Featured Commentary category, Page 65
Rep. Jessica Benham: Federal agency could help Alzheimer’s patients
Last summer, my grandmother passed away after years of living with Alzheimer’s disease. If you’ve lost a loved one to this disease or know someone who has, then you’re familiar with the long and cruel journey both the patient and their families have walked. I want to say thank you...
Alex Bernstein: Raise minimum wage to build a better future
Everyone in Pennsylvania, from here in Pittsburgh to Erie, Scranton, Philly and everywhere in between deserves to earn a fair wage. But right now, thousands of Pennsylvanians are struggling to stay afloat, trying to navigate the cost of living crisis on a minimum wage of $7.25/hour — unchanged for nearly...
Cal Thomas: Obstacles in DeSantis’ path to presidency
The expected announcement today from Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that he is running for president will come as no surprise. While DeSantis won his reelection by 19 points and his accomplishments with the help of a Republican super majority in the state legislature have been impressive, appealing to voters...
Christopher Nicholas: Pittsburgh is now the progressive beacon in Keystone State
Pennsylvania’s primary election proved to be a good day for liberal financier George Soros and his political operation, as well as for the Democratic establishment in Philadelphia. The bigger story, however, is that Western Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County supplanted Philly as the top progressive mecca in the state. The most high-profile...
Tom Schuster: RGGI can help communities throughout Pa.
It was recently announced that one of the few remaining coal-fired power plants in Pennsylvania, Indiana County’s Homer City Coal Generation Station, will be shutting down. This will be a blow to the workers at the plant and the surrounding community. State and local leaders must commit to helping Homer...
Matthew J. Brouillette: Pa. primary unveiled a crisis for both political parties
On May 16, Pennsylvanians voted in statewide and local primary elections as well as a much-watched special House election. Beyond revealing the winners, the vote tallies show that former President Donald Trump lost (again), Democrats have an identity crisis and Republicans have a messaging crisis. While the former president wasn’t...
Mark Nicastre: Should Pa.’s state parks serve alcohol?
Pennsylvanians are getting their summer plans ready as Memorial Day nears. They’re thinking about the lakes, the amusement parks, the shore and extended travel throughout the commonwealth and the country. Here at home, many Pennsylvanians will visit the state parks system. Pennsylvania is home to one of the nation’s best...
Yarone Zober: Innamorato needs big action for an Allegheny County that has been thinking small
In January 2024, after 12 years as Allegheny County chief executive, 64-year-old Rich “Fitz” Fitzgerald will be replaced. If voting patterns hold, his successor, in a county with a Democratic voter registration edge of 2-1 over Republicans, will be Tuesday’s newly minted Democratic nominee for the seat, 37-year-old Sara Innamorato,...
Shoshanah Inwood and Florence Becot: U.S. farm bill may finally aid young farmers
Kerissa and Charlie Payne are beginning farmers living their dream of raising two daughters on a farm in Central Ohio. By conventional measures, their livestock farm, Covey Rise, is a success. Yet below the surface, the challenge of finding quality affordable child care has kept their business from growing and...
Cheri Bustos and Reid Ribble: To protect our children and democracy, we need a commonsense approach to social media reform
Technology has transformed the way we live, the way we communicate with one another and the way we relate to the world around us. It also has deepened the political and cultural divisions so prevalent in society today, but Americans are united on at least one point: Most people agree...
John W. Diamond: Banks, Fed preparing for U.S. default — and chaos to follow
Convening war rooms, planning speedy bailouts and raising house-on-fire alarm bells: Those are a few of the ways the biggest banks and financial regulators are preparing for a potential default on U.S. debt. “You hope it doesn’t happen, but hope is not a strategy — so you prepare for it,”...
Danielle Acker Susanj: ‘Right to Organize’ amendment violates Constitution
This month, Pennsylvania House lawmakers approved legislation, House Bill 950, that purports to add a new fundamental right to the state’s Constitution: the right to organize. In practice, however, the measure would try to rob the commonwealth’s public-sector employees of rights they already possess under the First Amendment. Though the...
Jo Recht: If you care about ending gun violence, speak up now
Last month marked 4½ years since our congregation, Dor Hadash, along with New Light and Tree of Life congregations, was attacked by a man spewing antisemitic and anti-immigrant hate, and wielding weapons of war. It also marked the start of jury selection in his trial. Eleven congregants in our three...
Peter Morici: If Biden gives China leverage to broker peace for Ukraine, he can then defuse the cold war over Taiwan
The United States needs detente with China to deescalate the danger of an armed conflict over Taiwan, losing control of maritime routes through the South China Sea and other potential Pacific region hotspots. This requires looking past China’s rhetoric about achieving broad technological dominance and recent provocations to focus on...
Michael Reagan: AOC and the war on our appliances
AOC and her Green New Deal buddies in the Biden government are not just winning their crusade against fossil fuels. They’re also wrecking the country — appliance by appliance. Our washing machines, refrigerators and microwaves have been made less efficient and more expensive because of new federal standards pushed by...
Greg Fulton: The power of personal relationships and the birth of Israel
May 14 represents the 75th anniversary of Israel’s birth as a nation. It is a momentous time for a nation that many people gave little chance for success or survival. Israel’s declaration of independence was controversial and received with little enthusiasm from many around the world, unwelcome by surrounding nations....
Christian Appy: Ellsberg’s decision to release Pentagon Papers didn’t happen in a vacuum
In 1971, when Daniel Ellsberg arrived at a federal court in Boston, a journalist asked if he was concerned about the prospect of going to prison for leaking a 7,000-page top-secret history of the Vietnam War. Ellsberg responded with a question of his own: “Wouldn’t you go to prison to...
Zach Kennedy: Dems in strong position to hold Pa. Senate seat
Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. has quietly built one of the most successful political legacies in Pennsylvania history. Prior to Casey’s 2018 reelection victory, never before had a Pennsylvania Democrat won three terms to the United States Senate. As the Scranton native eyes his 2024 reelection campaign, he not...
Cal Thomas: Trump and the old razzle dazzle
“The reason I talk to myself is because I’m the only one whose answers I accept.” — George Carlin Former president Donald Trump’s appearance at a CNN Republican Town Hall in New Hampshire stretched the truth beyond any standard by which that virtue can be measured. Trump told more lies...
Pat Browne and Jason Kavulich: Now is time to expand the Property Tax/Rent Rebate program
For more than 50 years, Pennsylvania has held the unique distinction of being the only state in the nation where proceeds from its state lottery are directed solely to programs that benefit older adults. This partnership between the Pennsylvania Lottery and our commonwealth’s seniors has generated nearly $34 billion in...
Cal Thomas: Democrats and Republicans — not a dime’s worth of difference
When he ran for president a second time in 1968 on the American Independent Party ticket, Alabama Gov. George Wallace said, “There’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the Democrat and Republican parties.” Granted that Wallace, who had been a Democrat, was attempting to attract votes for that nascent...
Peter Morici: Cracking down on banks now only makes them sitting ducks for next big hit
The drama surrounding Silicon Valley Bank, Republic Bank, PacWest Bancorp and other regional banks is provoking tough talk about implementing tighter banking regulations. Those could do more harm than good and won’t avert another crisis. Apparently both the White House and Federal Reserve want to reimpose on mid-sized banks stricter...
Rep. Tim O’Neal: When naysayers lead, Pennsylvania falls behind
In many ways, we live in a political world that operates more on denial than possibility, and to be honest, it’s killing democracy. Candidate quality has been replaced by ideological purity on both sides, while virtual cottage industries have sprung up around the idea of replacing the “loyal opposition” with...
David Arditi: The exploitation of Hollywood’s writers is just another symptom of digital feudalism
The current Hollywood writers strike has drawn international attention to the plight of TV and film writers in the streaming era. Much has been made of television’s golden age, during which streaming platforms have offered audiences an abundance of well-written, highly produced television shows, often called “prestige TV.” Whereas older...
Cal Thomas: Crowning Trump king
The crowning of Charles III as king of England and the shrinking realm of the United Kingdom was not the only coronation taking place in the world. Increasingly, evangelical Christians in the U.S. are treating Donald Trump as their king. While the scenarios are different, it reminds me of when...
