The winners and the losers

• Winner: Usually, it isn't a good idea to pay for something and hope the federal government will reimburse you later. But when it comes to giving veterans the care they deserve, that's the right thing to do.

• Loser: Anyone who has had to pay penalties for making a mistake regarding tax payments probably has little sympathy for the state Tax Commission, which admitted this week that an error by them resulted in many employees having too much money withheld from their first paycheck of the year. Because of the huge costs of rectifying the mistake, the state will hold onto your money, interest free, until you file the income-tax returns due in April 2009.

• Winner: It's nice when bad news turns out not to be so bad, after all. NASA released a survey this week that found no evidence any astronauts have been drunk on the day of their launches into space. This despite a report by outside medical experts last summer to the contrary. We hope NASA keeps its antennas up, so to speak, to guard against future trouble. But it's nice to know the people with the right stuff aren't blasting off under the influence of the wrong stuff.