IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Must-Read Op-Eds for April 8, 2013

WE MUST MAKE POLS HEAR OUR NATION'S CRY
 FMR. REP. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS
 NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
n_mj_pic_130408
n_mj_pic_130408

WE MUST MAKE POLS HEAR OUR NATION'S CRYFMR. REP. GABRIELLE GIFFORDSNEW YORK DAILY NEWS

We're all used to hearing people say that patience is a virtue. I think about patience every day as I continue to regain my speech and the mobility I lost after I was shot in the head two years ago, while meeting with my constituents in the parking lot of grocery store in my district... But lately I'm not feeling too patient toward senators and representatives who are listening to the misinformation that's out there about universal background checks instead of to their constituents, and saying they may not support common sense solutions to ending gun violence.

IT'S UP TO NEW JERSEY GOV. CHRISTIE TO FIX THE MESS AT RUTGERSMIKE LUPICANEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Suddenly this is not just a story about college basketball at Rutgers.... . Suddenly the way the whole thing was handled at a big state school in New Jersey reminds you of one of those corruption stories out of the past in Jersey politics, only this time you want administrators being marched out with raincoats over their heads. If there is going to be any leadership in this whole toxic mess at Rutgers, like some oil spill in New Brunswick, it is going to have to come from [Chris] Christie, because it is clear that it isn't going to come from Rutgers' board members, or its trustees, or a school president out of his weight class on this matter from the start.

DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT GUN LAWSJOEL BENENSON AND KATIE CONNOLLYNEW YORK TIMES

The notion that all we need is better enforcement of our current federal laws has been a core argument of the gun lobby for years in its fight against sensible restrictions on guns in our communities. But that argument is a straw man. It masks the fact that many Americans don't really know what gun laws are on the books and falsely construes that to mean they don't want common-sense gun laws passed - when they clearly do. What Americans strongly believe, and what is at the core of the president's reform agenda, is that with rights come responsibilities.

AN AMERICAN FUTURE FILLED WITH PROMISEGEN. DAVID PETRAEUS AND MICHAEL O'HANLONTHE WASHINGTON POST

As politicians in Washington focus on reining in America's worrisome deficit, they tend to have attitudes of doom and gloom. They convey fears of shortchanging future generations, overtaxing workers, depriving the needy , killing the fragile economic recovery and failing to make crucial investments...This narrative contains elements of truth. But it is too pessimistic and contributes to our psychological and political paralysis...Our priority should be to reduce, in a rational manner, the ratio of debt to gross domestic product, which is about 75 percent. We need to get the debt curve to begin declining to, say, 72 percent of GDP over the next 10 years. The objective should be to do this while avoiding measures that would choke off the still-modest recovery.

THE TESTS MADE THEM DO IT: THE TEACHERS UNION EXPLAINS THE GEORGIA CHEATING SCANDALEDITORIALWALL STREET JOURNAL

The great Georgia teacher cheating scandal is by now well known.."Tragically," says American Federation of Teachers chief Randi Weingarten, "the Atlanta cheating scandal harmed our children and it crystallizes the unintended consequences of our test-crazed policies...."The accused teachers deny the charges, but somehow we doubt their lawyers will be using the test-made-them-do-it defense in court.