Columns

Parker: IRS, AP scandals unite conservatives and the media

Conservative organizations suddenly have found common cause with one of their favorite objects of contempt -- the Mainstream Media. In a twist of irony, the two groups have coalesced around a common enemy: the U.S. government.

Marcus: IRS scandal overshadows another failure by agency

Sputtering adjectives -- outrageous, appalling, intolerable -- can scarcely do justice to the fiasco involving the Internal Revenue Service's reported targeting of conservative groups. But the current scandal obscures -- and, ironically, threatens to prevent action on -- another, equally corrosive failure on the part of the IRS when it comes to scrutinizing political groups.

Callaghan: Budget harmony elusive amid cacophony of rhetoric

Everyone knows that if Gov. Jay Inslee really wanted the state Legislature to finish its work quickly — especially passing a two-year budget that boosts funding for public education — he should have brought them back into special session immediately.

Sowell: Politicians follow the bouncing ball into calamity

If you are driving and suddenly see a ball come bouncing out into the street, you might want to put your foot on the brake pedal, because a small child may come running out into the street.

Pitts: Mom who resurfaced after 11 years shows life catches up

Brenda Heist wanted to run away from life. Naturally, she went to Key West, Fla.

Local View: Clark County's utility was built on people power

This year is the 75th anniversary of the formation of our Clark County Public Utility District now using the trade name Clark Public Utilities. In 1930, the citizens of the state of Washington voted for an initiative authorizing the formation of Public Utility Districts. The initiative was sponsored by the Washington State Grange in response to the concerns of farmers and other rural dwellers about the high rates charged by the private companies and their refusal to extend service to rural areas. The grange and organized labor campaigned vigorously for the initiative and the private utilities put large financial and human resources in opposition.

Other papers say: Tax reform means tough choices

The following editorial appeared in Wednesday's Washington Post:

Will: 2014 a pivotal year for legacy of Obama

Thirty-one months ago Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell affronted the media and other custodians of propriety by saying something common-sensical. On Oct. 23, 2010, he said: "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." He meant that America needed conservative change from the statist course of Obama's presidency (the stimulus, Obamacare, etc.), therefore America needed a president who would not veto such change.

McFeatters: War must be a last resort

The drumbeating has begun.

John Laird: Community's embarrassment rooted in voters' inaction

Don't blame Republicans for the statewide and even national embarrassment that David Madore has brought upon our beloved Clark County.

Milbank: Diplomat's Benghazi attack tale fails to prove damning

They summoned a whistle-blower to Capitol Hill, but instead they got a virtuoso storyteller. Gregory Hicks, the No. 2 U.S. diplomat in Libya the night Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed, was to be the star witness for Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the man leading the probe of the Obama administration's handling of the attack on the diplomatic outpost in Benghazi.

Robinson: Obama should use veto pen to get GOP back to table

President Obama had the opportunity last week to make an irresponsible Congress face the consequences of its own dumb actions. For reasons I cannot fathom, he took a pass.

Ambrose: Jefferson championed vigilance, but Obama fears it

Thomas Jefferson said and others chimed in that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Phooey, says President Barack Obama. He recently told graduating college students in Columbus, Ohio, to essentially ignore such advice.

Callaghan: Fixing levy system tougher than finding $1B for schools

Here's something to contemplate during the Legislature's version of spring break: the difficult job of finding $1 billion-plus in additional state money for public schools might be the easy part of meeting the state Supreme Court's mandate in the McCleary decision.

Sowell: Dumbed-down education renders thinking obsolete

While it is not possible to answer all the e-mails and letters from readers, many are thought-provoking, whether those thoughts are positive or negative.