Beyond the storm

WELL, THAT DIDN’T take long. Last Friday, this newspaper’s editorial page worried that President Bush’s proposed “Gulf Opportunity Zones” might become a Trojan horse for all types of conservative agendas. We mentioned flat taxes as a preposterous example. Well, today a Wall Street Journal editorial is advocating just that -- an 18% flat tax. The Journal suggests that if a flat tax works for the region, it should “become the law of the land.” This is flawed -- to the extent such tax breaks work, it is by wooing businesses from other states. Make them the law of the land, and who do you woo? Chinese businesses?

The Financial Times today editorializes that it is remarkable that President Bush, plummeting in the polls, is willing to “expend political capital on an unpopular cause.” That would be immigration reform. The editorial applauds Bush for appearing serious about prodding Congress to take up the issue this fall, and for backing a reasonably liberal plan to allow illegal immigrants to become legal guest-workers.

An editorial in today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette gives a thumbs down to NASA’s ambitious plans for manned flights to the Moon and Mars. The Post-Gazette argues that NASA should focus on the space shuttle and the international space station. A perplexing New York Times editorial today claims that Sunday’s muddled German electoral outcome, with no alliance of parties getting a clear majority, amounts to a mandate for economic reform. It seems more like a mandate for stagnation. The editorial fails to mention the reason Germany needs to resolve this quickly -- it is hosting the World Cup in nine months!