Opinion

To the editor:

George Santayana is spinning in his grave. It’s starting to look like Congress learned nothing from the shortcomings of previous “panic” economic bailout and stimulus legislation, as lawmakers rush to repeat their mistakes.

It appears that the sorry situation in Zimbabwe is becoming too much for even the country’s African apologists to tolerate.

To the editor:

In November, a last-ditch effort to slide “cost-of-living” salary increases for federal judges into the auto bailout legislation failed in Congress. That means judges are the only federal workers who won’t get some sort of pay raise in 2009.

Progress comes only incrementally. No one is perfect. Don’t insist on perfection at risk of undoing the incrementally good. Inclusiveness is better than judgmental polarization. Tolerance of disagreement is a good thing.

On Dec. 12, the Clark County School Board voted to move forward with budget adjustments that “will hurt kids,” one member of the panel lamented.

As we cling by our fingertips to the eaves of the old year, before we drop into the vast unknown of the new one, it is tradition to reflect on the past year, as the Review-Journal is doing today by offering our take on the Top Ten stories of 2008 in various categories, everything from sports to business, from concerts to news.

UNR professor Elliot Parker, a teacher of economics, presented his case last week for more tax hikes, without which Nevada will not be able to hire more government employees and give them higher wages.

With Democrats holding a veto-proof majority in the state Assembly, it’s unlikely Republicans can get much done in the lower chamber when lawmakers reconvene next year.