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Featured Commentary category, Page 85

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Andrew Handley: Conservatives care about the earth
Pennsylvanians know that our environment and economy can prosper together, rather than be at odds. By joining the newly formed Conservative Climate Caucus, my congressman, Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Ebensburg, has exemplified this ideal. The Conservative Climate Caucus, led by Utah Congressman John Curtis, is another step toward meaningful Republican action...
Mark Hendrickson: Biden economic team predicts long-term slow growth
What is noteworthy about the depressing title to this article is its source. In a case of uncommon candor, President Biden’s economic team announced that once the artificially high stimulus-juiced measurements of GDP of the next two years subside, the United States will experience sub-2% growth for the rest of...
Rep. Joanna McClinton: Pa. businesses deserve help as much as New Jersey’s, Ohio’s
Last week, the state of New Jersey invested $235 million in American Rescue Plan funds to help small community businesses like bars and restaurants and startups bounce back from covid-19 and keep their doors open. Just this week, the Garden State added $100 million to help create and expand child...
Martin W.G. King: Voting rights hard sell for Biden
President Biden is celebrating a potential deal on his infrastructure bill. Unfortunately, Republican lawmakers on the bipartisan committee that came up with the compromise draft insisted on trashing the social measures needed by families and some essential environmental components. Nonetheless, Biden’s all-consuming work on the issue has produced a victory...
Jessica Feil: Illegal gambling machines are a problem. You should care.
If you’ve ever seen someone play three-card monte, you would warn everyone you know not to fall for the scam. The game, usually played on a street corner, involves a “dealer” moving three playing cards around and betting against the player being able to guess which card is the money...
Christopher Schneider: Transparency is voided when police weaponize copyrighted music
During a recent peaceful exchange with activists an Alameda County sheriff’s deputy in California was caught on camera pulling out his phone to soundtrack the interaction with Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space.” Perhaps the most unusual part of all of this was the officer’s relative candor about it. When the deputy...
Jordan Justus and Prajwal Kotamraju: Street-smart ways to help Pa. small businesses recover
When President Biden unveiled his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan in March, he did so not from the White House or a monument in the nation’s capital. The “once-in-a-generation investment in America” was announced at the Carpenters Pittsburgh Training Center. The president has frequently held Pennsylvania up as a model of...
Gov. Ralph Northam: Collaboration will benefit all of Appalachia
Since 1965, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) has been dedicated to improving the economic health of Appalachia. Over $4.5 billion has been invested, from small-business assistance to broadband deployment to workforce development. The key to ARC’s success comes from the agency’s guiding principle of collaboration and cooperation — between the...
Lawrence McCullough: On July 4, celebrating America’s interdependence
In these certifiably tumultuous political times, it’s useful to recall that America’s Declaration of Independence was also conceived as a purposeful declaration of interdependence. During the Revolutionary period, the 13 British colonies functioned in many ways like separate mini-states, often at loggerheads with conflicting currencies, voting systems, trade regulations, legal...
Jay Corrigan, Matthew Rousu and Nick Clark: Pa. should consider a vaccine lottery
In May, Ohio announced that five lucky adults who’ve received at least one dose of covid-19 vaccine will win $1 million in weekly drawings starting May 26. Nearly 5 million Ohioans have already been vaccinated, meaning each has a one-in-a-million chance of winning $1 million. Can that move the needle...
Alison Bell: Helping women get back to work
We’ve all encountered a year of hardship and obstacles that none of us saw coming. But unfortunately, women have been disproportionately affected from the start — notably working mothers and women of color. About 1 in 12 Black women and 1 in 11 Latina women remain unemployed, and these women...
Emily Greene: Infrastructure debate leaves Pa. behind
The president and a group of senators have come together on a bipartisan deal on President Joe Biden’s “infrastructure” package. The president has already spelled out conditions under which he would veto the deal, highlighting how tentative the agreement may be. Either way, we all ought to be concerned that...
Pastor Lance Rhoades: McKinsey opioid settlement isn’t enough for Pennsylvanians
Few states have been hit as hard by the massive epidemic of opioid use disorder as Pennsylvania. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died over the last few years from substance use disorder of opioids, many that began through legal prescriptions. Countless more families have been torn apart as they...
Ronald Linden: Changing the rules — in life as in baseball
The Little League World series began in Pennsylvania in 1947 and for most of the next 20 years, American teams won. Then, as baseball grew in popularity in other parts of the world, Asian teams began to take the championship. Teams from Taiwan and Japan took all but one title...
Joyce Lukima: Funding for crime victims must be restored
“I finally decided to press charges against my father for 11 years of sexual abuse. I didn’t know where to turn or what to do … I called your center and spoke with a woman who changed my life. After four years of an unbearable legal process, I’m so happy...
Rep. Tony DeLuca: Republican voting legislation leads to a path of taking voters’ rights away
There is no greater right than voters participating in democracy by casting their ballots to elect those who will represent them. However, legislation Republicans recently pushed through the House would restrict access for voters and impinge on their rights. It is vital to remove barriers for voters to use ballot...
Sen. Lindsey Williams and Josh McNeil: Harrisburg and Washington must step up to save Pittsburgh transit options
One thing that the covid-19 pandemic has taught us is the importance of public transit. The Port Authority of Allegheny County has kept our city and region running. While businesses were shuttered to curb the spread of the virus, brave bus drivers and light rail engineers, conductors, mechanics and operators...
Benjamin V. Allison: How the 2-party system could self-destruct and save American democracy
Legally, Donald Trump can run for reelection in 2024. That’s bad. But it could break up the two-party system. That’s good. Since the election, talk of a Republican split has waxed and waned, with rumors that Trump or moderate Republicans might break from the GOP to create a new party....
Nathan Pikarsic: Competing in global auto race requires US industry to retool
This month, Jeep opened the first new auto factory in Detroit in three decades. Auto workers and suppliers have responded by celebrating. With reason — it’s the Motor City’s first new auto factory in 30 years and is expected to employ almost 5,000. Jeep deserves credit for investing in the...
Joe Bell: Ongoing trade war limits recovery for U.S. businesses
With vaccination rates increasing and businesses reopening across the country, there’s good reason for optimism. Businesses that have struggled to survive the challenges posed by the covid-19 pandemic are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. For businesses across the nation, however, there is still a big...
Nathan Benefield: With $7 billion windfall, Pa. should focus on jobs, students
Every year, Pennsylvania enacts a 1,000-page budget, full of obscure spending rules and indecipherable earmarks. Yet it’s arguably the most important vote legislators take each year because it determines our state government’s priorities for the next year. This year’s budget talks face a rare challenge: What to do with an...
Joshua Rosen: Anti-stacking plan bad for consumers
Accidents happen every day, and they easily could happen to any of us at any time. Insurance is a protection if an accident occurs, and it is important to know that you are adequately covered and not forced to dip into savings or go into debt because of someone else’s...
Ron Klink: Standing up for steelworkers against hypocritical clean energy groups
As President Biden sat down with European and world leaders this week to declare “America is Back,” combating global climate change was top of the agenda. At the G7 summit, world leaders laid out a vision for a net zero world, where virtually all greenhouse gases are removed from the...
Sheldon Jacobson: Will covid-19 create unexpected surprises at the US Open?
Torrey Pines is hosting the 2021 U.S. Open Golf tournament, the third of four professional golf majors played this year. With 156 golfers from across the globe gathering in San Diego, there is much anticipation for the event to be held without any hitches. Recall the pain and frustration displayed...
John Peck: Pre-K investments can keep kids out of prison
With graduation season upon us, we’re reminded how smart, up-front investments in human potential save money on the back end. When we create quality educational opportunities for our children, we invest in the likelihood that our next generation will be successful, contributing members of the community. No one is born...


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