Featured Commentary category, Page 132
Peter Morici: Giving the Fed better tools to manage financial crisis
Three times since August, the Federal Reserve has cut the federal funds rate — the rate banks charge each other for overnight loans and that strongly influences the short-term rates they charge businesses. However, Chairman Jerome Powell has made clear the Fed won’t lower rates further as long as the...
Baruch Stein: A world without American aid to Israel
Several Democratic presidential contenders have discussed cutting aid to Israel if their demands are not met. The latest confrontation in Gaza provides an opportunity to understand what that means. Approximately 450 rockets were fired at Israel between Nov. 12 and 14. More than half landed in open areas between towns....
Steve Bloom: Protect taxpayers to fix ‘brain drain’
It’s a lovely family reunion. Dad and Mom — now Grandpa and Grandma — sit facing their kids, and their kids’ kids, reminiscing about old times and laughing about the trials of parenting. Then, in mid-sentence, Grandpa stutters and freezes — his face replaced by an hourglass on a black...
Keith Williams: Contracts show fight for teachers’ rights isn’t over
Would you sign a contract you know is unconstitutional? How about one that violates teachers’ rights of free speech and free association? My guess is you wouldn’t. And that you’d be outraged if someone did. Well, that someone is in your backyard. More than 20 Pennsylvania school districts — including...
John Stossel: The case against socialism
Sen. Rand Paul just wrote a book, “The Case Against Socialism.” I thought that case was already decided, since socialist countries failed so spectacularly. But the idea hasn’t died, especially amongst the young. “Hitler’s socialism, Stalin’s socialism, Mao’s socialism. You would think people would have recognized it by now,” Paul...
Walter Williams: Gender battles corrupting our social norms
Here are several questions for biologists and medical professionals: If a person is found to have XY chromosomes (heterogametic sex), does a designation as female on his birth certificate, driver’s license or Social Security card override the chromosomal evidence? Similarly, if a person is found to have XX chromosomes (homogametic)...
Jonah Goldberg: Diversity panic hits Democratic field
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. An Asian guy, two black guys, three white women (one of whom spent much of her life claiming to be Native American), a Pacific Islander woman, a gay guy, a Hispanic guy, two elderly Caucasian Jews (one a billionaire, the other a...
Pat Buchanan: Is it jaw-jaw or war with Iran?
“Jaw-jaw is better than war-war,” is attributed, wrongly, say some historians, to Winston Churchill. Still, the words lately came to mind. While the first week in December ended with a hopeful U.S.-Iranian prisoner exchange that was hailed by President Trump — “Thank you to Iran for a very fair negotiation....
Colin McNickle: Negative job growth dogs Greater Pittsburgh
There has been lots of happy talk about Greater Pittsburgh’s supposed economic “resilience,” if not an outright “renaissance.” But the latest jobs report belies that notion and yet again exposes the many elephants in the room that continue to retard growth, concludes an analysis by scholars at the Allegheny Institute...
Jonah Goldberg: Trump defenders continue to push Ukraine conspiracy theories
Contrary to heated rhetoric from Democrats, most Republicans understand that Russia was responsible for the hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s server in 2016 and other efforts to sow mischief in the electoral process. They’ll even admit it when pressed. The problem is they want everyone to believe that Ukraine...
Garret Mathews: Newspapers haven for people with Asperger’s
What’s the fallout from the radical downturn in the influence of newspapers? To be sure, a less informed populace. More stories generated from press releases. Fewer in-depth articles. Less enterprise coverage of local and regional news. I think there’s something else. Nothing ground-shaking. Nothing insidious. Just sad. In 2016, I...
S.E. Cupp: Is impeachment over, or is it just beginning?
As Democrats announced two articles of impeachment against President Trump this past Tuesday, — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — I heard the country breathe an audible sigh of relief. Our long, national nightmare is finally over. Anxieties over would-they or wouldn’t-they, the constant public opinion polling updates,...
Nancy Koester: The currency of Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman has yet to appear on the $20 bill or any federal note. But the hero of the Underground Railroad has newly minted cultural currency of her own. The star of the biopic “Harriet,” Cynthia Erivo, was just nominated for a Golden Globe. And there’s a new biography: “She...
Walter Williams: Morality of free markets
Richard Ebeling, professor of economics at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, and my longtime friend and colleague, has written an important article, “Business Ethics and Morality of the Marketplace,” appearing in the American Institute for Economic Research. Its importance and timeliness is enhanced by so many of...
John Stossel: The forgotten federal debt
Congress and the media obsess endlessly over whether President Trump should be impeached. Both ignore $23 trillion of bigger problems. That’s how deep in debt the federal government is now, and because they keep spending much more than they could ever hope to collect in taxes, that number will only...
Peter Morici: U.K. elections could be beginning of end for EU
In Thursday’s elections, Boris Johnson has a decent shot at winning a workable majority in Parliament to pull the U.K. out of the European Union. This could be a turning point for Europe — rather than enabling consolidation of the continental bloc, Brexit will provide the contrast that blows it...
Pat Buchanan: Democrats’ diversity — only in the back of the bus
The “Our diversity is our strength!” Party is starting to look rather monochromatic in its upper echelons these days. The four leading candidates for its presidential nomination — Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg — are all white. The six candidates who have qualified for the Dec....
Colin McNickle: Port Authority’s (still) costly bus service
The latest available cost numbers are in for the Port Authority of Allegheny County’s bus service. They remain wholly unflattering. And that should raise new concerns as the mass-transit agency embarks on its highly touted Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, concludes a new analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public...
Jonah Goldberg: Nostalgia is the ace up Biden’s sleeve
I like the word malarkey, consarn it. It’s the bee’s knees. Sure, the youngsters might say, “OK, Boomer” on hearing Joe Biden utter the word, but if you think he’s all wet for using it, you can take your phonus bolonus and tell it to Sweeney. Biden has never really...
Michael Butler: Gas & solar together benefit Pittsburgh Airport
The decision to marry solar energy and natural gas to power the Pittsburgh Internationl Airport with a self-contained “microgrid” is the rarest kind of union: one where the partners together create something bigger than the sum of the individuals. Too often, natural gas and renewable energy like solar are presented...
S.E. Cupp: What unites Trump & Bloomberg
Tell me if this sounds like someone you know: Brash New York businessman with a history of scattered political affiliations and controversial ideas jumps into crowded primary, spending his own money on long-shot presidential bid. Of course, that accurately described Donald Trump in 2015. But in 2019, it also fits...
John Warren: One nation under God?
“I had no idea how critical religion is to the functioning of democracy.” So said a Marxist economist from China conversing with Harvard professor Clayton Christensen. This Chinese communist supposed that American democracy has worked because “most Americans, most of the time, follow the rules, not just because they are...
Paul Schemel: Statute of limitations ‘window’ wrong path for past abuse cases
The Boy Scouts of America recently announced that next year the annual dues for Scouts will increase by 80%. According to the Boy Scouts, the reason for the increase is the growing cost of legal settlements relating to old claims of child sexual abuse by Scout leaders who served decades...
Tony Crisci: Every Bottle Back aims to keep empties out of waterways
Pittsburgh is the hub of economic activity for Western Pennsylvania. The abundance of natural resources offers opportunities for jobs, manufacturing and growth. But with these opportunities comes the obligation to protect and preserve our environment for future generations. Beverage companies are part of the story of economic growth and the...
John Stossel: Hollywood socialism
Hollywood is now obsessing about increasing ethnic and gender diversity. Good. There’s been nasty racial and gender discrimination in the movie business. Unfortunately, Hollywood has no interest in one type of diversity: diversity of thought. In most every movie, capitalism is evil. Greedy miners want to kill nature-loving aliens in...
