Featured Commentary category, Page 87

President Joe Biden’s omission of the word God from his National Day of Prayer proclamation May 6 has evoked a firestorm of protest. Christian Broadcasting Network commentator David Brody, evangelist Franklin Graham, Catholic League president Bill Donohue, Fox News and other politically conservative media outlets criticized Biden’s failure to mention...

Each day for the last 365-plus days, most of us have woken up and read the latest expert-recommended tips about what we need to do to stay healthy and achieve happiness in what, for many, has been an incredibly grim year. We’ve learned, for example, that mask wearing and social...

In just over 100 days, the Biden administration and the Democrat-run House and Senate have put America on a path to ruin. From devastating policies leading to nationwide gas shortages, failing to reopen schools, an escalating crisis at the border, dramatically rising crime nationwide, and Big Tech and corporate America...

As a mother of two children with learning challenges, I have long known the disparities plaguing our education system. The reasons why some children succeed in their education, and others do not, are varied and widespread. It is no surprise that socio-economic factors such as employment and race can be...

The life sciences industry has always played a key, if underappreciated, role in the American economy. After all, without STEM workers, the country would not be well on the way to finally beating back this deadly virus. While the pandemic has certainly brought a renewed appreciation for the crucial work...

On May 18, Pennsylvania voters will have the opportunity to overturn a state Supreme Court ruling that has enabled the governor to repeatedly extend emergency declarations without legislative input. Under current law, a governor’s emergency declarations can last up to 90 days, and can be renewed unilaterally for additional 90-day...

For years, I have been sounding the alarm about chronic federal deficit spending — practiced by both Republicans and Democrats — steering our country into a fiscal abyss. I feel like a broken record as I periodically chronicle the folly of it all. The process has taken on a sense...

In his recent address to Congress, President Biden appears to have transformed himself into a champion of the “Made in America” cause. As he explained it, his jobs plan — which encompasses everything from rebuilding roads and bridges to accelerating the green energy revolution — will be guided by a...

Years ago, my testimony at a Pennsylvania Labor and Industry Committee public hearing began with two simple questions. I asked everyone in the room to please raise their hand if they had a mother (alive or deceased). Of course, everyone raised their hands. My second question was, if we all...

Pennsylvania consumers have had the option of choosing their electric service provider for last 25 years, since enactment of the Electricity Generation Customer Choice and Competition Act of 1996. And by every measure, the state’s electric choice program has been a success, driving down prices and giving consumers more convenience...

Pennsylvanians elect judges in odd years. More accurately, a small percentage of Pennsylvanians participate in these “off year” elections so that even though we have over 8 million registered voters, only about a million voters (12% ) weigh in on who should take the bench. That should worry those who...

A few weeks ago, wildfires took out hundreds of acres of land in two areas of Ohiopyle State Park. For approximately 12 hours and initially facing dry and windy conditions, 74 crews from departments in Westmoreland and Fayette counties fought and ultimately extinguished the fires. No lives were lost, and...

We have all learned a lot since the start of the pandemic. One of the lessons that has resonated with me the most is the importance of community — of our relationships and responsibility to one another. It’s easy especially during a global pandemic to think that as individuals, we...

How does shackling expecting mothers protect public safety in Pennsylvania? The answer is clear: It doesn’t, not by a mile. More than 130,000 babies will be born in Pennsylvania this year, but not every newborn will be born with a fair shot. In state and county prisons across the commonwealth,...

Over the course of 2020, the previously minor social media application Parler rose to national prominence. The site served as a smaller, right-leaning mirror to Twitter, attracting an audience that included (among others) both U.S. senators and QAnon conspiracy theorists. Where Twitter forbade referring to a transgender person by biological...

Finally, we can see light at the end of the dark tunnel that we’ve been walking through for the past year. With covid-19 vaccinations expanding, educators, parents, and students can look forward to a return to normalcy in our schools, where students will be able to come back to their...

Mass shootings are a serious public health problem. According to studies and experts in the field, prevention strategies remain elusive. One innovative area of study that has the potential to generate rich ideas for prevention is the directed study of thwarted, foiled or near-miss mass homicide plots. There is a...

The covid-19 pandemic has revealed so many inequities in our country — from socio-economic to racial, medical conditions and age. These inequities existed long before the pandemic but have been laid bare over the past year in such a way that we can no longer refuse to address them. Our...

The Biden administration’s bold American Jobs Plan aims to invest hundreds of billions of dollars into public transit and transportation infrastructure. The plan has the potential to massively improve everyday Americans’ ability to get around safely, in addition to creating jobs, growing a sustainable economy and moving toward climate goals...

All eyes were on Pennsylvania in the 2020 election. The commonwealth’s election process was one of chaos, with issues caused by mass mail balloting, blocking poll watcher access and ballot harvesting, to name just a few. Now some good news. Prior to the 2020 election, the Public Interest Legal Foundation...

Ten years ago, I left the United States to teach overseas. Since then, I have lived in five different countries and traveled to numerous others. I am often asked if living abroad is dangerous. It strikes me, however, that in all these years, I have never been verbally harassed or...

Bernie Madoff is dead, and it is unlikely that even the people who once were closest to him will shed a tear. Not his wife, Ruth, whose life was destroyed when Madoff’s Ponzi scheme was revealed in December 2008. Not his brother, Peter, Madoff’s former chief compliance officer, who spent...

It might surprise those listening to Gov. Tom Wolf constantly attacking public charter schools that the charter school leaders in Pennsylvania support comprehensive education reform and have supported it for years. What we don’t support are the arbitrary funding cuts the governor and anti-charter activists seek to prevent Pennsylvania families...

As Black obstetrician-gynecologists, midwives and members of the UPMC family, we have come together to highlight the current state of affairs for pregnant women of color. The U.S., a developed nation, has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, with Black women affected disproportionately in comparison with...

Bipartisanship is often invoked but rarely practiced in politics these days. Unfortunately, the confirmation fight over President Biden’s nominee for associate attorney general, Vanita Gupta, has become the latest example of partisanship crowding out substance in Washington. Fair-minded senators like Sen. Pat Toomey have a reputation for rising above the...