Archive By Section - Columnists
Tom Purcell: Making rich French flee
Sheesh! Successful people in France are getting a lot of grief lately. As it goes, socialist French President Francois Hollande has raised the tax rate on those earning more than $1.3 million to 75 percent. Hollande has decided that $1.3 million is enough for the rich to be rich and they only need to keep 25 percent of their earnings beyond that. The rich, however, are telling Hollande to pound salt. According to many reports, ...
Donna Brazile: Right to work for less money and no clout?
In the 1967 movie "Cool Hand Luke," the Captain (Strother Martin) beats Luke (Paul Newman) and delivers one of the most famous lines in film: "What we've got here is failure to communicate."
Will Durst: Congress has cried ‘ruin’ too many times
And now let us speak of the current lame-duck session of the 112th Congress. Daily we witness the death throes of the final assemblage of this particular group of elected representatives on Capitol Hill, and of course they're spending these last precious moments together marshaling all their skills to put the American ship in order. Hahahahahaha.
David Shribman: Which Obama will we see next?
Let's step back a century. William Howard Taft was in the White House. He came into office literally as the progressive's progressive, having been Theodore Roosevelt's hand-selected successor.
Kathryn Lopez: Pope’s tweets show progress
Where people are, the Word of God must be," a priest from Washington state, in the holy city for a conference on the Church in America, told an Italian media outlet.
An opportunity for CLWA, Valencia Water Co. and the SCV
It is a watershed moment in the public management of the Santa Clarita Valley's water supply - the Castaic Lake Water Agency is acquiring Valencia Water Co., a purchase that will not only expand local control of our valley's water resources but also will result in financial benefits for local ratepayers.
David Hegg: Intent and life’s purpose
I like to read biographies of those who have made significant contributions to the history of our world, and I'm certainly not alone in this.
Bob Kellar: Santa Clarita celebrates 25 years of cityhood
It is truly an honor to continue the tradition of a responsive, professional local government working for the benefit of our residents.
Tim Myers: ‘Quasi-celebrity’ status of politics is a distraction
The local political cognizanti know the name Lynn Haueter. The former special education teacher turned political operative formed one-half of the controversial husband-and-wife duo with Bob Haueter, former local representative for Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Santa Clarita.
Susan Stamper Brown: Helping charities, voluntary wealth redistribution
With Great Depression-like poverty and homelessness on the rise during this Christmas season 2012, organizations like the Salvation Army are working overtime to make up for the increase worsened by a bloated federal government well on its way to becoming a victim of its own gluttonous appetite.
Betty Arenson: Democrats redefine ‘compromise’
Democrats have blared for a decade that the Bush tax cuts are for the wealthy. Now they panic that expiration of those dangerous Bush tax cuts will gravely harm the middle class. Which message is the truth? Call it ambiguity, hypocrisy or blatant lies; the scorners sow and reap a host of prudent observations and sapient questions.
Cher Gilmore: It’s up to us to act on global warming
The failure of the latest Doha climate talks - which our President didn't even attend and whose efforts the U.S. consistently blocked - clearly shows that we cannot count on our government to take the lead in stopping global warming. This, in spite of the fact that the U.S. is second only to China in annual CO2 emissions, and we know without question that global warming is real, deadly, and human-caused.
Byron York: Obama ups bid as GOP looks for way out of crisis
It's possible to have a strong hand and still overplay it. As Republicans see things, that's what President Obama is doing in the "fiscal cliff" negotiations.
Gary Horton: Free speech, free minds
This past Sunday, a stalwart Republican gal from our church stopped by the coffee counter where I was chugging caffeine and inquired, "Where did my Full Speed To Port column go in the Signal?" As a staunch right-winger, she pretty much hates most of it, but nonetheless missed its publication for whatever enjoyable Wednesday frustration it had long been providing.
Jim Mullen: I’ve been dreaming of a lottery windfall
I won! I won! I won the lottery! Seven dollars on a $10 ticket. I'm taking it as a lump sum, not that they even asked my preference. Now I'm cleaning the living room so it won't look like a pigsty when the photographers arrive. I can't tell you how long I've dreamed of this moment. I am the original guy who never wins anything, but finally, all those years of buying lottery tickets each ...
Articles by Section - Columnists
Kevin Buck: A Whig and a prayer for understanding
From the early 1830s until 1852 - when they refused to re-nominate Millard Filmore, their own incumbent president - the Whig Party was a dominant political force in America.
Steve Lunetta: Obama's new folly
The irony is astounding. The sequestration plan that appears to be a machination by President Obama's White House is now coming back to haunt him big time.
Edward Headington: Last call to release the Kraken!
Apple pie, "Bye Bye Birdie" and Beverly Cleary are all things most Americans would admit to liking. You could also throw in DVRs, shorter commutes and the warm-and-fuzzy title of the proposed "Clean Water, Clean Beaches" measure before county property owners.
David Hegg: Ethically Speaking
For several years between my graduate studies and my first ministry position I was in the corporate world. Providing for my family while serving as a lay minister meant being immersed in the world of business. I owned and ran a small business, transitioned to a home office marketing position in a multi-state financial institution, and ended up as a sales manager for a national company.
Donna Brazile: Demand to know, 'Where's the beef?'
In an iconic commercial, two old ladies, after looking inside a nearly empty hamburger bun, demand of the hapless fast-food clerk, "Where's the beef?" The phrase expresses outrage at false advertising - pretending there's something of substance in the sandwich when there's really nothing there.
Laurene Weste: Live from City Hall
One of the hallmarks of our city is its commitment to sustainability, state-of-the-art recycling and diversion programs, and community support to work together for the environment.
Tim Myers: A lesson in the industry of self preservation
I would commend to anyone with an ironic sense of humor the cable TV series "Portlandia," from the minds of Fred Armisen of Saturday Night Live and Carrie Brownstein of indie music fame.
Helen Harwood: SCV Voices
I do wish sometimes that some of your regular contributors to The Signal's Letters to the Editor would spend less time writing unsubstantiated clichés and more time reading up on economics.
Danny Tyree: Candy capitulation: say it ain’t so!
According to ABC News, you should probably get ready for a take-no-prisoners "This is your brain on nougat" campaign.
Byron York: Has Obama overplayed his hand in sequester?
Nine months ago, Barack Obama likened his Republican opposition to an illness. If he could just defeat Mitt Romney, Obama said, then the illness might subside. "I believe that if we're successful in this election - when we're successful in this election - that the fever may break," Obama told a fundraiser in Minneapolis last June.
Tammy Messina: Defending the Second Amendment
Most of us have never had to fight for our freedom. We don't even know what that looks like. In our lifetime, we've always had the right to say what we want and do what we want, as long as we operate inside the law. Many of those who've emigrated from other countries do know what it's like to live without those freedoms and how precious they are once obtained.
Joe Gandelman: Political gridlock
An old vaudeville joke went like this: "Do I look like an idiot? Do I look like a jerk who doesn't know what's going on? Do you think I'm dumb? Don't answer that!"
Kevin Bayona: Is the red menace back?
We don't hear much from Russia these days, but rest assured the Russian Federation is on the move across Eurasia and the world as its pugnacious leader, Vladimir Putin, vies to return Russia to the glory days of the Soviet Union.
Gary Horton: Incompetent staff make it a bad cruise
Cruise ships have become popular vacation scenes over the past decade. A chance to leisurely enjoy freedom of the open seas as ship's staff cater to whims and needs!
Tom Purcell: My parents school the Senate
"All right," said my mother, standing before the members of the U.S. Senate, "it's time for you to get your act together."
