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A clear and present danger: merging Israel’s military with the U.S.

Letters To The Editor

To The Reader’s Forum: Recently the House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which merges the US military industrial complex with Israel’s. The vote had to be disturbing, if not shocking, to the Israel Lobby which has counted on passage of the merger by a pliant Congress. The vote was 209 in favor, to 205 against. Though the Democrats, like the Republicans, are almost all recipients of AIPAC money, they voted as a bloc against passage of the $1.5 trillion defense budget for 2027, with only six Democrats voting with the GOP. Seven Republicans ...

New York just keeps losing

Local Commentaries

We already know New York has been losing more people than it has been gaining, and we know that New York is on a never-ending spending spree with our money, but now we know that New York has been steadily losing not just people, but specifically taxpayers, since 2015. The stunning report, recently released by our current state comptroller, very clearly shows New York has been suffering a net loss of taxpayers since 2015. As the Comptroller points out in his report, ‘personal income taxes are New York’s largest tax revenue source, accounting for more than one out of two tax dollars ...

Economic policies should improve, not harm, standard of living

Local Commentaries

Our domestic and international economic policies should improve not harm our standard of living. Domestic economic policies that encourage the creation of low-paying jobs to compete internationally on price do not raise our standard of living. Placing higher tariffs on imported goods without wage increases to offset the higher costs of these goods does not raise the domestic standard of living; it does the opposite. Tariffs also spark retaliatory tariffs. As the cost of U.S. goods to foreign consumers goes up, U.S. overseas sales go down, hurting manufacturing and agribusiness and ...

Thinking about the downside of bigness

Local Commentaries

We have had a tradition in America, not always but mostly, of trying to avoid the perils of businesses that get too big. The most prominent example in our history was likely the passage of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act which became law in 1890. Though its primary target, twenty years later, became John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company—its original passage resulted from a growing public concern about the concentration of power in big business, the elimination of competition and the resultant driving up of costs to everyone else. Today, we are seeing big business on a new and ...

Significance of Labor Day remembered

In Our Opinion

As this year's Labor Day observance approaches, America's workers, traditionally part of the "cement" that holds this country together, are concerned increasingly about what effects robots and Artificial Intelligence will have on their work lives - and lives in general - going forward. And, that worry is destined to continue, although "people in the know" remain certain that humans' important places in businesses and industries will continue - albeit, in many cases, in different capacities. For now, though, Jorgen Pedersen, CEO of the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute, a ...

Other Voices: Americans, Canadians are losers in escalating trade wars

In Our Opinion

The 50 percent tariffs announced Monday by President Donald Trump on all cars, trucks, automotive parts and steel from Canada would crush manufacturers in the United States and raise prices in both countries. The silver lining is that Trump said these import taxes would not take effect until Jan. 1, leaving time for negotiators to disarm an economic land mine. A bilateral deal appeared close last week before talks broke down at the 11th hour. Neither Trump nor Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wants to look as if he’s succumbing to bullying from the other, so the escalation has ...