WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton's embrace of gay marriage Monday signals she may be seriously weighing a 2016 presidential run and trying to avoid the type of late-to-the-party caution that hurt her first bid. Her chief Democratic rivals endorsed same-sex marriage as much as seven years ago, and it's widely popular with Democratic and independent voters. Read More

Immigration reform is an innately thorny subject. It forces lawmakers to balance the interests of immigrants and employers interested in filling jobs with the fears of citizens who believe  immigrants deprive Americans of opportunities. Efforts to reform immigration take an absurd turn when one side lobbies for greater admission of one small class of workers, but that we should crack down on all the rest. Read More

I read with dismay the article about Proposition 30 and Gov. Jerry Brown (“Passage of tax increases spells big win for governor,” Thursday). On the cover, the subheading read: “Governor says taxes will pave way to state fiscal stability.” In the story it then says that, “The changes will provide $6 billion to balance the state budget.” Read More

The political cartoon portraying conservatives and libertarians as insensitive and callous toward the poor is grossly mistaken (Today’s Cartoon, Pat Oliphant, Wednesday). Caring and compassion are good only when they are voluntary and individual. Voters and bureaucrats are spending someone else’s money. Public compassion is always compulsory and inefficient. Government agencies have spent zillions of dollars over the past decades to alleviate poverty; there is still no lack of poor people. Read More