For several years, we’ve seen stories about people declared dead by the Social Security Administration. Many went through a lot of hoops to officially resurrect themselves. In the interim, they didn’t get the proper payments due. And for some people, this created a real hardship.

Most of the talk about bonding during the last legislative session had as much to do with politics as with sound fiscal policy.

It’s called the Essential Air Service, and supporters call it an economic lifeline for small, mostly rural communities. Critics call it a $200 million-a-year federal boondoggle. Like so many issues involved in the debate over cutting federal spending, they are both right — up to a point.

There’s the ideological divide between Republicans and Democrats, which seems to be wider than ever. Then there’s the divide between what Americans say they want and what elected officials in Washington give them.

In the normal course of events, the visit to Jeddah of Turkish President Abdullah Gul recently and his talks with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah would raise little attention. Relations between the two countries are excellent and have been for a long time. There is no reason whatsoever to imagine that they will do anything other than continue to grow.

There may be plenty of strong arguments against turning 70,000 acres of Maine’s northern woods into a national park, but the arguments against using research to put the park idea to a test sound weak.

Maine did not fare well last time it applied for funds from Race to the Top, a federal competitive grant program designed to jump-start school reform efforts.

American self-esteem has taken a beating lately so we could use some good news, and now we have some even though it arrived from 36 million miles, maybe more.

Billionaire Warren Buffett’s op-ed piece in the New York Times on Monday provided a neat bookend to last week’s Republican presidential debate.

It is perhaps overstating the situation to say that Congress is not suffering so much from a lack of bipartisanship but a lack of alcohol, a social lubricant of proven efficacy.