The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.

News of the Tautological
“Local Dealerships Say Car Sales Are Good”–headline, Record Journal (Meriden, Conn.), Dec. 7

Bottom Stories of the Day

  • “Investors Await Outcome of European Union Emergency Meetings”–headline, Los Angeles Times, Dec. 8
  • “Obama Raises Money for Re-Election Bid”–headline, Associated Press, Dec. 7

A Loser in the IQ Lottery
From the Austin American-Statesman comes one of the best letters to the editor of all time (hat tip: Tom Elia):

Lotto stimulus

We heard about Powerball winners of more than $200 million on TV. I thought, “Why in the world do one, two or three people need all that money?” I propose we cap the winnings at $1 million for all lotto games and let more folks win $1 million. There would be many more people in our states that could be pay their morgages [sic] with ease and pay their bills without stress. It would ease the unemployment burden and put smiles on lots of people’s faces. They would shop, which would be good for the economy. Since the gap between the rich and the not-rich is so huge, it would even the playing field. Seven days a week, more people could be out of debt. Of course, there is always the chance folks who win would squander the money, but I think the majority of folks would do the right thing.

Laurie Gonterman
Cedar Park

Why not do away with lotteries altogether? That would give people who don’t understand math a chance to keep a dollar of their hard-earned money.

For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.”