NEWS AND VIEWS

The NASA shuttle chief is pressing for the early retirement of the Space Shuttle. It should have been retired ten years ago. The space truck had some utility for doing rudimentary weightlessness experiments and bringing stuff back and forth from the International Space Station. But, in my view, it is not what we need to advance the exploration of space. Unfortunately, there is not enough political power behind a more aggressive space exploration effort to get additional funding. Perhaps that will change when we lose another shuttle.

Here is an editorial with some analysis of the only Democrat plan (so far) for saving Social Security...rolling back the "tax cuts for the wealthy". I would like to see an analysis of raising or eliminating the FICA tax cap, currently set at $90,000.

Joe Klein says Hillary shouldn't run for President. I hope she does. It will be much more fun to watch than if she doesn't.

Mark Steyn says Russia is in decline, and China could be in trouble, too.

Don Feder has it right about China.

Here is an argument against rendition, which is the policy of taking Al Qaeda suspects and turning them over to foreign governments we suspect use torture against prisoners.