Columns

The Dallas Morning News on how to make the most of this opening on immigration reform (Jan. 31):
Last week was an important one for the future of immigration reform. Tuesday, President Barack Obama made the issue a component of his State of the Union speech — and never mentioned the word comprehensive. Thursday, House Republicans opened their three-day retreat by unveiling a set of immigration principles that could set the foundation for legitimate immigration reform. Suddenly, there seems to be genuine momentum for a solution.

By Rick Kraft

Who in this world influences your life? We all are influenced by others. We don’t live our lives in a vacuum. We are not each born on a remote island with no one around. We don’t live our lives with an abundance of food, clothing, and shelter automatically provided without our ever having to lift a finger.

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner on the need for Congress to fund a key tax program (Jan. 28, 2014):
Here’s another example of a budget decision made far away and having a potential consequence to Fairbanks. Congress failed to include funding for the annual Payment in Lieu of Taxes program in the federal omnibus spending bill approved earlier this month.
The program provided $742,500 to the Fairbanks North Star Borough in fiscal 2013. That’s an amount equal to just less than 1 percent of the property tax revenue raised that year.

As we begin another short budget session, our troubled education system is our greatest cause for concern. As it stands, only about half of our public school students are proficient in math and reading and only half graduate ready to take on college. New Mexico now ranks last among all states in student performance. The sad truth is that our public school system is in need of a serious reworking.