Free Republic

S. Korea: Cheonan's Bow Salvaged

A memorial service marking the 109th anniversary of the sinking of the battleship Maine will be held today on the State House grounds. Members of the Sons of Spanish-American War Veterans will host the 1 p.m. service at the Spanish War Memorial. Two South Carolinians were among the 266 sailors who died Feb. 15, 1898, when the Maine sank in Havana harbor after an explosion, said Kenneth Robison, head of the local organization. It triggered the Spanish-American War.

The Spanish-American War may have ended over a century ago, but anyone in the U.S. with a telephone line is paying a 3 percent "luxury" tax created to fund the conflict in 1898. That's a situation that a number of Republican senators would like to change. This week, they introduced a bill to repeal the Spanish-American War levy. "Common sense dictates that repeal of the telephone excise tax is long overdue," said Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa. "Communication is not a luxury. It has become part of the basic fabric of our social and economic life." Other sponsors of the Senate...