Featured Commentary category, Page 34
Counterpoint: Media ‘bias’ is a perennial part of elections
Donald Trump’s esteem for Vladimir Putin is well known. For more than a decade, starting before he became president, Trump has expressed admiration for the Russian strongman, from his October 2013 claim that Putin had “done really a great job of outsmarting our country” to his July 2018 assertion at...
Harry Litman: What kind of prosecutor was Kamala Harris? The answer could be pivotal to her campaign
CHICAGO The presidential campaign is shaping up to be a tale of two prosecutors, both named Kamala Harris. Harris’ record as a tough-on-crime prosecutor was a constant refrain through much of the Democratic National Convention. A series of speakers echoed that theme. They touted Harris’ lock-’em-up bona fides. In his...
Jackie Payne: Undecided moderate women could be the tipping point this November
After a wild few weeks, the top of the ticket once again is set for Democrats and Republicans. Polls show Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are neck and neck. Over the past several years, we’ve seen presidential elections decided by slimmer and slimmer margins, and 2024...
Peter Morici: Biden leaves an impressive legacy — and a pile of budget and security challenges
Only a handful of U.S. presidents could boast Joe Biden’s range of legislative and foreign policy accomplishments. The Chips and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, for example, steered the U.S. economy in a much-needed new direction. But the 46th U.S. president will leave his successor with tough federal...
LZ Granderson: Coach Tim Walz took a stand when queer kids desperately needed an advocate
Harrison Butker, the Kansas City Chiefs player whose “Me Tarzan/You Jane” commencement speech caused an uproar last spring, was back in the news recently after signing a contract extension that made him the highest-paid kicker in the league. Well deserved, considering he’s the second most accurate in NFL history, but...
Robert Perkins and Wesley Caines: Holistic defense can change lives
Everyone agrees that the right to a lawyer, even if you cannot afford one, is a necessary condition of justice. Yet funding for public defense lawyers in Allegheny County has never been enough to protect this right. Local defense spending is roughly a third of the national average — putting...
Tyler Fisher and Carlo Macomber: Independents will decide the election. What do we know about them?
Whichever party wins independent voters will win the presidency and other key races this fall. A poll Unite America commissioned this year provides clues for how Democrats and Republicans can appeal to these swing voters — including embracing their right to participate in all primary elections. Nearly 90% of independent...
Bethani Cameron: Bipartisanship closes EV road use tax loophole
Pennsylvania has two important goals when it comes to the future of transportation: maintaining our infrastructure and reducing emissions. But until recently, those two priorities were at odds. Thanks to bipartisan leadership in Harrisburg, a new bill increases funding for roads and transit, while making it easier than ever to...
Dave Breingan, Crystal Jennings-Rivera and Jala Rucker: Addressing Pittsburgh’s affordable housing crisis
Like cities across the country, Pittsburgh is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis, as rental expenses have skyrocketed and the prospect of owning a home becomes further out of reach for working families with each passing year. As the city works to respond to this crisis, leaders must...
Barnet Sherman: International students will offer boost to U.S. economy this back-to-school season
Of the millions of young adults heading off to college this fall, many will be international students. If trends continue, about 1 million students from around the world will come to the U.S. to pursue higher education this year. These young scholars make a big economic impact. Altogether, they pump...
Nealin Parker: Funders can’t wait until the day after Nov. 5 to act
In three months, voters will cast their ballots in the 2024 presidential election with two out of three Americans concerned about a repeat of the unrest that followed the 2020 election, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. As we get closer to Election Day, the media, philanthropic institutions and everyday citizens...
Carl P. Leubsdorf: How I cost Democrats the presidency in 1968
As the Democrats prepare to meet this week in Chicago, I thought back to their tumultuous 1968 convention, the third of the 27 I covered. That’s where I cost the Democrats the presidency. At least that’s what the press secretary for that year’s defeated Democratic nominee told me. Let me...
Tyler Cowen: Maybe legalizing weed wasn’t such a great idea
Depending on where you live and how you want to use it, it is pretty easy to get marijuana in the U.S. At first medical marijuana, which has legitimate palliative uses, achieved widespread acceptance. Over time, however, the requirements for proof of medical use weakened, leading to de facto legalization...
Ken Stringer: Vance’s accusation of stolen valor dishonors himself and all veterans
J.D. Vance has just insulted every veteran who earned and wears an award for valor on their uniform. In saying Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is guilty of “stolen valor” in representing his military career, Vance displays his ignorance of what the term means, and he misappropriates it for personal and...
John G. Geer and Jacob Mchangama: Americans love free speech — until they realize everyone else has it, too
Americans’ views on free speech change directions every so often. One of those times was during the protests at U.S. universities about the Israel-Hamas war. As scholars of free speech and public opinion, we set out to find out what happened and why. The Supreme Court itself, as recently as...
Gary Franks: Honeymoon with Kamala Harris will end soon
The Democrats’ current strategy is to manufacture enthusiasm and raise money for their presidential candidate. Easy task. Why? Because people are thrilled that President Joe Biden will not be running. Eighty percent of Americans in polls said they did not want him to seek reelection. Thus, it was easy to...
Alyssa Cholodofsky: Reducing food waste key to reversing climate change. Can our outdated food systems catch up?
It’s a cruel summer: Surging temperatures are spiking climate anxieties, and food insecurity concerns remain urgent. In Pennsylvania, nearly 1.7 million people are food-insecure, and 2024 has seen the state’s highest SNAP enrollment ever. At the intersection of these crises is the daunting challenge of food waste: In the U.S.,...
Rep. Dan Frankel: Pittsburgh BDS efforts won’t bring peace
Local activists made a mad dash effort this month to get enough support for a Pittsburgh ballot referendum that would punish local entities for any ties with Israel. Volunteers with clipboards could be found at dance parties and outside of local bars, seeking signatures from a population young enough that...
Will Freeman: Maduro’s landslide defeat hasn’t dislodged him. Is there still hope for Venezuela?
The Latin American left has a decision to make about Venezuela: Oppose Nicolás Maduro’s totalitarian bid to remain in power indefinitely or enable it. Efforts to constrain Maduro may not succeed. But giving in to him will destabilize neighboring countries — with consequences for the United States — undermine the...
Kathryn Anne Edwards: America’s fertility policy gap is bad economics
Even if you didn’t care about or respect women’s choices when it comes to having children, the “childless cat ladies” comments from Donald Trump running mate J.D. Vance still are deeply problematic because they suggest a misunderstanding of a vital policy issue: fertility. In its most basic form, economists care...
Ted Kopas: Restoring trust in Westmoreland County government
Westmoreland County residents are losing faith in their government. A tax increase and the scandal in the register of wills office have rightfully garnered a lot of attention and anger, as have big paydays for elected officials. It’s time to restore the public trust. When I took office a year...
F.D. Flam: Olympic boxer’s gender is a manufactured controversy
When Italian boxer Angela Carini reported that she had “never felt a punch like that” after conceding to Algeria’s Imane Khelif 46 seconds after their Olympic match began, social media exploded with accusations. Elon Musk and J.K. Rowling chimed in, accusing Khelif of being a man posing as a woman...
Counterpoint: There’s an equality issue in women’s sports — and it’s not about transgender women
This year, 2024, might be the year of women’s sports. Incredible stories of women competing abound — from Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese catapulting women’s basketball into the spotlight to Olympians Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky breaking records in Paris. With the uptick in exposure to women’s sports, some are...
Point: Biological males competing against females is a farce
On average, adult men are physically stronger, more powerful, faster and have higher endurance than adult women. This is not a theory; it is an indisputable scientific fact. Although anyone with a functional brain intuitively understands that men and women are fundamentally different when it comes to athletic prowess and,...
Robin Abcarian: Even Trump and JD Vance can’t match the unbearable weirdness of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
It took a decade, but the man who left a dead bear cub in Central Park finally ‘fessed up in a social media post . Why now? Because he wanted to get ahead of a New Yorker profile that included the bear story. The magazine also obtained a photograph of...
