Robert Samuelson: Partisans killing tax reform
The story behind the story is that "tax reform," as we know it, is dying. During the 1980s, no major piece of legislation better symbolized bipartisan consensus than the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which...
View ArticleMichael Tanner: Debate over tax pledges the least of our problems
For all those who think that our deficit is caused by a dearth of revenue, consider this thought experiment. In 2012, the federal government will spend $3.56 trillion. Last week's Powerball jackpot was...
View ArticleKatz & Muro: Make cuts but invest in growth
With last week's counter-proposal from House Speaker Boehner, the bargaining has begun. At last it appears the deficit-reduction talks are gearing up. Why, then, are we underwhelmed? The problem is...
View ArticleEditorial: Laguna's teen booze ban still flawed
The Laguna Beach City Council, by a 3-2 vote Tuesday, imposed a new Social Host Ordinance that usurps parental authority in their own homes concerning the serving of alcohol to minors. Specifically,...
View ArticleEditorial: Keys to solving the federal debt crisis
As we inch ever closer to the fiscal cliff – the package of sweeping tax increases and spending cuts waiting at the new year if Congress and the president fail to act – we encourage all Americans to...
View ArticleCharles Kadlec: Tax hikes on rich also hurt the 98%
The combination of the now-higher tax rates in California and President Barack Obama's campaign to raise tax rates on the top 2 percent of U.S. incomes will cause far more economic pain to the 98...
View ArticleA jeweler's inspirational pearls
Alfredo J. Molina, the Newport Beach jeweler who broke records last month by selling the 76-carat Archduke Joseph diamond for $21.5 million, also collects pearls – of wisdom. Any time he talks with a...
View ArticleMorning letters: A real fiscal cliff compromise
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Paul Reiland: Since being re-elected, President Barack Obama has been preoccupied with “taxing the rich.” The rich, in his estimation, is anyone making at least $250,000 a year. Obama...
View ArticleDec. 10 celebrity birthdays
Actress Fionnula Flanagan ("Lost," "Kill the Irishman") is 71. Actor Tommy Kirk ("The Absent-Minded Professor," "The Shaggy Dog") is 71. Singer Chad Stuart of Chad and Jeremy is 71. Actress-singer...
View ArticleThe Killers, Jack White light up KROQ party
To fall back on an easy cliché, the difference between Night 1 and Night 2 was, well, night and day. Saturday’s first half of KROQ’s 23rd annual Almost Acoustic Christmas weekend played out exactly...
View ArticleLocal fans mourn the death of singer Jenni Rivera
For Lesly Beltrán of Garden Grove, Sunday morning was one of the worst wake up calls. She was awoken by a text from her mother in Sinaloa, México, who broke the news: singer Jenni Rivera had died in...
View ArticleRyu Dodgers' warm-up act
LOS ANGELES – Right-hander Zack Greinke completed his physical Monday and the Dodgers officially announced his signing. Greinke will be introduced as the Dodgers' latest big-money acquisition at a news...
View ArticleWhicker: Dodgers are The Decembrists
LOS ANGELES – A pitcher stood before the cameras, classically wearing his jersey over his tie. Other men in suits gathered around him for more photos. Most questions were answered, but not all....
View ArticleSmith: A coach with passion
ANAHEIM – Leaning over the boards near center ice inside a chilly KHS Arena, Oksana Grishuk forcefully claps out the tempo and sternly shouts, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, inside, out, inside, out," directing five...
View ArticleUni wins opener at IWN Gary Raya Classic
University's boys basketball team was off and flying in the opening round of the 31st annual Irvine World News Gary Raya Classic presented by Orange County Register Monday evening at Uni. The Trojans...
View ArticleWomen's skills still underused in the workplace
Boys and girls are different – a self-evident fact we shouldn't need to restate, except sometimes people seem to forget it. Like the employers who kept trying to stuff women into the same job box as...
View ArticleWendell Cox: High-speed rail's fiscal cliff
Recently, the U.S. Government Accountability Office issued its preliminary report on the proposed California high-speed rail line from Anaheim to San Francisco. GAO cited a failure to conduct risk and...
View ArticleWayne Winegarden: Fiscal mess deeper than 'cliff'
To paraphrase Samuel Johnson, nothing focuses the mind like a crisis. And, perhaps that is why the political class continually manufactures fiscal crises. The manufactured crises can be used to focus...
View ArticleTimothy Bonds: Bad stats skew defense needs
Economists, the media, and the general public are closely following the debate (and deadline) as policymakers struggle to come to an agreement on a solution to the potential fiscal crisis. In the...
View ArticleSokol: Walking on middle-school eggshells
Drawers open and shut upstairs. I imagine her bedroom floor littered with discarded shirts and jeans. Standing in the kitchen, I sip my coffee and listen. Middle school awakened my daughter's inner...
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