Featured Commentary category, Page 125
Dr. Carol J. Fox: How to prevent the spread and protect our community against coronavirus
Coronavirus — specifically the strain that causes covid-19 — has dominated our news cycles in recent days. We learn daily of increasing numbers of individuals who have been infected. At this writing, there are only two presumed positive cases in Pennsylvania, but we do need to be prepared for the...
Jonah Goldberg: Bernie gives too much credit to authoritarianism
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president, is praised by his admirers for being consistent. He’s been saying the same things for 40 years, they explain — as if this is an obvious compliment. I think that’s kind of weird. But I also like it...
Samir Lakhani: The simple power of soap
Sometimes the simplest acts make the biggest impact. Take handwashing with soap. It’s proven by researchers to reduce the presence of harmful bacteria by 92%, according to researchers at the National Institute of Health. I run a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit charity called Eco-Soap Bank — and our sole mission is to...
Zachary Yost: When will Pennsylvanians stop being bilked for milk?
Over 200 years ago, the great Scottish economist Adam Smith warned: “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” Although Smith wrote these words so long ago, he...
Colin McNickle: Pa.’s gambling dichotomy
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board reports that total gambling revenues increased by 4.5% in 2019 over 2018. The gain did not reflect any increase in the number of people playing traditional slot machines but rather the expansion of gaming options, scholars at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy note. However,...
Philip Ameris: Don’t expect labor’s endorsement after opposing blue-collar jobs
Pennsylvania’s battleground status draws attention to endorsements ranging from the presidential to the local level. The Allegheny-Fayette Central Labor Council, of which the Western Pennsylvania Laborers’ District Council is an affiliate, recently announced its statewide endorsements. In House District 34, the council endorsed Chris Roland, the Democratic challenger to Democratic...
Peter Morici: Trump the moderate in 2020
Washington has a way of capturing presidents more than they conquer its bureaucracy — in current parlance, President Trump has become an alligator more than he has drained the swamp. Whether it’s Sanders, Warren, Klobuchar, Buttigieg, Bloomberg or Biden, the country will get a choice between a defender of the...
Drew Johnson: America shows how to fight climate change without regulation
Speaking at the United Nations in December, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi drew cheers by saying the United States was “still in” the Paris climate agreement. Green activists applauded Pelosi’s defense of the international climate accord, which President Trump has vowed to exit. They claim remaining in the Paris Agreement will...
John Stossel: Bloomberg the nanny
Good for Mike Bloomberg. During his first debate, he slammed Bernie Sanders by saying: “We’re not going to throw out capitalism. We tried that. Other countries tried that. It was called communism, and it just didn’t work!” Exactly right. It’s safe to say Bloomberg is not a communist. I wonder...
Walter Williams: Two sides to ‘stop, question & frisk’
Before former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg threw his hat into the 2020 presidential race, he defended the New York Police Department’s use of “stop, question and frisk” policing. At a U.S. Naval Academy’s 2019 Leadership Conference, Bloomberg said, “We focused on keeping kids from going through the correctional...
Jonah Goldberg: Why aren’t Democrats issuing a Sanders alert?
In “Jaws 2,” Roy Scheider reprises his role as police Chief Brody, the landlubber lawman forced to battle a great white shark. He’s convinced there’s another beast out there, but he can’t persuade anyone who matters. “Look at this. That’s a shark,” says Brody, waving a grainy underwater photo at...
Thomas Palley: Bernie Sanders — nothing to fear but fear itself
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Eighty-seven years ago, those were the words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his 1933 inaugural speech. Today, they resonate with Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, which confronts a barrage of attacks aimed at frightening away voters. Fear is the enemy...
Jonah Goldberg: Bernie Sanders too often sees only what he wants to see
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who did not have a great performance in Wednesday’s Democratic debate, nevertheless said something interesting. “We’re not going to throw out capitalism,” Bloomberg said. “We tried. Other countries tried that. It was called communism, and it just didn’t work.” I’m unclear on when...
Eric Falk: 2020 may be one of our most important elections
Elections, particularly for such high-profile offices as president, governor, and United States senator and congressman, are usually an interesting combination of highly contested and yet innocuous affairs. Candidates try to sharply draw differences between themselves and try to “activate” their respective bases, motivating them for the necessary turnout. Yet when...
S.E. Cupp: On breastfeeding and Michael Bloomberg
He may have hoped his billions would speak louder than his baggage, but Michael Bloomberg has experienced a cavalcade of bad press over the past two weeks that should make him a painfully hideous choice for any voter, but Democrats in particular. There’s his support of stop-and-frisk, an anti-crime policy...
Matthew Brouillette: The truth behind the turnpike nightmare
It’s like a recurring bad dream. A new year, a new Pennsylvania Turnpike toll hike. Now, driving the length of the highway costs upwards of $65.70 — not counting the return trip. Only, this nightmare is real. We know the usual suspects: infrastructure needs, mandates that the turnpike fund mass...
Colin McNickle: Legislature must act to salvage PASSHE
Problems continue to grow worse for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). And there remains little doubt that dramatic changes are needed at several of the universities in the 14-school system, says a scholar at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. “It is time for the Legislature and...
Rev. Sandra Strauss: Lawmakers should clamp down on illegal gambling
There is no question that Pennsylvania is under siege from an out-of-control explosion of illegal gambling that is occurring in gas stations, convenience stores, corner stores and pizza parlors where teens gather. Currently, there are at least 15,000 so-called “skilled games” machines in operation in communities across the state. Despite...
John Stossel: Revolutionary Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders leads the race for the Democratic nomination. He may become America’s first self-described “democratic socialist” president. What does that mean? Today, when Sanders talks about socialism, he says: “I’m not looking at Cuba. I’m looking at countries like Denmark and Sweden.” But Denmark and Sweden are not socialist....
Walter Williams: Political bias & anti-Americanism on college campuses
A recent Pew Research Center survey finds that only half of American adults think colleges and universities are having a positive effect on our nation. The leftward political bias, held by faculty members affiliated with the Democratic Party, at most institutions of higher education explains a lot of that disappointment....
Donald Boudreaux: Conservatives can be just as mistaken as ‘progressives’
Oren Cass has launched a new conservative think tank, American Compass. It’s meant to “restore an economic consensus that emphasizes the importance of family, community, and industry to the nation’s liberty and prosperity.” Family, community and industry — and liberty and prosperity — are indeed important. But as he inadvertently...
Zach Shamberg: Pa.’s seniors should be a priority
Earlier this month, in the lead-up to his annual budget address, Gov. Tom Wolf announced several new initiatives geared toward protecting Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable populations. In all, these initiatives represent more than $40 million in new spending to help those in need. That includes $1.4 million to enhance the state’s...
Pat Buchanan: A Democratic establishment in panic
From the day he entered the race, Joe Biden was the great hope of the Democratic establishment to spare them from the horrifying prospect of a 2020 race between The Donald and Bernie Sanders. Today, that same establishment wants Joe out of the race. Why has Biden suddenly become an...
Gary English: Tax-shifting schemes won’t provide property tax relief
On Feb. 3, Pennsylvania legislators and their followers held a rally on the Capitol rotunda steps that fits the current state of affairs of ignorance: “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it” and shall expound. For the past eight years, the Legislature and the Pennsylvania Taxpayers...
Jonah Goldberg: Democrat-Republican role reversal
For most of my life the rule of thumb was that the GOP was the ideological party and the Democratic Party was the coalitional party. This always was an overgeneralization. Democrats had an ideological perspective, and Republicans had coalitional interests. But from the New Deal to around the end of...
