Editorial Board

// Obama for president //   Four years ago, President Barack Obama took office as the economy was in steep decline with millions in the process of losing their jobs, the nation was locked in seemingly endless military conflicts, Wall Street firms were getting bailed out but not held accountable and a growing number of Americans were unable to afford health insurance. Today, the economy is growing, albeit modestly, the U.S. military has largely withdrawn from Iraq and will do so in Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden is dead, the federal government has begun more closely regulating the kind of large banks and finance companies that contributed to the mortgage crisis and health care reform is gradually making sure working Americans can get affordable insurance for themselves and their families -- including those with pre-existing conditions.

The Sun editorial board has basically ignored the Obama administration's lack of transparency, not to mention its mismanagement of the Benghazi affair and the attorney general's pathetic handling of the Associated Press and Fox News investigations. Now is your chance to comment on the IRS fiasco. Anyone with an IQ over 70 knows that the White House has some involvement in directing IRS workers in Cincinnati. If this was the Bush presidency, there would have been four editorials slamming the administration by now. Please be fair.

Editorials, unlike other articles that appear in this newspaper, don't have bylines. The name of the person who writes it doesn't appear at the top - or the bottom - of each editorial. That's because the editorials represent the voice of The Sun, not of any one individual. They reflect the paper's abiding values and core concerns. The editorial page speaks for the publisher, but in a broader sense, it speaks for The Sun and its history. We like to think of it as the soul of the newspaper.

The Sun editorial board outdid itself with the conservative-hating vitriol displayed in your editorial notebook on energy-saving light bulbs ("Don't save the planet," May 3). Unfortunately, this "hit" piece showcased just how stupid The Sun can be. Although Maryland may be a mostly Democratic state, I assure you that many conservatives still buy and read this liberal-biased paper. One can only hope that may change after this latest untrue and insulting tirade. Gail Householder, Marriottsville Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

The Sun editorial board has basically ignored the Obama administration's lack of transparency, not to mention its mismanagement of the Benghazi affair and the attorney general's pathetic handling of the Associated Press and Fox News investigations. Now is your chance to comment on the IRS fiasco. Anyone with an IQ over 70 knows that the White House has some involvement in directing IRS workers in Cincinnati. If this was the Bush presidency, there would have been four editorials slamming the administration by now. Please be fair.

The mission of The Sun's editorial page is to provide timely, compelling commentary on issues of interest to Maryland readers, particularly those in the Baltimore area. The editorial page will seek to engage, educate, challenge and amuse. It will recognize the strengths of the community, as well as its weaknesses, acting as a forum for discussion of alternatives and a force for positive change. It will chastise when necessary and offer praise when deserved.-- Editorial page mission statementAn editorial is the institutional opinion of The Sun, not that of any one individual.

For the editorial board of The Sun to say that $447 billion is "modest" only illustrates the depths of their partisan-at-all-costs support for anything President Barack Obama proposes ("Let them eat tax cuts," Sept. 12). And exactly when and where did the editorial board extol the virtues of bi-partisanship when the president had overwhelming majorities in the House and Senate during his first two years in office? Save your future editorials on Washington's dysfunction (and it only seems dysfunctional when a liberal agenda doesn't sail through our legislative bodies)

What exactly is "stupefying" about turning the care of the Chesapeake Bay over to the state which has the greatest stake in having it be clean and functioning ("No defender of the bay," July 18)? Or was your editorial more about political candidates The Sun's editorial board wishes to support and less about issues? David Riley

Leave it to The Sun to mock Mitt Romney's voluntary effort to include women in his administration as governor of Massachusetts ("The binding of women," Oct. 18). Must any affirmative action to include women be mandated by government to satisfy The Sun's editorial board? Oh, wait? I get it. If the government had mandated Mr. Romney's action, then our president could have told Mr. Romney: "You didn't build - I mean do - that. " Bob Price, Lutherville

How shocking that a 20-year-old college senior who worked in Rep. Andy Harris' congressional office drank a glass of wine at her farewell party last summer! ("Md. lawmaker under fire for underage drinking by intern," Jan. 4.) That should have been Page One news. Why doesn't The Sun put political blogger Joe Steffen, who broke this non-story, on its editorial board? He would fit right in. Marie Mullen

The Sun's editorial board just does not get it ("Neuman's reckless veto," April 30). Maryland has been taxed to the hilt in the last seven years. There is nothing left to give. There have been 37 tax and fee increases. That is a failure of leadership here in Maryland. Constantly crowing about making budget cuts that never occurred is a failure of leadership. Perhaps, The Sun should stop pushing its progressive agenda and start being objective when it comes to the tax-and-spend ways of Annapolis.

In regards to "Misoverestimating Bush" (April 25), it's surprising that this complete nincompoop could somehow manipulate not only the intelligence community in this country but even our allies into reporting that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The "liar" Bush, moreover, just because of a rapacious appetite for war, started a war knowing there were no such weapons and with full realization that it would make his administration look foolish and incompetent. Brilliant on the one hand and stupid on the next.

When I read The Sun's editorial summing up George W. Bush's presidency as "lousy," I couldn't help but wonder how the editorial board will assess President Barack Obama's service to our country ("Misoverestimating Bush," April 28). To date, Mr. Obama's presidency has been marred by scandal after scandal, broken promises, and profligate spending resulting in the largest deficit this country has ever seen. Let's hope The Sun can be as honest about Mr. Obama's legacy as they think they were about Mr. Bush's.

Many thanks to the Baltimore Sun for an eloquent editorial on the Ben Carson saga ("Ben Carson and the price of free speech," April 13). This is a work of art! The Sun's staff has captured the essence of free speech with professorial precision. And, have accepted free speech that may be controversial, as long as it stays in context. We also got a lesson in what happens when our so-called free speech becomes aberrant, degrading, and outside the limits of good taste. This piece should also send an alert to those who are steadfast in their defense of Dr. Ben. Loyalty and preconception must be tempered with common sense and reality.

I'm not sure how many readers got the gist of The Sun's editorial, "Carrying petition reform too far," (Jan. 30), but I absolutely did. Let me be very clear. The Sun's advice to anyone who disagrees with our far-left thinking state government should be just "forgetaboutit" because we elected these know-it-all politicians to think and act for us in each and every scenario without question! I don't think so and neither should the Sun's editorial board. Gail Householder, Marriottsville Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Given the irrelevancy of the Harford County delegation to the Maryland General Assembly, it probably doesn't much matter what's presented to the county's representatives to Annapolis. With that said, the way the Harford County Board of Education's legislative agenda was put together recently is a real head scratcher. Kathy Carmello, who is facilitator of governmental relations for Harford County Public Schools, presented the school board's 2013 legislative agenda to the school board at its Nov. 19 meeting.

The Sun's editorial board apparently does not read its own reporting ("Obama for president," Nov. 4). Investigations and conclusions of the various reporters and responders have written dissertations that are the polar opposites with the campaign sound bites displayed in "The Record. " Moreover, the board is ignorant of the Constitution and just how it is supposed to work. Any president can push, prod, cajole, and even legislatively bribe to get what he wants but he can not command it to be done and have it done only his way. One would think that with majorities in the House and Senate for President Barack Obama's first two years that crafting and passing a budget would be a first base kind of project.

I wanted to scream after reading the editorial about Ron Smith on Friday ("The voice of reason," Nov. 25). To say The Sun's editorial board is not often in agreement with Ron in matters of politics and government is a given. Ron's ideas are reasonable and formed by basic common sense. The Sun's ideas are usually absurd, partisan and predictably wrong. To link Ron with Rush Limbaugh and Fox News is absurd - more predictable Sun style. You were correct that he is not captive of the dogma or talking points of the right, as The Sun carries the water of the far left daily.

I was very surprised to read Matt Patterson's commentary in The Sun ("America the dictatorship?" Nov. 27). How did someone get a pro-freedom message past The Sun's editorial board at the White House? By the way, congratulations on your election victory. The media has now fulfilled its agenda which is to lift takers over makers. By 2016, we'll have a $20 trillion hole with no way to get out plus all the other little things this administration will continue to do as in Obamacare, bailouts, coverups, and, of course, let us not forget President Barack Obama's favorite constituency, illegal immigrants.

The Sun's editorial board apparently does not read its own reporting ("Obama for president," Nov. 4). Investigations and conclusions of the various reporters and responders have written dissertations that are the polar opposites with the campaign sound bites displayed in "The Record. " Moreover, the board is ignorant of the Constitution and just how it is supposed to work. Any president can push, prod, cajole, and even legislatively bribe to get what he wants but he can not command it to be done and have it done only his way. One would think that with majorities in the House and Senate for President Barack Obama's first two years that crafting and passing a budget would be a first base kind of project.