Rationing

When Sarah Palin said that the emerging healthcare reform legislation would lead to "death panels" and government rationing of care, her language was explosive, but her premise about rationing was not. The most critical test of any reform proposal is whether it will empower individuals or impose on them. It is a fact that the leading bills in Congress would increase the power of government and decrease individual freedom. You cannot spend an additional $1 trillion of taxpayer money and reduce the role of government.

Already-scarce water gets even scarcer this weekend for millions of Mexicans. One of the world's largest cities is launching a rationing plan in a drastic -- and some say overdue -- effort to conserve water after rampant development, mismanagement and reduced rainfall caused supplies to drop to dangerously low levels. Starting Saturday, water will be cut or reduced to homes in at least 10 boroughs in Mexico City plus 11 other municipalities in the state of Mexico, which surrounds the capital.

One month after the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power barred residents from watering on days other than Mondays and Thursdays, city officials are looking at loosening the law for the city's parks department and other large landowners.

The global run on food that has led to shortages and riots in Egypt, Haiti and other nations has made its way to U.S. shores. Concerned about rising prices and limited supplies of staples such as rice and flour, customers across the country have been cleaning out the shelves at big-box retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Sam's Club and Costco Wholesale Corp. stores.

Cuba is limiting the quantity of basic fruits and vegetables people can buy at farmers markets, irritating some customers but ensuring there is enough to go around. Cubans who initially worried about getting enough to eat now seem confident they won't go hungry, despite the destruction of 30% of the island's crops last month by hurricanes Gustav and Ike. However, there are long lines and food is not plentiful.

Iran said it would start rationing gasoline today to wean the No. 2 OPEC crude producer off costly fuel imports, but the announcement Tuesday sparked anger here in the capital, where one gas station was burned. Despite its huge energy reserves, Iran lacks refining capacity and must import about 40% of its gasoline. Flames rose from a fuel station in Pounak, a poor area of Tehran, that was set on fire after drivers rushed to get fuel before the beginning of rationing at midnight, witnesses said.

They have endured religious police, political repression and international isolation. But a quota imposed Wednesday on the purchase of subsidized gasoline sent Iranians to the streets, where they set fire to at least 12 gas stations, damaged government-owned banks and department stores and shouted slogans against the president, according to Iranian news agencies and witnesses.

It is a rare three-day summertime weekend, and that means a headlong rush out of sweltering, smoggy Tehran toward the shores of the Caspian Sea. The narrow highway is hopelessly jammed; drivers abandon their cars for the kiosks selling sodas, ice cream bars and hand-woven souvenir baskets along the roadside. Families despairing of a hotel room spread out straw mats four rows deep on the sidewalks and parking lots of this beach town, snoozing for the night alongside itinerant rice harvesters.

Southern California's water woes -- caused by record dry weather combined with a court ruling likely to limit water deliveries from Northern California -- hit home Thursday as Long Beach imposed the region's most severe water restrictions in years. The measures, which took effect immediately after the city declared a water emergency, will force residents and businesses to change their behavior, including when they water lawns and how restaurants serve water to diners.

Long Beach has a population of almost half a million, making it the second largest city in the county of Los Angeles and the fifth most populous in the state. As you may have read, water officials there recently looked at the prospect of tightening water supplies and decided the outlook was bleak enough to impose restrictions. The new rules are hardly draconian, but they do have some bite.