From the June 19, 2011 CSI Walworth County Sunday "The Way we see it" column:

Here are excerpts from recent editorials in American newspapers:

It’s been more than two years since the Democrat-led Senate last passed a budget, a fact that puts it squarely in violation of the law. So when will the arrests begin?
We say that only partly tongue in cheek, because the refusal of Democrats in Congress to pass a budget or take meaningful steps to head off our looming fiscal disaster is nothing short of a national disgrace. ...

In the recent budget talks, Democrats have whined about Republicans not agreeing to raise taxes as part of a budget deal. But the Republicans have put up plans, serious plans, to cut spending, debt and deficits. What have the Democrats produced? Nothing. ...

— Investors Business Daily

The Democratic Party has stumbled upon a two-pronged strategy for defeating Republicans in 2012: Lie about a House GOP Medicare proposal while refusing to talk about their own.
First it was the absurd claim that Republicans plan to “end Medicare,” which was widely debunked. Then last week, Democratic National Committee Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said Republicans were telling seniors: “You’re on your own. Go and find private health insurance in the health-care insurance market. We’re going to throw you to the wolves and allow insurance companies to deny you coverage and drop you for pre-existing conditions. ...”

— Manchester Union Leader

In case you didn’t get the message the first several dozen times, President Obama wants to remind you that he inherited a problem. He has publicly pointed his finger at the previous administration at least 71 times since his inauguration in order to excuse the economic slowdown, unemployment, housing mess and budget crisis that persist today, 2 1/2 years into his presidency. ...

Ignore the fact that, as a senator, Obama voted (when he wasn’t absent, owing to campaign appearances) for much of the debt he now claims to have inherited. We will further refrain from blaming him for an economic crisis that started before he entered the Oval Office. Obama’s accountability concerns his failure to get the job done since then. This week’s anemic economic reports provide the latest in a steadily lengthening parade of news that demonstrates Obama’s policies not only have not produced the promised recovery, but very likely have retarded it. ...

— Washington Examiner

Starting with Jimmy Carter, successive U.S. administrations have tried to exploit rifts within Iran’s ruling theocracy to boost supposed liberals. It always ended in disappointment. Iranian elites are feuding again, but this time there’s no room for misunderstanding the nature of the regime.

The free world and millions of Iranians who dream about joining it don’t have a dog in the fight between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iran will remain a repressive state and a terrorist and nuclear threat no matter which side prevails. But we can hope this spectacle continues ...

The dispute is over power and its spoils. President Ahmadinejad will see his second — and by Iranian law last — term end in 2013. He serves at the pleasure of Mr. Khamenei but wants to hold on longer. There’s talk among his supporters of dropping the term limit, or taking a page out of Vladimir Putin’s Russian playbook by installing an Ahmadinejad cipher in the presidency. ...

— Wall Street Journal

Read more on the Outlook and Perspective pages of CSI's Walworth County Sunday e-edition on pages 8A and 9A. and add your comments below.