that they are &#8220;political obstructionists with no policy agenda of their own.&#8220; The charge is false&#8212;the GOP has advanced several ideas, of varying degrees of merit, about how to improve the delivery of medical care. (For example, Republicans have suggested allowing buyers of health insurance to purchase policies across state lines, just as buyers can do with car and life insurance, in order to foster genuine competition in the health insurance marketplace.)           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:01:29 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Letters To The editor</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-PATTEN02_20091101-170402/303022/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Biomass Conversion Could Help the Bay Editor, Times-Dispatch: The story of the Chesapeake Bay is a story of stormwater. When it rains, everything washes into the watershed. In the rural areas, we have over-fertilized farmlands dumping manure and nitrates into the rivers and estuaries. In the cities, we have toxins running off from impervious surfaces&#8212;such as asphalt, cement, and masonry&#8212;and ending up in the Bay. In both instances, we denude the land near the water, clearing the trees, plants, and native grasses that hold the soil in place&#8212;causing stream bank erosion and sediment to fill in the rivers and creeks. Old Dominion Electrical Cooperative&#8217;s Cypress Creek plan is just another contributor. It all, always, comes down to stormwater.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:01:16 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Younger Generation: It&#8217;s Time to Invest in Millennials</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-ENISTA02_20091101-170602/303024/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
WASHINGTON Regardless of age, the economic crisis has had an impact on all of our lives. It has touched every family in some way, and its effects continue to be felt across all generations. However, often neglected in the firestorm of media coverage surrounding bailouts, stress tests, foreclosures, and stimulus packages, is the reality that young people, or millennials, are being disproportionately affected by this crisis, and that this reality will have a lasting negative impact on the entire generation if something is not done by our leaders to invest in young people.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:01:07 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Economics Affects Foreign Policy, National Security</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-NUECH02_20091101-170602/303025/</link>
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CHARLOTTESVILLE Afundamental foreign policy dilemma faces President Obama this fall: How can the United States pay for its growing economic and security commitments abroad while tens of millions of Americans are out of work, the 2009 federal deficit has gone over a trillion dollars, and the proposed health care entitlement will add another trillion?           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>GOP Challenges</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-GOPS02_20091101-170402/303020/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Although tomorrow may prove a banner day for Republicans, the GOP still confronts long-term challenges. Trends do not look good. Follow us: In 1980, Ronald Reagan won 55 percent of the white vote and won the presidential election decisively. In 2008, John McCain won 55 percent of the white vote and lost decisively. The different outcomes reflect the changing face of the citizenry and of the electorate. Diversity is not a politically correct word or concept but a reality. Demography translates into destiny.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:59 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>A Conversation on Manipulation and Consensus</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-ROSS1101_20091030-203609/302663/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
An imaginary conversation . . . Obama: You&#8217;re back. Yes indeed. Happy holidays, Mr. President. Aren&#8217;t you pushing the season a little? Not any more than small retailers&#8212;in the darkening economic gloom&#8212;trying to get a jump on the season to save their bacon. So is it the economy that&#8217;s on your mind this time?           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:01:53 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Higher Education: Virginia Is Innovating for Success</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-STEGER01_20091030-203609/302665/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The recession and resulting loss of jobs and business activity present state leaders with a unique set of challenges to attract and retain top industries and generate new high-paying jobs for our citizens. In a period of diminished resources it is important to nourish those activities that will have lasting impact on the economic future of the state&#8217;s citizens. The commonwealth&#8217;s future will be shaped by our willingness to transform Virginia into one of the most highly educated states in the nation.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:01:51 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>St. Mary&#8217;s Will Include Neighbors in Planning Process</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/commentary/article/ED-ARDA01_20091030-203609/302653/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
My first six months in the Richmond area have certainly borne out what I had heard about Bon Secours St. Mary&#8217;s Hospital as a wonderful, caring place to heal and to work. But in making my decision to move here from Northern Virginia, I had not thought much about the partnership that St. Mary&#8217;s and the community have with each other.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:01:49 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Road to Revival: Respect Madison&#8217;s Republic</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/commentary/article/ED-MARI01_20091030-203609/302659/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
If the American people know more today than they ever wanted to know about financial markets, corporate compensation practices, the mortgage and automobile industries, the national cost of health care, and consumer indebtedness, public officials have done little to heighten our collective understanding of the constitutional system&#8212;and especially the federalistic side of that system. This is discouraging and dangerous.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:01:47 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Road to Revial: Recognize Government&#8217;s Housing Policy Mistakes</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/commentary/article/road_to_revial_recognize_governments_housing_policy_mistakes/302868/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Recent reports that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will suffer default rates of more than 20 percent on the 2007 and 2008 loans it guaranteed has raised questions once again about the government&#8217;s role in the financial crisis and its efforts to achieve social purposes by distorting the financial system.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:01:41 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Correspondent: Congress Should be Fiscally Punished, Too</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-SKIN01_20091030-203609/302664/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
President Barack Obama&#8217;s pay czar has declared that bonuses paid to ranking executives of companies receiving federal bailout money should be returned and that these executives should have their pay slashed. Fair enough, I suppose. But if fairness and logic are to rule inside the beltway, should not House and Senate members be forced to take a similar haircut?           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:01:39 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Readership: Food for Thought</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-MAGS01_20091030-203609/302658/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The trials and tribulations of the newspaper industry have been well documented&#8212;typically by print journalism itself. Other mediums have been less forthcoming regarding their travails. Even among print products, newspapers are not alone. Serious magazines have fallen under stress. Newsweek is trying to reinvent itself. U.S. News &amp; World Report exists primarily as a college ratings guide (which has deleterious influences, by the way). Fortune recently announced a reduction in publication frequency. The New Republic previously forfeited its status as a weekly.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:01:34 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Political Dispatches: Bob McDonnell vs. Harry Reid</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/commentary/article/ED-PD01_20091030-203609/302660/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid&#8217;s recent embrace of the public option for health care reform surprised some and delighted others. The timing is curious. Just maybe, the Nevada Democrat decided the moment&#8212;eight days before the off-year elections&#8212;was right to back government health insurance before Bob McDonnell lays it to rest for good.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:01:27 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Road to Revival: Preserve Medicare Reform for Seniors</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/commentary/article/ED-ROSS01_20091030-203609/302662/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Something in the congressional health reform plans will require you to change the coverage or the doctor you have. You will be affected if you are among the growing number of Medicare beneficiaries who have chosen a Medicare Advantage private health plan. If certain provisions become law, Medicare payments to these plans will be cut, causing a reduction in benefits and physician networks.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:01:26 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Letters: Guest Columnist Worked Several Angles</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-RASMU01_20091030-203609/302661/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The Op/Ed column by Phil Kent entitled, &#8220;Where&#8217;s Compassion for Virginians Without Credit?&#8220; would make me laugh if it didn&#8217;t infuriate me so much. I could take him to bat, point by point, on the necessity of reining in Virginia&#8217;s predatory car-title lending industry, but the most important fact that readers need to know is that Phil Kent heads his own Atlanta-based media communications firm, Phil Kent Consulting Inc. Presumably hired by Fast Auto Loans as their communications director, Kent is paid to masquerade as someone genuinely concerned about the plight of struggling Virginians.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:01:25 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>2009 Election: Traditional Value</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-ELEC01_20091030-203609/302656/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
In what is certainly one of the oldest traditions in the Western Hemisphere, Virginians will go to the polls on Tuesday to elect their leaders. Not everyone will be pleased with the results, but even the disappointed can be comforted by the knowledge that the process was free, fair, and open to all who chose to participate. That is a more recent tradition&#8212;and one worth celebrating.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:01:23 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>The Road to Revival</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/commentary/article/the_road_to_revival/302869/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Policy experts and academics look at ways to put America back on track in four crucial areas.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:01:22 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Afghanistan: Obama Must Decide Soon</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/commentary/article/ED-BERES01_20091030-203609/302654/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Early November is a busy time. Last-minute hype from candidates begging for votes fills airways and television screens. Politics reach a frenetic crescendo as Americans exercise their right to vote. It is fitting that on Nov. 11, we will stop for a day to honor our veterans who have fought to protect that precious right. This Veterans Day, President Barack Obama will be headed to Singapore for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting. But he did recently speak to about 3,500 sailors, Marines, and other service members at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Fla. He eloquently expressed his appreciation to these military members for their service and their sacrifices.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:01:17 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Higher Education: The Commonwealth, Colleges Stand at a Crossroads . . .</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-CLEM01_20091030-203609/302655/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Having had the honor to serve on the State Council for Higher Education of Virginia (SCHEV) for the past four years, and having completed a two-year term as its chair, it is abundantly clear to me that the commonwealth stands at a critical, if not historic, crossroads as a partner with our public institutions of higher learning.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:01:14 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Bank of America Invests in Local Community Leaders</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/commentary/article/ED-TAS01_20091030-203403/302649/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Big banks have had their share of misery in the Great Recession that can&#8217;t end soon enough. You know the story&#8212;mortgages gone wild, multiplying foreclosures, company failures, government-forced action, CEO depar TOM SILVESTRI tures, tighter regulation, and a much different, financially scarred world in which to operate. But the other side of community banking was on full display Oct. 22 on the 18th floor of the Bank of America Center in downtown Richmond. It&#8217;s the angle where investments in organizations and people make a big difference.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:01:14 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Your 2 Cents</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/commentary/article/ED-2CENTS01_20091030-203609/302652/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Conservatives please note: Liberals are also concerned about the deficit. It skyrocketed with the Bush administration&#8217;s bank bailouts and the wasteful Iraq war. It was further increased to stimulate the economy. Your disdain for the latter action smacks of sour grapes. The president and Democratic Congress were elected to serve middleand working-class interests. If you wish to return to government that primarily rewards the country-club set, please vote for GOP candidates.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:01:04 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Newsroom gears up for election night</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/commentary/article/NV-VIEW01_20091030-203403/302650/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Goose-bump moments. We all have them. Sometimes, they come at unexpected times. I was fortunate enough recently to visit Hawaii, and while there my wife and I took a &#8220;duck&#8221; tour of Honolulu that included a trip to Pearl Harbor. As we motored around the city in a ridiculously yellow amphibious landing craft, our guide pointed out various sites and played kitschy songs by the Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, Don Ho, etc.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:01:03 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Road to Revival: Support Small Business in Health&#45;Care Debate</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/commentary/article/ED-HAMM01_20091030-203609/302657/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Our health care system is broken, but for Virginia&#8217;s small, family businesses, health care reforms that saddle them with higher taxes and burdensome mandates would make things worse, not better. Unless changes lead to more affordable insurance, more choices for employers and employees, and more competition among health plans, reform legislation will hurt small business&#8212;and that, in turn, will hurt all of Virginia.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:59 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Correspondent of the Day: Public Schools Aren&#8217;t the Problem</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/commentary/article/ED-WRIGHT31_20091030-194403/302636/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Public Schools Aren&#8217;t the Problem Editor, Times-Dispatch: Regarding this paper&#8217;s endorsement of Bob McDonnell: Politics aside, I could not get past the opening paragraph, which included this sentence: &#8220;Too many public schools fail too many students.&#8220; Well, fine. Is that just something in the catch-phrase playbook that all newspapers routinely use? Perhaps it should be revised to read, &#8220;Too many students come to the public schools from economically-deprived homes, dysfunctional homes, homes where there is no understanding of or appreciation for what it takes to be successful in school. Homes where a book is a non-entity, homes where parents think it is perfectly fine to let their children run the show and run the streets, or affluent homes where parents think their kids should receive an &#8216;A&#8217; just for showing up and behaving.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Week in Review</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-WEEK31_20091030-194403/302635/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
WEEK&#8217;S END This week Chesterfield let die a proposal for rental-property inspections. The idea&#8212;which would have allowed county officials to inspect the exterior and interior of rental properties, and to charge a fee for the courtesy&#8212;raised questions regarding property rights and privacy. The Board of Supervisors made the right call.&nbsp; Midlothian Supervisor Dan Gecker asked good questions about another topic. Bow-hunting is one way to thin a rapidly growing deer population. Gecker wants to see if &#8220;the safety statistics&#8221; justify restricting the practice in certain residential neighborhoods. We agree with him. If facts indicate that restrictions would be wise, then enact restrictions. But if facts say problems with safety do not exist, then leave things as they are.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Election 2009: Post It</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-POST31_20091030-194403/302634/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
An endorsement from The Washington Post played a crucial role in Creigh Deeds&#8217; victory in the Democratic primary. Many observers say it played the crucial role and propelled Deeds to the win. Support from The Post clearly legitimized Deeds, especially in Northern Virginia. The newspaper&#8217;s backing reminded voters they had an alternative to the bickering duo of Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran. The editorial&#8217;s preference for a rural candidate over two Northern Virginia swanks enhanced its credibility.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Letters to the Editor: Wilder Should Be Occupying White House</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-HEVENER31_20091030-194403/302633/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Wilder Should Be Occupying White House Editor, Times-Dispatch: Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder once again showed his independence, statesmanship, and good judgment when he refused to endorse Creigh Deeds for governor of Virginia. In an interview with NBC&#8217;s Mark Murray, Wilder said that he will not support Deeds because of his position on guns and because of the possibility that Deeds will raise taxes in a time when Virginia is experiencing a deep economic slump.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>More Letters to the Editor: Paper Should Endorse Creigh Deeds</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-LEVI31_20091030-194204/302629/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Paper Should Endorse Creigh Deeds Editor, Times-Dispatch: Your endorsement of Bob McDonnell is way off base. His economic platform is grossly inferior to Creigh Deeds. McDonnell&#8217;s is a &#8220;me too&#8221; deception that would apply only to businesses with more than 24 employees. No others could possibly qualify; more than a 5 percent increase in the number of employees in a business is extremely unlikely during the term of a governor.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Correction</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-CORR31_20091030-194204/302628/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Mark Ryan&#8217;s Op/Ed column yesterday misstated Wellpoint&#8217;s profits. In 2008, the health insurance company reported $61 billion in revenue and $2.5 billion in profit.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Letters To The Editor</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-VACCA30_20091029-194811/302406/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
McDonnell Promotes Virginia Jobs Editor, Times-Dispatch: Bob McDonnell, the future governor of Virginia, will execute plans to create new jobs in the commonwealth. In the past four years, the Virginia unemployment rate has increased by more than 120 percent&#8212;from 3 percent to about 7.1 percent (the highest rate of unemployment in 20 years). Also, there are 165,000 more Virginians unemployed in 2009 than in 2005. McDonnell plans to provide a $1,000 tax credit per job to businesses that create 50 new jobs, or even 25 new jobs in the economically depressed areas of the state.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Ticked Off</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-TECH30_20091029-194811/302405/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Last night Virginia Tech&#8217;s Hokies played North Carolina&#8217;s Tar Heels. Thursday kickoffs at Tech and other schools tick off various professors and perhaps even a few young scholars. Academics often come to a halt early on game days. Although Tech does not formally cancel afternoon or evening classes for Thursday night football games, yesterday&#8217;s Washington Post reported that professors say they feel implicit pressure to shut their classrooms. Fans covet parking spaces, you see; students do not mind free passes to attend tailgate parties, we suspect.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>HEALTH CARE: Only the Public Option can Resuscitate Reform</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-RYAN30_20091029-194811/302404/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The public health insurance option has been declared dead many times over the past few months. Monday, it was revived once again. Harry Reid&#8217;s inclusion of a public health insurance option in the Senate legislation is a great step toward real health care reform. Now the real work begins in the Senate to bring the legislation to the floor and get the 60 votes necessary to pass the bill. Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb will have a critical vote on health care reform in the coming months and I urge them to support a strong public health insurance option.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Extra, Extra</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-NEWS30_20091029-194811/302403/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The news is in the news.   This week The Times-Dispatch&#8217;s Wes Hester reported that two student journalists at James Madison University face school charges for entering a dorm in search of comments for a news story for publication in The Breeze, the campus newspaper. Tim Chapman and Katie Hibson sought to interview students regarding allegations of a peeping Tom. The school claims the two violated regulations applying to residence halls. Chapman and Hibson say they followed proper procedures.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Evil Empire</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-CHIN30_20091029-194811/302402/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Here&#8217;s a thought experiment: Find an empty room and go sit in it for an hour. While doing so, try to imagine not coming out for the next 10 years&#8212;while your children grow, your friends age, and the world moves on. Now imagine being locked up for 10 years for no greater crime than supporting democracy. To Americans, the idea seems nearly inconceivable. But that is the fate of Guo Quan, a former professor and judge in China who has been sentenced to hard time because he founded a political party and challenged the authority of the Communist Party&#8217;s regnant goons. Guo was convicted of &#8220;subversion of state power&#8221; simply because he advocated letting his fellow citizens have a say in who will rule them.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Letters to the editor, cont&#8217;d: Bad Timing Hurts Deeds&#8217; Run for Office</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-ANDERSONN30_20091029-194811/302401/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Bad Timing Hurts Deeds&#8217; Run for Office Editor, Times-Dispatch: A recent poll produced by the folks at Gallup has shown that Americans identify themselves as 40 percent conservative, 36 percent moderate, and 20 percent liberal. Until 2008, the conservatives and moderates were within one point of each other; however, conservatives have slowly been gaining since the election of President Obama.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Correspondent of the Day</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-ALLEN30_20091029-194811/302400/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Why Are We The World Police? Editor, Times-Dispatch: Does anyone feel like we are going through d&#233;j&#224; vu? We went into Afghanistan to get Osama bin Laden. Although he is still out there giving us problems, he seems to have been put on the back burner. I am still waiting for clarification from Washington as to how President George W. Bush managed to segue from going after bin Laden to freeing Iraq.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>A Dose of Realism in the Drug War</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-WILL29_20091028-191006/302127/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
WASHINGTON During his immersion in his new job, Gil Kerlikowske attended a focus group of 7-year-old girls and was mystified by their talk about &#8220;farm parties.&#8220; Then he realized they meant &#8220;pharm parties&#8221;&#8212;sampling pharmaceuticals from their parents&#8217; medicine cabinets. What he learned&#8212;besides that young humans have less native sense than young dachshunds have&#8212;is that his job has wrinkles unanticipated when he became director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Jump Through Hoops to Please the Ladies?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-PARKER29_20091028-191006/302126/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
WASHINGTON As if President Obama didn&#8217;t have enough on his plate with health care and Afghanistan, he&#8217;s now faced with the problem that can&#8217;t be solved: Women. Sorry, Mr. President, but we coulda toldja. But no, Barack Obama courted the girls, promised them equality in all things, and now has excluded them from an all-male game of basketball.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Letters to the Editor, Cont&#8217;d: Idea Is Good; Where Is Money?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-MCCOYB29_20091028-191006/302125/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Idea Is Good; Where Is Money? Editor, Times-Dispatch: Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds has the right mindset on his Virginia Forward scholarship program: rewarding students who have received good grades throughout high school. This would be a great thing to implement if we were not in such a huge state deficit and federal recession.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Correspondent of the Day</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-MAYFIELD29_20091028-191006/302124/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Small Businesses Have Concerns Editor, Times-Dispatch: As the owner of a small business with approximately 25 employees, I do my best (especially in these difficult times) to provide good benefits while watching my bottom line. I have been watching the health care debate very carefully. Make no mistake, I support many of the reforms presented in the Senate bill. However, I am concerned that while there are many good benefits, this bill would be bad for many small businesses&#8217; bottom line.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Voting Machines: State Has Long Way to Go</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-JDDOP29_20091028-191006/302123/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Our votes must be counted accurately even if computer software fails. That simple concept has been championed by technology experts in Virginia and around the country. But on Nov. 3 most Virginia voters will cast their votes using electronic voting equipment that offers no independent way to check the accuracy of the returns. The General Assembly has already decided that unverifiable direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting machines must be phased out&#8212;and for good reason. Subtle bugs occur in all computer systems, and it is impossible to test for all of them. Report after report in recent years has uncovered new ways that purely electronic voting can be corrupted without detection&#8212;or simply fail.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Letters To The Editor</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-CRUMP29_20091028-191006/302122/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Cuccinelli&#8217;s Views Are Archaic and Misplaced Editor, Times-Dispatch: While Bob McDonnell&#8217;s thesis has gotten plenty of news coverage, I&#8217;m surprised that almost nothing has been written about Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican nominee for attorney general. As a state senator, Cuccinelli declared, &#8220;you can&#8217;t have safe homosexual sex,&#8220; and he once called a George Mason sexual education event an example of &#8220;moral depravity.&#8220; These archaic views have no place in a Virginia statewide office.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Don&#8217;t Seek</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-BUSI29_20091028-191006/302121/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The Virginia Chamber of Commerce&#8217;s 2009 Conference on Virginia&#8217;s Future heard a ringing defense of free markets. Publisher Tom Silvestri described the event in Sunday&#8217;s Commentary section. Unfettered markets remain not only generators of prosperity but guarantors of liberty. Although pure laissez-faire does not exist, an economic and political system that keeps state intervention to a minimum is a system most likely to produce happiness.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Obama in Norfolk</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-BAMA29_20091028-191006/302120/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Last year Barack Obama became the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry Virginia since Lyndon Johnson won the state in 1964. On Tuesday, he led a Norfolk rally to boost the flagging gubernatorial campaign of Creigh Deeds. Deeds confronts a curse that has seen Virginia elect a governor from the party opposite the president in every election since 1977. It has not elected a Democratic governor when a Democrat occupied the White House since 1965. Yet even at this late hour, fate might side with Deeds. Consider the LBJ precedent. The polls show Deeds losing ground, nevertheless.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>The Night Game</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-BALL29_20091028-191006/302119/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The World Series was slated to start last night. On paper, the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies offer a compelling match-up. Both teams have pitching and hitting&#8212;and stars. The Yankees are loved by many, hated by more. Despite decades of futility, the Phillies never achieved the cult status enjoyed by the Red Sox and the Cubs, teams either jinxed or cursed or, more likely, year in and year out simply not good enough. The Phillies won their first World Series in 1980 (and waited 28 years for their second). The Yankees win a Series every week or so. The title of a history of the Phillies earns the National Book Award for integrity: Occasional Glory. The Yankees erect monuments.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Letters, Cont&#8217;d: Deeds Has Logical Transportation Solution</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-YOUNJ28_20091027-180804/301909/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Deeds Has Logical Transportation Solution Editor, Times-Dispatch: With a need for solutions for Virginia&#8217;s infrastructure system, Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell have proposed two different resolutions for Virginia&#8217;s traffic jam. McDonnell&#8217;s proposition seemed superior to Deeds&#8217; at first, but having taken time to look over both of their transportation solution proposals, I&#8217;ve come to acknowledge Deeds as having a plan that will work.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Correspondent of the Day: Cutting Salaries Cuts Taxes, Too</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-BLEICHER28_20091027-180804/301907/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Cutting Salaries Cuts Taxes, Too Editor, Times-Dispatch: Please forgive me for speaking intuitively, but I&#8217;m an accountant. The Obama administration&#8217;s decision to cut executive compensation at firms receiving government assistance is the biggest hit to the economy since Jan. 20, 2009. The bonuses, salaries, and even non-cash perks these executives receive are taxed. To put that in terms President Obama might understand: He behaved stupidly. At a time when federal, state, and local governments are running at record fiscal deficits, he just elected to take money out of the coffers in order to satiate a mythical populist outrage.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Letters to the Editor: Use Actual Data to Verify Results</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-BICKER28_20091027-180804/301906/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Use Actual Data To Verify Results Editor, Times-Dispatch: The editorial, &#8220;Tort Retort,&#8220; depends for its validity on a Congressional Budget Office estimate that $54 billion would be saved by restricting legal responsibility for medical error through tort reform. One factor is an assumed monetary savings by &#8220;lowering insurance premiums&#8221; although no explanation is given of how insurance companies would be persuaded to lower premiums&#8212;unless malpractice insurance was rendered unnecessary by completely eliminating legal responsibility.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Involvement: Minding the Education Achievement Gap</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-ALTRIA28_20091027-180804/301905/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The math scores from a national test called &#8220;The Nation&#8217;s Report Card&#8221; are in, and there&#8217;s reason to be concerned. According to this study, less than 40 percent of U.S. stu dents are deemed &#8220;proficient,&#8220; and scores have hardly moved in the past two years. In addition, the disparity in scores between white and minority students has remained the same. According to The New York Times, the gap separating average black and white eighth-graders represents about three years&#8217; worth of math learning.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Election 2009: Down Ticket</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-AGLG28_20091027-180804/301904/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Candidates for lieutenant governor and attorney general struggle for attention in a scene dominated by the gubernatorial race. The down-ticket nominees run as members of a team yet manage their own campaigns. The frustration is compounded by the point that neither the lieutenant governor nor the attorney general ought to be subject to direct popular vote.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Letters To The Editor</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-DICKINS27_20091026-183603/301721/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Professor Obama Has Hoodwinked Us All Editor, Times-Dispatch: Maxine Fitzgerald&#8217;s letter to the editor, &#8220;Obama University Gets Failing Grades,&#8220; cited the role the academic community has played and the background responsible for the emergence of two very controversial subjects:   The constant and over-the-top exposure of the president by the media;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:01:57 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Knock, Knock</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-INSP27_20091026-183603/301723/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The ACLU is rightfully skeptical of a plan by Chesterfield to begin a rental-inspection program of single-family homes. The program seems needlessly intrusive&#8212;and needlessly punitive. It would establish a once-a-year interior inspection that homeowners would have to arrange, at an out-of-pocket cost of $100. Owners could refuse&#8212;but then they could face a fine of up to $2,500.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:01:52 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Hannity&#8217;s Spin: Even He</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-SEAN27_20091026-183603/301727/</link>
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The other day Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) criticized the Obama administration&#8217;s reliance on &#8220;czars.&#8220; Sean Hannity seemed to consider the news a big deal. He bellowed that &#8220;even Russ Feingold is turning on President Obama and his &#8216;czars.&#8216;&#8220; And: &#8220;You know things are going bad for Barack Obama when even Russ Feingold is out to get him.&#8220; Hannity does not do nuance or subtlety or, for that matter, intelligent discourse, but &#8220;even&#8221; he ought to understand that disagreement does not necessarily correspond to &#8220;out to get him.&#8220; Feingold also has expressed reservations regarding Obama&#8217;s approach to the war against jihad. Feingold remains a supporter, we suspect. He certainly will vote for Obama against a Republican challenger in 2012.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:01:47 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Injustice Dept.: Ruling Turns Voting Rights Act on Its Head</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/columnists/article/ED-HINKLE27_20091026-183603/301722/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
You would think that the Obama Justice Department, having badly embarrassed itself in a Philadelphia voter-intimidation case, would take pains not to smear any further egg on its face. But if the case of Kinston, N.C., is any guide, you would be gravely mistaken. In November the black-majority community of Kinston voted by a margin of almost 2-to-1 to switch from partisan to nonpartisan elections. That would have brought it in line with the vast bulk of localities in North Carolina, where only nine out of 551 hold partisan elections.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:01:42 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Correspondent of the Day</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-RAGS27_20091026-183603/301725/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
World Supports Ending Nuclear Proliferation Editor, Times-Dispatch: I was happy to see Commentary columnist Robin Beres discussing nuclear missiles [&#8220;Defending the Need for Robust American Missile Defense&#8221;]. The existence of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems is the planet&#8217;s most serious and immediate problem.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:01:18 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>What&#8217;s the Charge?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-COST27_20091026-183603/301719/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Virginians with health insurance who review their statements often look at the bottom line and ask, &#8220;How much?&#8220; The fact that they ask that question so often after receiving treatment largely reflects the fact that they do not bother to ask it beforehand. Many simply have no incentive to: When the employer-provided health plan is picking up the tab, why bother? Even high deductibles don&#8217;t create much of an incentive. Once a patient has shelled out the first $400 or so, it doesn&#8217;t matter&#8212;to him&#8212;whether the final bill is $800 or $8,000. His out-of-pocket cost remains the same.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:01:11 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Letters to the Editor, Cont&#8217;d: McDonnell&#8217;s Education Views Cause Concern</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-OWENST27_20091026-183603/301724/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
McDonnell&#8217;s Education Views Cause Concern Editor, Times-Dispatch: As true gubernatorial candidates would, Creigh Deeds, a Democrat, and Bob McDonnell, a Republican, disagree on issues such as taxes, ways to stimulate the Virginia economy, social issues such as abortion and birth control, and the significance of government regulation.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:01:02 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>The Promise of a &#8216;Public Plan&#8217; Is Merely a Mirage</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-SAMU27_20091026-183603/301726/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
WASHINGTON In the health care debate, the &#8220;public plan&#8221; is all things to all people. For supporters, it would discipline greedy private insurers and make health coverage affordable. For detractors, it&#8217;s a way sta tion on the path to a single-payer insurance system of government-run health care. In reality, the public plan is mostly an exercise in political avoidance: It pretends to control costs and improve access to quality care when it doesn&#8217;t.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Thornhill: The Future Belongs to the Old</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-VIVA26_20091025-171003/301550/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Have you seen the advertising campaign for Dos Equis beer featuring &#8220;The Most Interesting Man in the World&#8221;? Each commercial depicts exploits from the &#8220;interest MATT THORNHILL ing man&#8217;s&#8221; past, or he offers insight on a particular topic. For example, on the topic of &#8220;Life&#8221; he says, &#8220;It is never too early to start beefing up your obituary.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:01:48 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Letters To The Editor</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-BERN26_20091025-171003/301545/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Virginia Must Reduce Fossil Fuel Use Editor, Times-Dispatch: Of two recent Op/Ed columns urging expanded extraction of oil, it is noteworthy that neither column mentioned conservation, efficiency, or the United States&#8217; position as the world&#8217;s largest per-capita user of fossil fuels. Del. Chris Saxman states: &#8220;Renewables . . . cannot offer the promise of oil.&#8220; He then asserts oil extraction is safe and clean, ignoring numerous spills great and small as well as the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide. The new discoveries Saxman cites cover only two-thirds of the oil burned in that period.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:01:39 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Election 2009: For the House</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-DELE26_20091025-171003/301546/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Central Virginia covers about 15 districts in the House of Delegates. Over the years, few have proved competitive. Republicans and Democrats enjoy electoral locks in constituencies designed to suit the interests not of citizens but of politicians. The parties seldom challenge each other. When races occur, the general election results are not close. Nomination in the spring usually translates into victory in the fall.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:01:11 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Correspondent of the Day</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-KNAPIK26_20091025-171003/301548/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
This Isn&#8217;t About Health Care at All Editor, Times-Dispatch: People are clamoring for health care reform, and they expect the government to provide it. How can any logical, clear-thinking individual believe the government can fix the problems in our health care system? The government created it, managed it, and got it where it is. Government hasn&#8217;t fixed it because health care is not the real issue.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:01:03 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Krauthammer: What&#8217;s With White House War on Fox News?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-KRAUT26_20091025-171003/301549/</link>
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WASHINGTON Rahm Emanuel once sent a dead fish to a live pollster. Now he&#8217;s put a horse&#8217;s head in Roger Ailes&#8217; bed. Not very subtle. And not very smart. Ailes doesn&#8217;t scare easily. The White House has declared war on Fox CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER News. White House communications director Anita Dunn said that Fox is &#8220;opinion journalism masquerading as news.&#8220; Patting rival networks on the head for their authenticity (read: docility), senior adviser David Axelrod declared Fox &#8220;not really a news station.&#8220; And Chief of Staff Emanuel told (warned?) the other networks not to &#8220;be led [by] and following Fox.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Goodman: Make a Donation to Those Who Need It</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-GOOD26_20091025-171003/301547/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
BOSTON This story begins, as do so many dramas, at the box office. We are standing in line, three generations defined by a three-tier price structure: senior, adult, child. This provokes yet another rant ELLEN GOODMAN from the eldest on the subject of senior discounts. Why, I ask again, should the &#8220;adult&#8221; who carries the financial burden of raising the &#8220;child&#8221; be charged more than her gainfully employed &#8220;senior&#8221;? Can&#8217;t elders at least be offered the option of donating our senior discounts to some junior cause?           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Letters: Keillor&#8217;s Cup Runneth Over&#8212;With Bile</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-HARDY25_20091023-210409/301247/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Garrison Keillor&#8217;s Op/Ed column, &#8220;Even GOP Deserves Good Care,&#8220; is another of his witty, cynical rants. The big guy with the nice baritone has lost all sense of reality. He is consumed by his hate and contempt for those whose political and social opinions differ from his own.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:01:57 EST</pubDate>
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