Featured Commentary category, Page 69
Elwood Watson : Not ‘woke’ enough to understand its meaning
You have to be “woke” to understand it, I guess. Last week, conservative activist and author Bethany Mandel went viral for her screeching response on defining the term woke, which has become the catch-all phrase on the right for everything wrong with our country. During the March 14 edition of...
Pat Garofalo: Ending health care systems’ abuse of nonprofit status
A court recently ruled that the health care system Tower Health did not meet the mandated requirements to receive tax exemptions on four of its properties in Pennsylvania, in part because it was too focused on profit despite its status as a nonprofit institution. “This decision is validation that our...
Jeff Kotula: Unleashing Pa.’s energy resources will grow economy
As the first quarter of 2023 comes to an end, the economy remains a prime concern for many Americans. It has been difficult to ignore the effects of inflation on everyday essentials, and market results have reflected this uncertainty. While the current unemployment rate is at a near 50-year low...
Ryan Costello: Pharmacy benefit managers help keep drug costs down
These days, it seems it is always political campaign season. That is true on the presidential level, with several candidates already seeking the Republican nomination. Here in Pennsylvania, we will also be electing a U.S. senator (Bob Casey’s seat) and a full state and federal House delegation next year. As...
Christopher Decker: Inflation is proving particularly stubborn
The Federal Reserve is facing a rather sticky problem. Despite its best efforts over the past year, inflation is stubbornly refusing to head south with any urgency to a target of 2%. Rather, the inflation report released on March 14, 2023, shows consumer prices rose 0.4% in February, meaning the...
Heidi Zinzow: 54% of firearm deaths in the US are from suicide — and easy access to a gun is a key risk factor
More than half — 54% — of all firearm deaths in the United States in 2021 were attributable to suicide, according to February 2023 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Suicide deaths involving firearms — the most common means of suicide in the U.S. — have increased...
David Galluch: Coming soon — the Shapiro energy tax
In a sleight of hand worthy of a card shark, Gov. Josh Shapiro quietly acted to raise home heating and electricity costs for Pennsylvania families. It’s officially termed the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI. It should be called the “Shapiro Energy Tax.” Little noticed until recently, the governor tucked...
Jim Pieffer: Federal staffing mandates would hurt Pa. nursing home care for seniors
There has been an undeniable nursing home workforce crisis in recent years. While many have moved on from the pandemic, the stress and anxiety continue in nursing homes as employees work hard to protect those most vulnerable to covid-19. Though well-intentioned, a proposed federal staffing requirement by the Centers for...
Sofia Sunseri: Give abuse survivors their justice
From the time I was 5 years old until I reached puberty, I survived repeated sexual abuse. Like far too many others, there was no justice. The legal system failed me and protected the abuser. I repeatedly and profoundly suffered abuse throughout my life while being held to normal expectations...
Vidhura S. Tennekoon: The U.S. banking crisis isn’t over yet
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank failed with enormous speed — so quickly that they could be textbook cases of classic bank runs, in which too many depositors withdraw their funds from a bank at the same time. The failures at SVB and Signature were two of the three...
Robert Smith: Waters of the United States
We are once again locked in a debate regarding the proper role of the federal government to regulate what is termed waters of the United States (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act. On Dec. 30, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the final “Revised Definition of ‘Waters of the...
Raymond Tonkin: Pa. should retain death penalty for murder of police
In the early hours of Sept. 13, 2014, my phone rang. I answered. On the other end of the phone was a dispatcher informing me that the Pennsylvania State Police were requesting me because two state troopers had been shot outside the Blooming Grove Barracks. I quickly dressed and headed...
Ross Nicotero: PRT’s hiring and retention is crisis that must be addressed now
Several weeks ago, Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) launched a public input process to overhaul the downtown bus network. This is the first portion of a system-wide transit network redesign, to ostensibly make our bus routes faster, more understandable and more effective in serving our riders’ needs. As transit workers, we’re...
Christopher Baxter: Secrecy is too often the norm in Pa. state and local governments
Our state and local governments exist to serve our communities. We pay our taxes each year, and in return, we the taxpayers have a right to know what our government is doing, how it’s spending our money and whether we’re getting the services we deserve. But there are fewer and...
Sheldon H. Jacobson: America’s rite of spring — why we need March Madness
March Madness comes at just the right time for the nation’s sports and social psyche. After the long, dark winter, the college basketball tourney has become a rite of spring. The Super Bowl is history, with the NBA and NHL both tracking toward their respective playoffs set to begin in...
COUNTERPOINT: Advantages abound with changing clocks twice a year
Today’s daylight saving time (DST) system — spring-to-fall DST followed by winter standard time — is an excellent compromise, providing DST’s many advantages the majority of the year and yet avoiding winter standard time’s difficulties during the dark, cold months. One proposed alternative is year-round standard time. This would cut...
POINT: Make standard time permanent
Almost everyone hates springing forward and falling back every year. Moving clocks ahead one hour in March only to return them to their previous settings in November wastes time — literally. No adjustments to clocks change the length of the day, which is determined by latitude (distance from the equator)...
Stacy Garrity: Rage is not part of life in rural Pa.
My roots are planted firmly in rural Pennsylvania. It’s where I grew up, went to school, got married, worked and served in the U.S. Army Reserves. I’m proud to say that I still call Bradford County home, and it is 100% rural Pennsylvania. Recently, some in the media elite have...
Guy Ciarrocchi: Pa. GOP must adapt to state’s changing political map
For Pennsylvania Republicans, the last decade has been the best of times and the worst of times — mostly the latter. For nearly a decade, the GOP has nodded approvingly as Western Pennsylvania’s unionized steamfitters have trended Republican and increasingly joined the Republican Party. Their jobs and personal values draw...
Pat Browne and Josh Ercole: Gambling problem? Help is available.
As we recognize the 20th annual Problem Gambling Awareness Month this March, the Pennsylvania Lottery and its responsible gambling partners are working to spread the word that help is available for those struggling with compulsive gambling issues. How can you tell if you have a gambling problem? Problem gambling is...
Cal Thomas: Read Joe Biden’s lips — more new taxes
President Joe Biden has announced he will raise “some taxes” in the budget he is proposing this week to Congress. Biden again claims no one making less than $400,000 a year will pay more taxes. The federal government receives record amounts of revenue, but spends and borrows in ways that...
Elwood Watson: ‘Dilbert’ creator shows racial progress is needed in America
It’s been over a week since Dilbert creator Scott Adams was canceled by hundreds of newspapers across the nation, as well as Canada, for racist tirades he unleashed on his own YouTube show. Adams, who is white, suggested white people “get the hell away from Black people,” referring to Black...
James Steiner-Dillon: Why can’t Americans agree on, well, nearly anything? Philosophy has some answers.
Does wearing a mask stop the spread of covid-19? Is climate change driven primarily by human-made emissions? With these kinds of issues dividing the public, it sometimes feels as if Americans are losing our ability to agree about basic facts of the world. There have been widespread disagreements about matters...
Art Jipson and Paul J. Becker: 30 years later, Waco siege still resonates — especially among anti-government extremists
It’s been 30 years since the beginning of the Waco siege, the confrontation at a Texas compound that killed around 80 members of the Branch Davidian religious community and four federal agents. Part of the siege’s legacy in popular culture is tied to sensational coverage that has presented the Branch...
Nicholas Dagen Bloom: Why the humble city bus is the key to improving U.S. public transit
Public transit in the U.S. is in a sorry state — aging, underfunded and losing riders, especially since the covid-19 pandemic. Many proposed solutions focus on new technologies, like self-driving cars and flying taxis. But as a researcher in urban policy and planning, I see more near-term promise in a...
