The Buffalo News : Opinion

WASHINGTON — Republicans are lying when they say that members of Congress who support the clean energy bill are backing an “energy tax.” There is no such tax. There will be costs, though, and absolutely nobody knows what they will be.

WASHINGTON — Rep. Eric Massa is getting a little heat down here. He’s revealing signs of actually reading the details of legislation, understanding it and most dangerously — to him — keeping his election campaign promises.

WASHINGTON — Reps. Brian Higgins, Louise Slaughter and a battalion of other congressional Democrats are caught in a menacing squeeze between their president and the lobbyists who have dominated the capital for a generation.

Who—or what—was to blame for the horrifying crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 on Feb. 12?

Can giving books to needy children change their lives for the better?

Maybe this is what Mark Twain had in mind when he quipped, “Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

While Americans were glued to the Iran drama, we arrived at a critical turning point in Iraq.

BOSTON — This is probably not the best week to air any reservations about the American passion for independence. After all, we don’t have fireworks for Dependence Day. We don’t hold parades to celebrate Interdependence Day. We don’t get a holiday for Connections.

WASHINGTON — Rusty DePass, the South Carolina Republican activist who infamously “joked” that an escaped zoo gorilla was probably an ancestor of Michelle Obama’s, has learned the meaning of “hell to pay.” His teaching moment has provided multiple curricula on a range of subjects, including what appears to be racism fatigue in the Deep South.

About 30 years ago, speculation on the next Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor centered for a while on the late Ray Schuler.

It was back in the gubernatorial campaign of 2002, and a horde of statewide reporters was gathered at the Prior Aviation terminal at Buffalo Niagara International Airport awaiting the arrival of Independence candidate Tom Golisano.

You have to love Albany. Even its own dysfunction proved dysfunctional last week after the State Senate coup that catapulted the Capitol into chaos.