Jacob is a golden retriever. Like many goldens, his favorite activity is retrieving a tennis ball. We throw the ball; he brings it back and drops it at our feet. It can go on for hours. Actually, we don’t know how long it could go on because we always give up before he does.But Jacob sometimes gets stuck when we play this game at my in-laws’ pool. This is because of two fixed, internal rules he ha

Love it or hate it, Medicare is driving itself and our country broke. The president’s proposed policy and that of Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman, are viewed as miles apart. The reality is different. And the silly name-calling is obscuring their considerable common ground. It’s even confusing a major presidential candidate.President Barack Obama is relying on a special panel, to be

The United States may be the world’s only remaining superpower, but we’ve been a secondary factor in the wave of change sweeping the Arab world.Tunisia held its revolution without American help, unless you count Facebook and Twitter. In Egypt, President Obama probably helped speed Hosni Mubarak’s departure by withdrawing his backing of the regime, but it was the Egyptians’ revolution, not ours.In

Finally, Dominique Strauss-Kahn has decided to resign as chief of the International Monetary Fund. The move is to prevent further damage to the institution, which is now playing a critical role in bailing out the peripheral euro-zone countries of Europe. Strauss-Kahn said in his letter of resignation that he wanted to focus his energy on defending himself against criminal charges that he sexually

My brother David and I have long supported the principles that help societies prosper. I have actively done so for nearly 50 years, as has my brother for more than 40.In recent years, we have stepped up our efforts to deal with the enormous threats to the future well-being of the people of this country. This has prompted some extreme criticism. From the White House to fringe bloggers, we are now b

Since 2003, the California Chamber of Commerce has published an annual hit list of bills it labels job killers. The list has included legislation to protect consumers, workers and the environment and to raise revenue to fund public services or support middle- and working-class families.No politician ― Democrat or Republican ― wants to be known as someone who kills jobs, so many of them will avoid

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan ― As the war grinds toward its endgame, and administration officials debate how fast to draw down troops and whether to talk to the Taliban, I got a startling earful on both subjects ― from one of Afghanistan’s most powerful and controversial leaders, Ahmed Wali Karzai, President Hamid Karzai’s younger brother.I interviewed AWK, as he is known, in his two-story office behind

The wage levels of national public servants have been determined based on recommendations by the National Personnel Authority every year since 1948. The system makes up for the restrictions imposed on government workers’ basic labor rights, including the right to strike.Without the NPA’s recommendations, the Kan administration plans to reduce the wages of national public servants. It aims to use t

President Obama’s recent speech in El Paso, Texas, addressing America’s broken immigration policy was very disappointing to immigrant advocates, the Latino community and anyone concerned about human rights.He offered only a vague assessment of the issue, and ignored calls by leading Latino politicians, most notably Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Illinois, to use his executive powers to take decisive actio

The newest slumlord in Los Angeles is a pillar of German capitalism. Earlier this month, the city attorney’s office filed suit against Deutsche Bank, the world’s fourth-largest bank, for letting many of the more than 2,000 L.A. homes it has foreclosed on descend into squalor and decay.A yearlong city investigation of the properties on which Deutsche Bank foreclosed turned up tenants compelled to l