Ideas

Gov. Martin O'Malley did an excellent job appointing a competent and independent Public Service Commission to look at the issues around utility fee structures in Maryland. The PSC sees the whole picture when they review a company's request for a rate increase, and the public relies on them to review the performance and profits of the utility companies - their independence should not be compromised. AARP does not support the recommendations released recently by a work group to allow power companies to add surcharges to utility bills in order to fund reliability and enhancement improvements ("A worthy investment," Oct. 4)

Mitt Romney may have won the first presidential debate, but what stuck in many people's minds was his threat to fire Big Bird. Apparently, Mr. Romney thinks America's debt problem can be fixed by picking up pennies along Sesame Street. Pressed to explain how he would balance the federal budget while cutting trillions of dollars in taxes, the allegedly masterful debater offered up just two specifics: He would repeal "Obamacare" (even though the Congressional Budget Office says the health care act actually reduces deficit spending)

Yes, it's all the rage and yes, there are great ideas and money saving tips, but it's time to remind my fellow brides out there that Pinterest is not the end-all to wedding planning. In fact, if you are planning what I like to call a #Pinwed , I'd strongly advise you to consider these two questions first. Are you actually saving money with the DIY Pinterest mentality? Don't get me wrong; you can absolutely save money using the tips and crafty ideas Pinterest has to offer.

A proposal to require restaurants and bars to post letter grades rating their performance in city health inspections has some business owners worried they may lose customers if inspectors give their establishments a less than perfect score. But giving people access to information that allows them to judge how food and beverage venues stack up against each other in terms of cleanliness has worked in other cities, and there's no reason consumers here shouldn't be able to make the same sort of comparisons.

For most of us, a trip to New York City means there will be rides on the Subway. Visits to Washington, D.C., are much more palatable when parking problems are traded for train rides on the Metro. Go to San Francisco or Oakland, Calif., and odds are a ride on the BART (short for Bay Area Transit) will be part of the itinerary. Chicago has its L (short for elevated). Boston has the T (short for transportation). Here in the greater Baltimore region, though, train transport is a realistic option only for commuters whose schedules are as regimented and predictable as the days of the week.

Going by the conventional rules of American politics, the Democratic Convention this week was an unmitigated disaster. And, going by the same rules, GOP convention was a disaster, too. So, either the rules of American politics have fundamentally changed, or at least one of the parties is taking an enormous gamble. Since the Nixon years, the GOP has enjoyed a marked advantage over the Democrats at the presidential level. Cultural issues -- race, religion, abortion, patriotism -- have worked to the Republicans' advantage.

A few years ago, it was fashionable for Democratsto describe themselves as "members of the reality-based community. " These days, it seems the foreclosure crisis has hit them so hard they've been forced to move to another neighborhood. Metaphorically, at least, they've set up a refugee camp in Charlotte this week. In this political Brigadoon, things are going well in America, so well in fact that President Barack Obama obviously deserves a second term because Americans are better off than they were four years ago, and that the Republican Party is little more than a haven for old-fashioned robber barons who think like Klansmen but dress like Mr. Monopoly.

Laurel Park Jazzy Idea captures Jameela in record time Owner-trainer Edwin Merryman 's Jazzy Idea swept past the leaders in the deep stretch Wednesday and set a course record in the $100,000 Jameela Stakes, the opening-day feature of the Laurel Park fall meeting. Ridden by Luis Garcia and sent to post at even money against eight other Maryland-bred fillies and mares, Jazzy Idea completed the distance over the firm turf in 1 minute, 7.45 seconds to better the mark set by Chasin Tiger in 2007.

Where are these jobs that Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan profess to have at their fingertips should they be elected? Why isn't the electorate demanding to know? Could it possibly be that they are planning to drill in every open space this country has where they even smell oil and the environment be damned? Judging by what was spoken at the Republican National Convention, that is exactly what the rascals plan! Amy Carroll, Timonium

Federal workers are in the trenches daily, so they're likely to be the first to spot waste - and to come up with ways to save taxpayer dollars. That's the theory behind the Obama administration's Securing Americans Value and Efficiency (SAVE) Award, a contest in which federal workers submit ideas to reduce costs. The prize: a meeting with the president in the Oval Office to present the money-saving idea. Matt Ritsko, a financial manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, won last year with a suggestion to create a "library" for unused tools and materials that could be checked out like books.